Abstract
Research shows consumers moving from passive recipients of products and services to becoming a more integral part of supply chain operations and even strategies. As consumers are exposed to, and take interest in, more supply chain information, questions are arising concerning the impact this information has on product-related attributes and evaluations. This study examines the extent to which messages about a company’s supply chain activities, specifically those dealing with social responsibility, affect consumer evaluations of products sold by the company. Results indicate this “spillover effect” is most likely to occur when the message is negative. Positive messages are less influential. This effect is generalized across two sample populations, while accounting for relevant individual differences in consumer behavior.
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Appendix
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Treatment Materials
Negative | Neutral | Positive | |
Telectronics |
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Simple threads |
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Items Measuring Company Social Responsibility Perceptions in Pretest (α = 0.94)
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1.
Teletronics cares about their employees.
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2.
Teletronics is a responsible employer.
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3.
Teletronics would take good care of me if I worked for them.
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4.
Teletronics probably views their employees as valuable to the company.
CSR Items
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1.
I often try to convince members of my family or my friends not to buy products that are made by companies with oppressive labor conditions.
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2.
I have a choice between two equal products; I always purchase the one that is made with fair labor practices.
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3.
I will not buy a product from a company that is socially irresponsible. For example, a company that mistreats its workers.
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4.
People would respect me for being concerned about labor conditions required to make products.
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5.
Please respond to the following statements based on you and your purchasing habits and behavior.... Many of my friends try to buy products from companies that are concerned for the safety of their workers.
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6.
I sometimes think about taking action against firms that violate labor laws.
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7.
Concern for the health and safety of workers are issues that are important to me.
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Kirchoff, J., Nichols, B., Stolze, H., Brown, C. (2018). The Spillover Effects of Negative Supply Chain Information on Consumers’ Perceptions of Product Attributes. In: Krey, N., Rossi, P. (eds) Back to the Future: Using Marketing Basics to Provide Customer Value. AMSAC 2017. Developments in Marketing Science: Proceedings of the Academy of Marketing Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-66023-3_242
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