Skepticism is prevalent surrounding companies’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication. Existing research suggests that narratives can reduce counterarguing and increase story-consistent beliefs and attitudes. However, research is still in its preliminary stage in understanding how narratives may help alleviate individuals’ skepticism toward companies’ CSR initiatives. Through an experiment with Amazon Mechanical Turk participants (n = 345), the current study tested the effect of narrative vs non-narrative videos on individual perception of CSR skepticism. YouTube videos depicting a real organization’s CSR initiatives on the issue of gender equality were selected as stimuli. Results of the study suggest that narrative significantly reduced almost all of the previously identified dimensions of CSR skepticism and significantly increased perceived intrinsic (altruistic) motives. Furthermore, engagement with the video message and perceived CSR motives were significant mediators. The study highlights engagement with messages as a key aspect of reducing CSR skepticism. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

围绕公司的企业社会责任 (CSR) 沟通普遍存在怀疑。现有研究表明，叙事可以减少反驳并增加与故事一致的信念和态度。然而，在理解叙事如何帮助减轻个人对公司 CSR 计划的怀疑方面的研究仍处于初级阶段。通过对 Amazon Mechanical Turk 参与者进行的实验 ( n= 345），当前的研究测试了叙事视频与非叙事视频对个人对企业社会责任怀疑的看法的影响。描述真实组织在性别平等问题上的企业社会责任倡议的 YouTube 视频被选为刺激因素。研究结果表明，叙事显着减少了几乎所有先前确定的 CSR 怀疑主义维度，并显着增加了感知的内在（利他）动机。此外，视频信息的参与和感知到的企业社会责任动机是重要的中介因素。该研究强调参与信息是减少企业社会责任怀疑的一个关键方面。讨论了理论和实践意义。