Corporate social (Ir)responsibility and corporate hypocrisy: Warmth, motive and the protective value of corporate social responsibility

Chen, Zhifeng; Hang, Haiming; Pavelin, Stephen; Porter, Lynda

Abstract

This article examines how a firm’s prior record on corporate social responsibility (CSR) influences individual stakeholders’ perceptions of corporate hypocrisy in the wake of a corporate social irresponsibility (CSI) event. Our research extends extant corporate hypocrisy literature by highlighting the role of individual stakeholders’ inferences about a genuine CSR motive in their judgments of corporate hypocrisy. This can serve to differentiate perceived corporate hypocrisy from inconsistency that arises because of a lack of ability and/or resources. Our research further identifies a source for such perceptions: individual stakeholders’ perceptions of firm warmth generated by a firm’s prior record of CSR. In addition, we find that when CSR and CSI are in the same (vs. different) domains, it can strengthen perceptions of hypocrisy. This provides direct evidence to explain why markets react differently when CSR and CSI events occur in the same domain (vs. different ones).

Citation

Chen, Z., Hang, H., Pavelin, S., & Porter, L. (2020). Corporate social (Ir)responsibility and corporate hypocrisy: Warmth, motive and the protective value of corporate social responsibility. Business Ethics Quarterly, 30(4), 486-524. https://doi.org/10.1017/beq.2019.50

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Dec 6, 2019
• Online Publication Date: Apr 27, 2020
• Publication Date: Oct 1, 2020
• Deposit Date: Feb 27, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 28, 2020
• Journal: Business Ethics Quarterly
• Print ISSN: 1052-150X
• Publisher: Philosophy Documentation Center
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 30
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 486-524
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/beq.2019.50
• Keywords: corporate hypocrisy, corporate social responsibility, corporate social irresponsibility, experimental studies
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/5515273
• Publisher URL: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/business-ethics-quarterly