Matching words with actions: understanding the effects of CSA stance-action consistency on negative consumer responses

Abstract

Purpose

Despite corporate social advocacy (CSA) has become a popular phenomenon, less is known about the potential negative public responses to corporations' CSA involvement and promotion. This paper aims to investigate the main and conditional effects of a new concept, CSA stance-action consistency, on consumers' negative responses to CSA communication.

Design/methodology/approach

The study employed a 4 (four types of CSA stance-action consistency) × 2 (CSA record: long vs short) between-subject experimental design. Social issue activism was measured as a continuous variable and treated as a moderator. An online experiment was conducted with participants recruited from MTurk (n = 224).

Findings

CSA stance-action consistency significantly predicted negative word-of-mouth and boycott intention. Participants' social issue activism moderated the effects. However, CSA record was not a significant predictor of consumers' negative responses to CSA communication.

Originality/value

This study advances CSA and corporate communication literature by proposing a new concept, CSA stance-action consistency and providing empirical evidence on its effects on consumer responses. Practical implications to CSA promotion were discussed.

Citation

Zhou, Z. and Dong, C. (2022), "Matching words with actions: understanding the effects of CSA stance-action consistency on negative consumer responses", Corporate Communications: An International Journal, Vol. 27 No. 1, pp. 167-187. https://doi.org/10.1108/CCIJ-05-2021-0060