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What Makes CSR Communication Lead to CSR Participation? Testing the Mediating Effects of CSR Associations, CSR Credibility, and Organization–Public Relationships

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Abstract

This study examines consumers’ uses of corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication channels, the relationship of such uses to consumers’ CSR awareness, and the mechanisms through which consumers’ CSR awareness can lead to their intention to participate in CSR activities. Specifically, we explored the mediation effects of consumers’ CSR associations with a company, consumers’ assessment of the company’s CSR credibility, and consumers’ perceptions of their relationship with the company, applying the conceptual frameworks of the uses and gratification theory, source credibility theory, and organization–public relationship (OPR) scholarship. We conducted an online survey of a company’s customers (N = 394), and the results showed that their level of awareness of the company’s CSR activities was positively related to the degree of use of all communication channels through which they received CSR messages, except CSR reports. The degree of the customers’ awareness of the company’s CSR programs, however, did not always correspond to the customers’ intention to participate in the programs: a crucial condition mediating between the customers’ knowledge of CSR programs and their intention to participate in the programs was their associating the company with CSR. The CSR associations influenced CSR credibility and perceived OPR quality, which, in turn, led to CSR participation intention. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these findings.

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Notes

  1. An inconsistent item that resulted in a low reliability coefficient was omitted. See the Measurement Model section for more details. After omitting the item, Cronbach’s alpha coefficient for the control mutuality dimension was .84.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Public Relations, College of Media and Communication, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, 79409, USA

    Sun Young Lee & Weiwu Zhang

  2. Department of Communication, College of Arts and Sciences, University of Dayton, Dayton, OH, 45469, USA

    Alan Abitbol

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  1. Sun Young Lee
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Correspondence to Sun Young Lee.

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Lee, S.Y., Zhang, W. & Abitbol, A. What Makes CSR Communication Lead to CSR Participation? Testing the Mediating Effects of CSR Associations, CSR Credibility, and Organization–Public Relationships. J Bus Ethics 157, 413–429 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-017-3609-0

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