Effectiveness of Corporate Social Responsibility Communication: The Roles of Ethical Labels, Prior CSR Record, and Consumer Skepticism

摘要

Consumers demand to know more about companies' CSR activities, yet at the same time, they tend to be skeptical toward companies' CSR claims. Finding ways to enhance the credibility of CSR communication is a question of critical importance. Against this backdrop, this research investigates whether and how the presence (vs. absence) of an ethical label in a CSR advertisement affects consumer evaluations of the ad and the brand, and their perceptions of greenwashing. We also investigate the roles of the company's prior CSR record and consumers' dispositional skepticism.