Abstract

Two experimental studies were carried out to investigate the effect of company size and cause proximity on consumer response to CSR initiatives. Findings from Study 1 demonstrated that, for a large company, the national cause led to more favourable attitudes toward the ad and the company, and a more socially responsible corporate image than the local cause. By comparison, for a small company, the local cause produced more positive attitudes toward the ad and the company, and a more socially conscious corporate image than the national cause. Further delving into the cognitive mechanism of this fit effect, Study 2 investigated the mediating role of message credibility and explored how the mediation varied with consumers’ level of cause involvement. A series of moderated mediation analyses showed that when company size and cause proximity were congruent, participants displayed higher message credibility, which led to more favourable attitudes toward the ad and the company and a better corporate image than in an incongruent condition. This research suggests that company size does matter in consumer response to CSR engagement and offers initial explanations for it. Implications and suggestions for future research are provided.

摘要

进行了两项实验研究，以调查公司规模和接近度对消费者对企业社会责任倡议反应的影响。研究 1 的结果表明，对于一家大公司来说，国家事业比地方事业更能带来对广告和公司的好感，以及更具有社会责任感的企业形象。相比之下，对于一家小公司来说，地方事业比国家事业产生了对广告和公司更积极的态度，以及更具有社会意识的企业形象。研究 2 进一步深入研究了这种契合效应的认知机制，调查了信息可信度的中介作用，并探讨了中介如何随着消费者的原因参与程度而变化。一系列有调节的中介分析表明，当公司规模和原因接近度一致时，参与者表现出更高的信息可信度，这导致对广告和公司的态度比不一致的情况下更好，企业形象也更好。这项研究表明，公司规模在消费者对 CSR 参与的反应中确实很重要，并为此提供了初步解释。提供了对未来研究的启示和建议。