IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/joreco/v81y2024ics0969698924002595.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Join us for a greener future: Understanding the role of message framing in CER communication

Author

Listed:
  • Cai, Mirabelle (Mufei)
  • Zheng, Chundong
  • Zhang, Lan
  • Baumann, Chris

Abstract

Companies increasingly engage in Corporate Environmental Responsibility (CER) activities, aiming to enhance positive brand attitudes. To facilitate this objective, they frequently employ social media platforms to share CER messages and invite consumer participation in these initiatives. This research aims to investigate how the framing of messages influences the effectiveness of CER messages that involve consumer participation (or not). A secondary data analysis using data from Twitter and two scenario-simulated experiments provide converging evidence. Namely, when the CER message on social media does not involve consumer participation invitation, the concrete and coalition messages lead to positive brand attitudes. In contrast, when the CER message on social media involves consumer participation invitation, the abstract and individual messages positively influence brand attitudes. These effects are driven by perceived motive. Our research provides important insights for brand managers aiming to use CER to improve brand performance.

Suggested Citation

  • Cai, Mirabelle (Mufei) & Zheng, Chundong & Zhang, Lan & Baumann, Chris, 2024. "Join us for a greener future: Understanding the role of message framing in CER communication," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:joreco:v:81:y:2024:i:c:s0969698924002595
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jretconser.2024.103963
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0969698924002595
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jretconser.2024.103963?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. Perks, Keith J. & Farache, Francisca & Shukla, Paurav & Berry, Aidan, 2013. "Communicating responsibility-practicing irresponsibility in CSR advertisements," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 66(10), pages 1881-1888.
    2. Mark Groza & Mya Pronschinske & Matthew Walker, 2011. "Perceived Organizational Motives and Consumer Responses to Proactive and Reactive CSR," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 102(4), pages 639-652, September.
    3. Kenneth Roeck & Nathalie Delobbe, 2012. "Do Environmental CSR Initiatives Serve Organizations’ Legitimacy in the Oil Industry? Exploring Employees’ Reactions Through Organizational Identification Theory," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 110(4), pages 397-412, November.
    4. Sun Young Lee & Weiwu Zhang & Alan Abitbol, 2019. "What Makes CSR Communication Lead to CSR Participation? Testing the Mediating Effects of CSR Associations, CSR Credibility, and Organization–Public Relationships," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 157(2), pages 413-429, June.
    5. Eisingerich, Andreas B. & MacInnis, Deborah J. & Whan Park, C., 2023. "Do CSR efforts that focus on helping the environment influence brand purchase more than other forms of CSR?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    6. Alantari, Huwail J. & Currim, Imran S. & Deng, Yiting & Singh, Sameer, 2022. "An empirical comparison of machine learning methods for text-based sentiment analysis of online consumer reviews," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 1-19.
    7. Gregory D. Saxton & Lina Gomez & Zed Ngoh & Yi-Pin Lin & Sarah Dietrich, 2019. "Do CSR Messages Resonate? Examining Public Reactions to Firms’ CSR Efforts on Social Media," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 155(2), pages 359-377, March.
    8. Jahn, Johannes & Brühl, Rolf, 2019. "Can bad news be good? On the positive and negative effects of including moderately negative information in CSR disclosures," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 117-128.
    9. Katharine M. Howie & Lifeng Yang & Scott J. Vitell & Victoria Bush & Doug Vorhies, 2018. "Consumer Participation in Cause-Related Marketing: An Examination of Effort Demands and Defensive Denial," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 147(3), pages 679-692, February.
    10. Zhu, Linlin & He, Yi & Chen, Qimei & Hu, Miao, 2017. "It's the thought that counts: The effects of construal level priming and donation proximity on consumer response to donation framing," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 44-51.
    11. Khan, Imran, 2022. "Do brands’ social media marketing activities matter? A moderation analysis," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    12. Tahniyath Fatima & Said Elbanna, 2023. "Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Implementation: A Review and a Research Agenda Towards an Integrative Framework," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 183(1), pages 105-121, February.
    13. Rosalynn Vasquez, 2022. "CSR, CSA, or CPA? Examining Corporate Climate Change Communication Strategies, Motives, and Effects on Consumer Outcomes," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-16, March.
    14. Ionuț-Daniel Anastasiei & Mircea Radu Georgescu, 2020. "Automated vs Manual Content Analysis – A Retrospective Look," Scientific Annals of Economics and Business (continues Analele Stiintifice), Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, vol. 67(si), pages 57-67, December.
    15. Gutierrez, Anabel & Punjaisri, Khanyapuss & Desai, Bhavini & Syed Alwi, Sharifah Faridah & O'Leary, Simon & Chaiyasoonthorn, Wornchanok & Chaveesuk, Singha, 2023. "Retailers, don't ignore me on social media! The importance of consumer-brand interactions in raising purchase intention - Privacy the Achilles heel," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    16. Bartikowski, Boris & Berens, Guido, 2021. "Attribute framing in CSR communication: Doing good and spreading the word – But how?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 700-708.
    17. Floritzel Moreno & Jiyun Kang, 2020. "How to alleviate consumer skepticism concerning corporate responsibility: The role of content and delivery in CSR communications," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(6), pages 2477-2490, November.
    18. Yunjeong Ahn & Jieun Lee, 2019. "The Effect of Participation Effort on CSR Participation Intention: The Moderating Role of Construal Level on Consumer Perception of Warm Glow and Perceived Costs," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-14, December.
    19. Yu, Weiping & Han, Xiaoyun & Ding, Lei & He, Mingli, 2021. "Organic food corporate image and customer co-developing behavior: The mediating role of consumer trust and purchase intention," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    20. Park, Sangchul & Ahn, Sungsook & Kim, Sanghoon, 2024. "Sport event vs. art event? The effect of CSR-linked sponsorship event type on product purchase," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    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. Kim, Yeonshin & Hur, Won-Moo & Lee, Luri, 2023. "Understanding customer participation in CSR activities: The impact of perceptions of CSR, affective commitment, brand equity, and corporate reputation," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    2. Heloïse Berkowitz & Marcelo Bucheli & Hervé Dumez, 2017. "Collectively Designing CSR Through Meta-Organizations: A Case Study of the Oil and Gas Industry," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 143(4), pages 753-769, July.
    3. Virginia S. Harrison & Michail Vafeiadis & Joseph Bober, 2022. "Greening Professional Sport: How Communicating the Fit, Proximity, and Impact of Sustainability Efforts Affects Fan Perceptions and Supportive Intentions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-21, March.
    4. Sana Noor & Abubakr Saeed & Muhammad Saad Baloch & Muhammad Awais, 2020. "CSR permanency, family ownership, and firm value: Evidence from emerging economies," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(5), pages 2135-2149, September.
    5. Li Yu & Weiwei Wu, 2024. "The impact of perceived environmental corporate social responsibility on idea generation and idea implementation," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-15, December.
    6. Patrick Hartmann & Paula Fernández & Vanessa Apaolaza & Martin Eisend & Clare D’Souza, 2021. "Explaining Viral CSR Message Propagation in Social Media: The Role of Normative Influences," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 173(2), pages 365-385, October.
    7. Carolin Plewa & Jodie Conduit & Pascale Quester & Claire Johnson, 2015. "The Impact of Corporate Volunteering on CSR Image: A Consumer Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 127(3), pages 643-659, March.
    8. Janssen, Catherine & Swaen, Valérie & Du, Shuili, 2022. "Is a specific claim always better? The double-edged effects of claim specificity in green advertising," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 435-447.
    9. Gatignon-Turnau, Anne-Laure & Mignonac, Karim, 2015. "(Mis)Using employee volunteering for public relations: Implications for corporate volunteers' organizational commitment," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 7-18.
    10. Jiaen Hu & Luis Miguel López-Bonilla & Jesús Manuel López-Bonilla, 2023. "CSR Perceptions and Brand Attitudes in Chinese Luxury Hospitality: The Moderating Effect of Ads vs. Media Reports," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-17, May.
    11. Heather Markham Kim & Kyuha Cho & Younggin Choi & Junghoon (Jay) Lee & Jinsoo Hwang, 2021. "Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting in the Casino Industry: A Content Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(20), pages 1-16, October.
    12. Tahniyath Fatima & Said Elbanna, 2023. "Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Implementation: A Review and a Research Agenda Towards an Integrative Framework," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 183(1), pages 105-121, February.
    13. Baobao Song & Jing (Taylor) Wen, 2020. "Online corporate social responsibility communication strategies and stakeholder engagements: A comparison of controversial versus noncontroversial industries," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(2), pages 881-896, March.
    14. Robinson, Stefanie & Eilert, Meike, 2018. "The role of message specificity in corporate social responsibility communication," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 260-268.
    15. Dejian Yu & Bo Xiang & Zhuoya Pan, 2024. "Combining text analytics and network path extraction to trace CSR in the social sciences: Intellectual structures and diffusion trajectories," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(5), pages 4532-4554, September.
    16. Egle Jakunskiene & Egle Kazlauskiene, 2022. "The Evaluation of Business Tools for Encouraging Social Responsibility in Older Consumers," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-23, March.
    17. Cha, Moon-Kyung & Yi, Youjae & Lee, Jaehoon, 2020. "When people low in social class become a persuasive source of communication: Social class of other donors and charitable donations," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 45-55.
    18. Michael C. Peasley & Parker J. Woodroof & Joshua T. Coleman, 2021. "Processing Contradictory CSR Information: The Influence of Primacy and Recency Effects on the Consumer-Firm Relationship," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 172(2), pages 275-289, August.
    19. Argiro Kliamenakis & H. Onur Bodur, 2024. "Moral Self-Signaling Benefits of Effortful Cause Marketing Campaigns," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 190(2), pages 371-398, March.
    20. Yaping Fang & Feng Liu & Sunmin Kim & Minchan Pyo, 2023. "Consumer Participation in CSR: Spending Money versus Spending Time," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-17, March.

    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:joreco:v:81:y:2024:i:c:s0969698924002595. 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: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-retailing-and-consumer-services .

    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.