IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/bushor/v66y2023i4p517-527.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Building a competitive advantage based on transparency: When and why does transparency matter for corporate social responsibility?

Author

Listed:
  • Liu, Yeyi
  • Heinberg, Martin
  • Huang, Xuan
  • Eisingerich, Andreas B.

Abstract

Customers today are increasingly demanding transparency from firms. This article discusses the concept of performance transparency and explores when and why transparency plays a key role for a firm’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) effectiveness. In doing so, it addresses consumer skepticism as the logic of the transparency-CSR interaction and presents empirical evidence of the effect. It also discusses key principles for managing performance transparency effectively. Companies should monitor and track performance transparency regularly, initiate consistent transparency practices along with CSR activities, pay attention to the types of information made available, and adapt the transparency practices to the involvement level.

Suggested Citation

  • Liu, Yeyi & Heinberg, Martin & Huang, Xuan & Eisingerich, Andreas B., 2023. "Building a competitive advantage based on transparency: When and why does transparency matter for corporate social responsibility?," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 66(4), pages 517-527.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:bushor:v:66:y:2023:i:4:p:517-527
    DOI: 10.1016/j.bushor.2022.10.004
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0007681322001306
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.bushor.2022.10.004?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Higgins, Colin & Tang, Samuel & Stubbs, Wendy, 2020. "On managing hypocrisy: The transparency of sustainability reports," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 395-407.
    2. Gregory Jackson & Julia Bartosch & Emma Avetisyan & Daniel Kinderman & Jette Steen Knudsen, 2020. "Mandatory Non-financial Disclosure and Its Influence on CSR: An International Comparison," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 162(2), pages 323-342, March.
    3. Simona Romani & Silvia Grappi & Richard P. Bagozzi, 2016. "Corporate Socially Responsible Initiatives and Their Effects on Consumption of Green Products," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 135(2), pages 253-264, May.
    4. Simona Romani & Silvia Grappi & Richard P. Bagozzi, 2016. "Erratum to: Corporate Socially Responsible Initiatives and Their Effects on Consumption of Green Products," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 135(2), pages 399-399, May.
    5. Skarmeas, Dionysis & Leonidou, Constantinos N., 2013. "When consumers doubt, Watch out! The role of CSR skepticism," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 66(10), pages 1831-1838.
    6. Heinberg, Martin & Ozkaya, H. Erkan & Taube, Markus, 2018. "Do corporate image and reputation drive brand equity in India and China? - Similarities and differences," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 259-268.
    7. Ryan W. Buell & Basak Kalkanci, 2021. "How Transparency into Internal and External Responsibility Initiatives Influences Consumer Choice," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 67(2), pages 932-950, February.
    8. Merlo, Omar & Eisingerich, Andreas & Auh, Seigyoung & Levstek, Jaka, 2018. "The benefits and implementation of performance transparency: The why and how of letting your customers ‘see through’ your business," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 61(1), pages 73-84.
    9. Lizet Quaak & Theo Aalbers & John Goedee, 2007. "Transparency of Corporate Social Responsibility in Dutch Breweries," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 76(3), pages 293-308, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Nguyen, Nga & Priporas, Constantinos-Vasilios & McPherson, Mark & Manyiwa, Simon, 2023. "CSR-related consumer scepticism: A review of the literature and future research directions," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    2. G. Pino & M. Nieto Garcia & A. Peluso & G. Viglia & R. Filieri, 2023. "Understanding how virtuous lenders encourage support for peer-to-peer platforms’ prosocial initiatives," Post-Print hal-04248928, HAL.
    3. Santhiya Ramasamy & Karpal S. Dara Singh & Azlan Amran & Mehran Nejati, 2020. "Linking human values to consumer CSR perception: The moderating role of consumer skepticism," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(4), pages 1958-1971, July.
    4. Xie, Quan & Wang, Tianjiao (Grace), 2022. "Promoting corporate social responsibility message in COVID-19 advertising: How threat persuasion affects consumer responses to altruistic versus strategic CSR," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 148(C), pages 315-324.
    5. Chang-Dae Ham & Jeesun Kim, 2019. "The Role of CSR in Crises: Integration of Situational Crisis Communication Theory and the Persuasion Knowledge Model," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 158(2), pages 353-372, August.
    6. Adrian Lehr & Marion Büttgen & Silke Bartsch, 2021. "Don’t Jump on the Bandwagon: Negative Effects of Sharewashing," Schmalenbach Journal of Business Research, Springer, vol. 73(1), pages 75-123, March.
    7. Cesare Amatulli & Matteo Angelis & Alessandro M. Peluso & Isabella Soscia & Gianluigi Guido, 2019. "The Effect of Negative Message Framing on Green Consumption: An Investigation of the Role of Shame," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 157(4), pages 1111-1132, July.
    8. Waites, Stacie F. & Farmer, Adam & Collier, Joel, 2024. "Good people good planet: Investigating the interconnection between social and environmental sustainability," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    9. Dirk C. Moosmayer & Yanyan Chen & Susannah M. Davis, 2019. "Deeds Not Words: A Cosmopolitan Perspective on the Influences of Corporate Sustainability and NGO Engagement on the Adoption of Sustainable Products in China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 158(1), pages 135-154, August.
    10. Coulibalyaicha Massaran & Jingli Liu, 2024. "ESG Impact on Green Purchases: Côte d’Ivoire’s Retail Sector in the Digital Age," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 8(7), pages 1419-1450, July.
    11. Wintschnig, Bea Alexandra, 2021. "The Attitude-Behavior Gap – Drivers and Barriers of Sustainable Consumption," Junior Management Science (JUMS), Junior Management Science e. V., vol. 6(2), pages 324-346.
    12. Lv, Xingyang & Liang, Yuqing & Luo, Jia & Liu, Yue, 2022. "Icing on the cake or gilding the lily? The impact of high-modified model images on purchase intention," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    13. Nick Lin-Hi & Marlene Reimer & Katharina Schäfer & Johanna Böttcher, 2023. "Consumer acceptance of cultured meat: an empirical analysis of the role of organizational factors," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 93(4), pages 707-746, May.
    14. Cumming, Douglas J. & Leboeuf, Gael & Schwienbacher, Armin, 2017. "Crowdfunding cleantech," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 292-303.
    15. Li Yan & Hean Tat Keh & Xiaoyu Wang, 2021. "Powering Sustainable Consumption: The Roles of Green Consumption Values and Power Distance Belief," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 169(3), pages 499-516, March.
    16. Sendlhofer, Tina & Tolstoy, Daniel, 2022. "How employees shape CSR transparency: A sensemaking perspective," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 268-278.
    17. Sri Widyastuti & Muhammad Said & Safitri Siswono & Dian Andi Firmansyah, 2019. "Customer Trust through Green Corporate Image, Green Marketing Staretgy and Social Responsibility: A Case Study," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(3), pages 343-359.
    18. Saleh Md Arman & Cecilia Mark-Herbert, 2022. "Ethical Pro-Environmental Self-Identity Practice: The Case of Second-Hand Products," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-18, February.
    19. Andreas Hesse & Karolin Bündgen & Saskia Claren & Sarah Frank, 2022. "Practices of brand extensions and how consumers respond to FMCG giants’ greening attempts," Journal of Brand Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 29(6), pages 520-537, November.
    20. Jinhua Li & Fang Zhang & Shiwei Sun, 2019. "Building Consumer-Oriented CSR Differentiation Strategy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-14, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:bushor:v:66:y:2023:i:4:p:517-527. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/bushor .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.