IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jbuset/v175y2022i2d10.1007_s10551-020-04642-x.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

How Corporate Reputation Disclosures Affect Stakeholders’ Behavioral Intentions: Mediating Mechanisms of Perceived Organizational Performance and Corporate Reputation

Author

Listed:
  • Kim T. Baumgartner

    (Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuernberg)

  • Carolin A. Ernst

    (Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuernberg)

  • Thomas M. Fischer

    (Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuernberg)

Abstract

Corporate reputation is decisive for stakeholders’ supporting or repelling behavior and, therefore, one of firms’ most valuable intangible resources. Drawing on signaling theory, this paper focuses on the usefulness of voluntarily provided corporate reputation disclosures (CRDs) and examines their impact on stakeholders’ attitudinal and behavioral outcomes. Our experimental vignette studies reveal that CRDs reduce stakeholders’ information asymmetries, which positively affects perceived organizational performance and corporate reputation as well as stakeholders’ purchase, investment, and employment intentions. The relationships between CRDs and stakeholders’ behavioral intentions are sequentially mediated by changes in the perceived organizational performance and corporate reputation. This implies that stakeholders use the signals transmitted by CRDs to adjust their perceptions of a firm’s organizational performance and corporate reputation, which ultimately induces their behavioral outcomes. Overall, our empirical results show the usefulness of CRDs for firms in effectively developing stakeholder relationships and, thereby, contributing to assure their going concern. For stakeholders, CRDs improve efficiency in evaluating a firm’s future development.

Suggested Citation

  • Kim T. Baumgartner & Carolin A. Ernst & Thomas M. Fischer, 2022. "How Corporate Reputation Disclosures Affect Stakeholders’ Behavioral Intentions: Mediating Mechanisms of Perceived Organizational Performance and Corporate Reputation," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 175(2), pages 361-389, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:175:y:2022:i:2:d:10.1007_s10551-020-04642-x
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-020-04642-x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10551-020-04642-x
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10551-020-04642-x?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. Yixing Lisa Gao & Anna S. Mattila, 2016. "The Impact of Option Popularity, Social Inclusion/Exclusion, and Self-affirmation on Consumers’ Propensity to Choose Green Hotels," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 136(3), pages 575-585, July.
    2. Rüdiger Hahn & Regina Lülfs, 2014. "Legitimizing Negative Aspects in GRI-Oriented Sustainability Reporting: A Qualitative Analysis of Corporate Disclosure Strategies," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 123(3), pages 401-420, September.
    3. Hervé Stolowy & Luc Paugam, 2018. "The expansion of non-financial reporting: an exploratory study," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(5), pages 525-548, July.
    4. Joëlle Vanhamme & Valérie Swaen & Guido Berens & Catherine Janssen, 2015. "Playing with fire: aggravating and buffering effects of ex ante CSR communication campaigns for companies facing allegations of social irresponsibility," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 26(4), pages 565-578, December.
    5. Jonas Nilsson, 2008. "Investment with a Conscience: Examining the Impact of Pro-Social Attitudes and Perceived Financial Performance on Socially Responsible Investment Behavior," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 83(2), pages 307-325, December.
    6. Steven Kaplan & Janet Samuels & Jeffrey Cohen, 2015. "An Examination of the Effect of CEO Social Ties and CEO Reputation on Nonprofessional Investors’ Say-on-Pay Judgments," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 126(1), pages 103-117, January.
    7. Michael Erkens & Luc Paugam & Hervé Stolowy, 2015. "Non-financial information: State of the art and research perspectives based on a bibliometric study," ACCRA, Association francophone de comptabilité, vol. 21(3), pages 15-92.
    8. E. Arikan & D. Kantur & C. Maden & E. Telci, 2016. "Investigating the mediating role of corporate reputation on the relationship between corporate social responsibility and multiple stakeholder outcomes," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 50(1), pages 129-149, January.
    9. Eskenazi, Philip I. & Hartmann, Frank G.H. & Rietdijk, Wim J.R., 2016. "Why controllers compromise on their fiduciary duties: EEG evidence on the role of the human mirror neuron system," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 41-50.
    10. Violina P. Rindova & Charles J. Fombrun, 1999. "Constructing competitive advantage: the role of firm–constituent interactions," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(8), pages 691-710, August.
    11. Tischer, Sven & Hildebrandt, Lutz, 2014. "Linking corporate reputation and shareholder value using the publication of reputation rankings," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 67(5), pages 1007-1017.
    12. Kappes, Heather Barry & Balcetis, Emily & De Cremer, David, 2018. "Motivated reasoning during recruitment," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 84093, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    13. Yu-Shan Chen & Ching-Hsun Chang, 2013. "Greenwash and Green Trust: The Mediation Effects of Green Consumer Confusion and Green Perceived Risk," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 114(3), pages 489-500, May.
    14. W. Brooke Elliott & Stephanie M. Grant & Kristina M. Rennekamp, 2017. "How Disclosure Features of Corporate Social Responsibility Reports Interact with Investor Numeracy to Influence Investor Judgments," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 34(3), pages 1596-1621, September.
    15. Libby, Robert & Bloomfield, Robert & Nelson, Mark W., 2002. "Experimental research in financial accounting," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 27(8), pages 775-810, November.
    16. David L. Deephouse & Suzanne M. Carter, 2005. "An Examination of Differences Between Organizational Legitimacy and Organizational Reputation," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(2), pages 329-360, March.
    17. Daniel Reimsbach & Rüdiger Hahn & Anil Gürtürk, 2018. "Integrated Reporting and Assurance of Sustainability Information: An Experimental Study on Professional Investors’ Information Processing," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(3), pages 559-581, May.
    18. Robert G. Eccles & Ioannis Ioannou & George Serafeim, 2014. "The Impact of Corporate Sustainability on Organizational Processes and Performance," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 60(11), pages 2835-2857, November.
    19. Nagib Salem Bayoud & Marie Kavanagh, 2012. "Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure: Evidence From Libyan Managers," Global Journal of Business Research, The Institute for Business and Finance Research, vol. 6(5), pages 73-83.
    20. Barbara Arel & Cathy Beaudoin & Anna Cianci, 2012. "The Impact of Ethical Leadership, the Internal Audit Function, and Moral Intensity on a Financial Reporting Decision," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 109(3), pages 351-366, September.
    21. Michael Erkens & Luc Paugam & Hervé Stolowy, 2015. "Non-financial information: State of the art and research perspectives based on a bibliometric study," ACCRA, Association francophone de comptabilité, vol. 21(3), pages 15-92.
    22. Jennifer Kunz & Stefan Linder, 2012. "Organizational Control and Work Effort -- Another Look at the Interplay of Rewards and Motivation," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(3), pages 591-621, March.
    23. Mohammed Benlemlih & Mohammad Bitar, 2018. "Corporate Social Responsibility and Investment Efficiency," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 148(3), pages 647-671, March.
    24. Baruch Lev, 2019. "Ending the Accounting-for-Intangibles Status Quo," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(4), pages 713-736, August.
    25. Niamh M. Brennan & Doris M. Merkl-Davies, 2018. "Do firms effectively communicate with financial stakeholders? A conceptual model of corporate communication in a capital market context," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(5), pages 553-577, July.
    26. MacKenzie, Scott B. & Podsakoff, Philip M., 2012. "Common Method Bias in Marketing: Causes, Mechanisms, and Procedural Remedies," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 88(4), pages 542-555.
    27. Francisca Castilla-Polo & Dolores GALLARDO-VÁZQUEZ, 2016. "The main topics of research on disclosures of intangible assets: a critical review," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 29(2), pages 323-356, February.
    28. Mohammed Benlemlih & Mohammad Bitar, 2018. "Corporate Social Responsibility and Investment Efficiency," Post-Print halshs-01321227, HAL.
    29. Bartikowski, Boris & Walsh, Gianfranco, 2011. "Investigating mediators between corporate reputation and customer citizenship behaviors," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 64(1), pages 39-44, January.
    30. Peter Seele & Irina Lock, 2015. "Instrumental and/or Deliberative? A Typology of CSR Communication Tools," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 131(2), pages 401-414, October.
    31. Michael Pirson & Kirsten Martin & Bidhan Parmar, 2017. "Formation of Stakeholder Trust in Business and the Role of Personal Values," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 145(1), pages 1-20, September.
    32. Muhammad Nadeem & Christopher Gan & Cuong Nguyen, 2018. "The Importance of Intellectual Capital for Firm Performance: Evidence from Australia," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 28(3), pages 334-344, September.
    33. Bianca Grohmann & H. Bodur, 2015. "Brand Social Responsibility: Conceptualization, Measurement, and Outcomes," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 131(2), pages 375-399, October.
    34. Sora Kim, 2019. "The Process Model of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Communication: CSR Communication and its Relationship with Consumers’ CSR Knowledge, Trust, and Corporate Reputation Perception," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 154(4), pages 1143-1159, February.
    35. Daniel Reimsbach & Rüdiger Hahn, 2015. "The Effects of Negative Incidents in Sustainability Reporting on Investors’ Judgments–an Experimental Study of Third‐party Versus Self‐disclosure in the Realm of Sustainable Development," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(4), pages 217-235, May.
    36. Bruce H. Clark & David B. Montgomery, 1998. "Deterrence, Reputations, and Competitive Cognition," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 44(1), pages 62-82, January.
    37. James Agarwal & Oleksiy Osiyevskyy & Percy Feldman, 2015. "Corporate Reputation Measurement: Alternative Factor Structures, Nomological Validity, and Organizational Outcomes," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 130(2), pages 485-506, August.
    38. Madeleine Feder & Barbara E. Weißenberger, 2019. "Understanding the behavioral gap: Why would managers (not) engage in CSR-related activities?," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 30(1), pages 95-126, April.
    39. Kotha, Suresh & Rajgopal, Shivaram & Rindova, Violina, 2001. "Reputation Building and Performance: An Empirical Analysis of the Top-50 Pure Internet Firms," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 19(6), pages 571-586, December.
    40. Baruch Lev, 2018. "The deteriorating usefulness of financial report information and how to reverse it," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(5), pages 465-493, July.
    41. Ioannis Ioannou & George Serafeim, 2015. "The impact of corporate social responsibility on investment recommendations: Analysts' perceptions and shifting institutional logics," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(7), pages 1053-1081, July.
    42. Xingqiang Du, 2015. "How the Market Values Greenwashing? Evidence from China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 128(3), pages 547-574, May.
    43. Palan, Stefan & Schitter, Christian, 2018. "Prolific.ac—A subject pool for online experiments," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 17(C), pages 22-27.
    44. Michael Spence, 1973. "Job Market Signaling," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 87(3), pages 355-374.
    45. Sascha Raithel & Manfred Schwaiger, 2015. "The effects of corporate reputation perceptions of the general public on shareholder value," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(6), pages 945-956, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Yi Luo & Hua Jiang & Linzhi Zeng, 2023. "Linking Informative and Factual CSR Communication to Reputation: Understanding CSR Motives and Organizational Identification," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-22, March.
    2. Hassan H. H. Aldboush & Marah Ferdous, 2023. "Building Trust in Fintech: An Analysis of Ethical and Privacy Considerations in the Intersection of Big Data, AI, and Customer Trust," IJFS, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-18, July.
    3. Warat Winit & Erboon Ekasingh & Jomjai Sampet, 2023. "How Disclosure Types of Sustainability Performance Impact Consumers’ Relationship Quality and Firm Reputation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-18, January.

    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. Tomasz L. Nawrocki & Danuta Szwajca, 2022. "The Importance of Selected Aspects of a Company’s Reputation for Individual Stock Market Investors—Evidence from Polish Capital Market," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-15, July.
    2. Maria Misiuda & Maik Lachmann, 2022. "Investors’ Perceptions of Sustainability Reporting—A Review of the Experimental Literature," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-24, December.
    3. Marta Pizzetti & Lucia Gatti & Peter Seele, 2021. "Firms Talk, Suppliers Walk: Analyzing the Locus of Greenwashing in the Blame Game and Introducing ‘Vicarious Greenwashing’," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 170(1), pages 21-38, April.
    4. Annika Veh & Markus Göbel & Rick Vogel, 2019. "Corporate reputation in management research: a review of the literature and assessment of the concept," Business Research, Springer;German Academic Association for Business Research, vol. 12(2), pages 315-353, December.
    5. Kyle D. Turner, 2022. "Actions in the spotlight: Differential effects of corporate social responsibility actions on organizational celebrity," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(4), pages 860-870, July.
    6. Carolin Baier & Max Göttsche & Andreas Hellmann & Frank Schiemann, 2022. "Too Good To Be True: Influencing Credibility Perceptions with Signaling Reference Explicitness and Assurance Depth," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 178(3), pages 695-714, July.
    7. Gatti, Lucia & Pizzetti, Marta & Seele, Peter, 2021. "Green lies and their effect on intention to invest," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 228-240.
    8. Wolter, Jeremy S. & Donavan, D. Todd & Giebelhausen, Michael, 2021. "The corporate reputation and consumer-company identification link as a sensemaking process: A cross-level interaction analysis," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 289-300.
    9. Gatzert, Nadine, 2015. "The impact of corporate reputation and reputation damaging events on financial performance: Empirical evidence from the literature," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 33(6), pages 485-499.
    10. Mussa Hussaini & Ugo Rigoni & Paolo Perego, 2023. "The strategic choice of payment method in takeovers: The role of environmental, social and governance performance," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(1), pages 200-219, January.
    11. Eileen Fischer & Rebecca Reuber, 2007. "The Good, the Bad, and the Unfamiliar: The Challenges of Reputation Formation Facing New Firms," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 31(1), pages 53-75, January.
    12. Charles H. Cho & Michele Fabrizi & Silvia Pilonato & Federica Ricceri, 2024. "Not all bad news is harmful to a good reputation: evidence from the most visible companies in the US," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 28(1), pages 9-36, March.
    13. Konstantinos Pitsakis & Vangelis Souitaris & Nicos Nicolaou, 2015. "The Peripheral Halo Effect: Do Academic Spinoffs Influence Universities' Research Income?," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(3), pages 321-353, May.
    14. Nair, Rajiv & Muttakin, Mohammad & Khan, Arifur & Subramaniam, Nava & Somanath, V.S., 2019. "Corporate social responsibility disclosure and financial transparency: Evidence from India," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 330-351.
    15. Ionel Bostan & Ionela-Corina Chersan & Magdalena Danileț & Mihaela Ifrim & Viorica Chirilă, 2020. "Investigations Regarding the Linguistic Register Used by Managers to Convey to Stakeholders a Positive View of Their Company, in the Context of the Business Sustainability Desideratum," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-19, August.
    16. Anagnostopoulou, Seraina C. & Tsekrekos, Andrianos E. & Voulgaris, Georgios, 2021. "Accounting conservatism and corporate social responsibility," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(4).
    17. Martin, Rachel, 2019. "Examination and implications of experimental research on investor perceptions," Journal of Accounting Literature, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 145-169.
    18. Xiaopeng Wang & Xueyao Shen & Yongliang Yang, 2020. "Does Environmental Information Disclosure Make Firms’ Investments More Efficient? Evidence from Measure 2007 of Chinese A-Listed Companies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-16, March.
    19. Nada Basir, 2020. "Reputation Enhancing Through Patent Portfolios: An Exploration of Lapsed Patents and IPOS," Corporate Reputation Review, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 23(1), pages 42-56, February.
    20. Wei Li & Weining Li & Veikko Seppänen & Timo Koivumäki, 2023. "Effects of greenwashing on financial performance: Moderation through local environmental regulation and media coverage," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(1), pages 820-841, 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:kap:jbuset:v:175:y:2022:i:2:d:10.1007_s10551-020-04642-x. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.