A Multi-Staged Model of Consumer Responses to CSR Communications

E-ISSN： 2051-4700|2011|41|50-68

ISSN： 1470-5001

Source： The Journal of Corporate Citizenship, Vol.2011, Iss.41, 2011-03, pp. : 50-68

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Abstract

Despite the increasing importance of CSR (corporate social responsibility) communications for effective reputation management, there has been limited understanding of the variables and processes involved in consumer response to CSR communications. This study proposes a three-stage model and investigates the mediating roles of perceived importance of and attitude toward CSR in consumer response to CSR communications. The results revealed that perceived importance of CSR mediated the effect of initial brand attitude on perceived argument strength of CSR communications in the preprocessing stage. Then, attitude toward CSR communications mediated the effect of perceived argument strength of CSR communications on assessment of CSR practices in the attribution stage. Finally, post-brand attitude mediated the effect of assessment of CSR communications on purchase intention in the response stage. The results revealed that the relationship between CSR communications and purchase intention might be more complex than suggested by previous research. Practical implications for effective CSR communications are discussed.