Corporate social responsibility and consumers' response: the missing linkage

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propose a theoretical framework to explain why corporate social responsibility (CSR) activity leads to different consumers' responses, especially why, in some cases, CSR activity might backfire on the company. Design/methodology/approach – Based on a review of previous literature, the aspects of a CSR activity and the contrasting objectives that may influence consumers' responses are discussed. Several propositions are put forward. Findings – The structure of a CSR activity, mainly including type of issue/cause, its form, timing and commitment, leads to consumers' different attributions, which in turn leads to consumers' different responses to the firm. Also, consumers make attributions about a firm's CSR activity in terms of the contrast effect between the firm's corporate social performance (CSP) and other objectives for reference, such as the firm's CSR ability, its past CSP, its negative social impact of operation and other firms' CSR activities. Moreover, even though consumers can make positive attribution to a firm's CSR activity, the significant contrast effect of it against the objectives might also lead to consumers making negative responses. Research limitations/implications – Given the complex psychological processes of consumers, it is not known if there are other components of a CSR activity and other contrasting objectives that might influence consumers' responses. Originality/value – The paper helps business managers to realize the risks embedded in CSR activities, and helps them to use CSR strategically to promote business goals by carefully considering the mix of components of CSR activity and the fit with other contrasting objectives.