When and how is CSR a reputation insurance mechanism?
(2024)
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- Abstract
- This study investigates the effectiveness of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) as a reputation insurance mechanism by analyzing stakeholder reactions to negative events impacting companies with varying prior CSR engagement. We address the mixed findings in existing research by incorporating three vignette-based experiments and a recall-based experiment. Our findings reveal that negative events based on failures lead to stronger attributions of irresponsibility, stronger punishment behavior, and weaker reputation, regardless of prior CSR efforts. Notably, we do not observe evidence supporting the advantage-of-doubt mechanism, suggesting that CSR is ineffective in mitigating responsibility attribution in the face of failure-based events. However, we uncover partial support for the shield mechanism, indicating that a positive CSR history offers limited protection against reputational damage and retaliation.
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Citations
Kimilli, G., Bridoux, F., & Hericher, C. (2024). When and how is CSR a reputation insurance mechanism? https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/269511