Research Article |
The Influence of Previous CSR Activities on Attitude Towards the Company
Author(s) : Aneke Alexander* and Orji Tony
Publisher : FOREX Publication
Published : 20 October 2023
e-ISSN :2347-4696
Page(s) : 89-95
Abstract
This study examined the influence of previous corporate social responsibility activities on attitude towards the company. The study adopted an experimental method, with a 3x2 factorial design, in which the first treatment condition was grouped into three, which include; control, diversity group and eco-friendly group. Participants in the first treatment condition were given positive information about the company CSR. Furthermore, the second treatment condition was divided into two; non-diversity and non-eco-friendly groups, participants were given negative information about the company’s CSR. The result gotten from the experimental study, shows that prior positive knowledge about company’s CSR has a significant effect on the attitude towards the company {F(2, 299) = 6.27, p = .002}, compared to prior negative knowledge about company’s CSR {F(2, 299) = 0.13, p = .878}, which is not significant. Individually, the result analysis reveals that both diversity group (M = 5.37, SD = 1.00) , 95% C.l. = [ .5.17, 5.56] and the eco-friendly group (M = 5.32, SD = 90) , 95% C.l. = [ .5.15, 5.50] that received positive information about the company’s CSR are significant on attitude towards the company compared to non-diversity (M = 5.18, SD = .98), 95% C.l. = [ 5.02, 5.33] and non-eco-friendly group (M = 5.24, SD = .97), 95% C.l. = [ 5.08, 5.39], which are insignificant in influencing attitude towards the company. Therefore, companies should endeavour to prioritize their CSR activities in order to get positive reviews and actions from customers and potential clients.
Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility
, Diversity
, Attitude
.
Aneke Alexander*, Enugu State University of Science and Technology, (ESUT) Agbani, Enugu State, Nigeria; Email: nazaaneke@gmail.com
Orji Tony, Enugu State University of Science and Technology, (ESUT) Agbani, Enugu State, Nigeria; Email: tony.orji@fcmb.com
[1] Benoit-Moreau, F., & Parguel, B. (2010). Building brand equity with environmental communication: An empirical investigation in France. EuroMed Journal of Business 6(1), 100-116.
[2] BICEP. (2013). Tackling climate change is one of America’s greatest economic opportunities of the 21st century. Retrieved June 25, 2013 from http://www. ceres.org/bicep/climate-declaration.
[3] Bradford, R. (2007). Greenwash confronted: Misleading advertisement regulation in the European Union and its member states. Study report available at www.foeeurope.org/corporates/pdf/ greenwash_confronted.pdf.
[4] Brei, V., & Böhm, S. (2013). ‘I L = 10L for Africa’: Corporate social responsibility and the transformation of bottled water into a ‘consumer activist’ commodity. Discourse and Society, 0, 1–29. doi:10.1177/0957926513503536.
[5] Brown, T. J., & Dacin, P. A. (1997). The company and the product: Corporate associations and consumer product responses. Journal of Marketing, 61(1), 68–84.
[6] Craig, C.A. (2016). Energy consumption, energy efficiency, and consumer perceptions: a case study for the Southeast United States. Applied Energy. in press.
[7] Dawar, N., & Pillutla, M. (2000). Impact of product-harm crisis on brand equity: The moderating role of consumer expectations. Journal of Marketing Research, 37(2), 215–226.
[8] Dean, D. (2003). Consumer perception of corporate donations. Effects of company reputation for social responsibility and type of donation. Journal of Advertising, 32(4), 91–102.
[9] Du, S., Bhattacharya, C. B., & Sen, S. (2010). Maximizing business returns to corporate social responsibility (CSR): The role of CSR communication. International Journal of Management Reviews, 12(1), 8–19.
[10] Ellen, P. S., Mohr, L. A., & Webb, D. J. (2000). Charitable programs and the retailer: Do they mix? Journal of Retailing, 76(3), 393–406.
[11] Folkes, V. S. (1984). Consumers reactions to product failure: An attributional approach. Journal of Consumer Research, 10(4), 398–409.
[12] Goldenberg, S. (2015). Exxon knew of climate change in 1983, email says – but it funded deniers for 27 more years. The Guardian. Retrieved December 29, 2015 from http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jul/08/exxon-climatechange-1981-climate-denier-funding.
[13] Heider, F. (1944). Social perception and phenomenal causality. Psychological Review, 51(6), 358–374.
[14] IPCC. (2013). Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. In: T.F. Stocker, D. Qin, G.-K. Plattner, M. Tignor, S.K. Allen, J. Boschung, A. Nauels, Y. Xia, V. Bex, P.M. Midgley (Eds.). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge and New York. doi:10.1017/CBO9781107415324.
[15] Kelley, H. H. (1973). The processes of causal attribution. American Psychologist, 28(2), 107–128.
[16] Peattie, K., Peattie, S., & Ponting, C. (2009). Climate change: A social and commercial marketing communications challenge. EuroMed Journal of Business, 4(3), 270–286.
[17] Pomering, A., & Johnson, L. W. (2009). Advertising corporate social responsibility initiatives to communicate corporate image: Inhibiting scepticism to enhance persuasion. Corporate Communications: An International Journal, 14(4), 420–439.
[18] Rifon, N., Choi, S., Trimble, C., & Li, H. (2004). Congruence effects in sponsorship. The moderating role of sponsor credibility and consumer attributions of sponsor motive. Journal of Advertising, 33(1), 29–42.
[19] Schlegelmilch, B. B., & Pollach, I. (2005). The perils and opportunities of communicating corporate ethics. Journal of Marketing Management, 21(3–4), 267–290.
[20] Shumate, M., & O’Connor, A. (2010). The symbiotic sustainability model: conceptualizing NGO-corporate alliance communication. Journal of Communication, 60, 577–609.
[21] Sjovall, A. M., & Talk, A. C. (2004). From actions to impressions: Cognitive attribution theory and the formation of corporate reputation. Corporate Reputation Review, 7(3), 269–281.
[22] Swaen, V., & Vanhamme, J. (2004). See how ‘good’ we are: The dangers of using corporate social activities in communication campaigns. Advances in Consumer Research, 31(1), 302–303.
[23] Vanhamme, J., & Grobben, B. (2009). Too good to be true! The effectiveness of CSR history in countering negative publicity. Journal of Business Ethics, 85(Supplement 2), 273–283.
Aneke Alexander and Orji Tony (2023), The Influence of Previous CSR Activities on Attitude Towards the Company. IJBMR 11(3), 89-95. DOI: 10.37391/IJBMR.110303.