How and When does strategic CSR work? : Experimenting the Impact of Brand Equity and Persuasive Story on Consumer Response to Imitated CSR Initiatives
Year: 2014
Type: dissertation
Abstract: TOMS is a shoe company that gives away a pair for each pair you buy. In light of their\nsuccess, the imitator BOBS entered offering similar shoe design and the same buy one give\none initiative. Corporate Social responsibility (CSR), by its definition, is a noble cause that\nbenefits society, thus, one would expect consumers' response to BOBS would be equally\nfavorable as they didi to TOMS. However, this was not the case (Jørgensen & Pedersen,\n2013). Intrigued by the story of TOMS vs BOBS we arrived to the following decision\nproblem: How can companies that imitate CSR initiatives alleviate unfavorable response\nfrom consumers? In order to operationalize this research question, two specific questions\nwere investigated: (1) Can brand equity alleviate consumers' unfavorable response to imitated\nCSR initiatives, and (2) Can a persuasive story alleviate consumers' unfavorable response to\nimitated CSR initiative? These questions were addressed with a 2x2 factorial design\nexperiment where the dimensions were known brand/unknown brand and persuasive story/\nno persuasive story. The persuasive story yielded significant main effects on product attitude\nand purchase intentions. However, simple effects analysis revealed that it was persuasive\nstory alongside the known brand that provided the significant results. The implication for\nmanagers is that persuasive story with a strong brand can jointly bring forth more favorably\nconsumer response to imitated CSR-products. Interestingly, the present study found\nsignificant correlation between perceived sincerity of the company and perceived fit\n(between CSR initiative and the company), recognizing that this correlation may not\nnecessarily mean causation, future studies may consider investigation of the causal analysis\nbetween the two variables.
Authors: Pål Søland, Deodat Mwesiumo
Language: English
Subfield: Marketing
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2511997094