Do well, do good, and know your audience: the double-edged sword of values-based CSR communication

The Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) efforts of brands impact consumers’ willingness to support them, yet consumers are generally skeptical about CSR communication. This empirical work uses three experimental studies to show that framing CSR messages in values-based terms (“It is our duty to engage in this CSR initiative”) enhances consumers’ brand attitudes by increasing perceived moralization and perceived commitment to the initiative. More interestingly, we show that this effect is reversed for highly formalistic consumers (those motivated by the duty to follow values, principles, and rules) who are opposed to the CSR initiative. We also show that in the long term, values-based frames can lead to higher perceived hypocrisy in the eyes of highly formalistic people if the firm does not live up to its lofty principles. This is the first paper to establish the link between values-based CSR communication, perceived moralization, perceived commitment, and brand attitudes. It also brings together the research streams on CSR communication and consumer ethical systems to show that though values-based framing of CSR is a high-return strategy for brands in terms of improved brand attitudes, it is also a high-risk strategy for firms targeting highly formalistic consumers.