The Asymmetric Effect of a Firm's Invested Effort in the CSR Campaign

An increasing number of companies are involved in prosocial behaviors called Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). In contrast, firm-induced incidents that impair social good are coined Corporate Social Irresponsibility (CSI). This research investigates how consumers evaluate a company and its CSR campaign when the firm is involved in both a CSR and a CSI, depending on the order of the two: the response (CSI-CSR) and the insurance (CSR-CSI) mechanism. Some work has demonstrated the positive evaluation of insurance mechanism, because consumers attribute the cause of the negative event to external factors if it is was preceded by CSR campaign. Contributing to the knowledge of consumers' response to companies' CSR efforts, this research suggests new ways for marketing managers to mitigate the potential negative effects from engaging in CSR campaigns in light of CSI incidents.