Quid PRO QUO? Dutch and German Consumer Responses to Conditional and Unconditional Corporate Giving Initiatives in Advertising
Communicating Corporate Social Responsibility: Perspectives and Practice
ISBN: 978-1-78350-795-5, eISBN: 978-1-78350-796-2
Publication date: 28 July 2014
Abstract
Purpose
To investigate consumer responses to conditional (CRM) versus unconditional (corporate philanthropy) corporate giving initiatives in advertising. Cross-cultural approach to investigate whether Dutch and Germans differ in their responses.
Design/methodology/approach
2×3, between-subjects experiment, involving 178 Dutch and German consumers (convenience samples). Nationality and type of corporate giving initiative were the independent variables. Type of corporate giving initiative was manipulated in a product advertisement. Attitude to company, attitude to product and purchasing intent were measured in a written questionnaire.
Findings
Main effect for type of corporate giving initiative: participants exposed to the conditional (CRM) or the unconditional (corporate philanthropy) giving initiatives displayed significantly more positive attitudes to company than participants in the control condition. Main effect for nationality: German participants were significantly more positive about the product and the company than the Dutch. No effects on purchasing intent, and no interaction between nationality and type of corporate giving initiative.
Practical implications
Communicating about corporate giving (in advertising) can contribute to positive consumer outcomes, with respect to attitude to the company. The two nationalities studied did not differ in their response to the two types of corporate giving initiative, suggesting that both types could be effective in boosting corporate reputation in these countries.
Originality/value
Cross-cultural research on consumer response to CSR initiatives is underrepresented, as are studies that investigate the relative effects of different types of corporate giving. This study regionally expands research on the efficacy of corporate giving to Germany and the Netherlands.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank an anonymous reviewer for very constructive comments on an earlier draft of this chapter. They also wish to thank the students of the Law Faculties at Friedrich-Schiller Universität in Jena, Germany, and at Radboud University Nijmegen, the Netherlands, who took part in this study.
Citation
Planken, B. and Verheijen, S. (2014), "Quid PRO QUO? Dutch and German Consumer Responses to Conditional and Unconditional Corporate Giving Initiatives in Advertising", Communicating Corporate Social Responsibility: Perspectives and Practice (Critical Studies on Corporate Responsibility, Governance and Sustainability, Vol. 6), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 405-424. https://doi.org/10.1108/S2043-9059(2014)0000006003
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2014 Emerald Group Publishing Limited