Doing Good and Doing Better despite Negative Information?: The Role of Corporate Social Responsibility in Consumer Resistance to Negative Information

Abstract

Despite increased research on the various effects of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), the question of whether CSR is worthwhile for firms still remains to be addressed. Prior work suggests that CSR offers firms insurance-like protection against negative publicity due to greater levels of goodwill with various stakeholders. Yet, we still miss an answer to the following question: How effective, if at all, is CSR in insulating firms from scrutiny compared to other important marketing measures, such as customer orientation and service quality orientation? This study develops and empirically tests a theoretical framework that demonstrates the relative impact of CSR on consumer resistance to negative information when confronted with negative information about a firm. The results demonstrate that CSR shields firms from negative information about CSR practices but not information related to firms’ core service offerings. Managerially, the findings demonstrate that CSR may offer less of blanket insurance than assumed in previous research. Furthermore, results indicate that firms with a consumer base of experts should favor a focus on service quality orientation over CSR; conversely, when consumers are novices firms should focus on CSR for greater consumer resistance to negative information.