CSR Research: Corporate Citizenship

This report discusses the impact of global shocks that have disruptive consequences in multiple continents for financial, natural, public health, or political systems. It offers recommendations applicable to businesses for strategic planning to assess vulnerability and build resilience in critical systems that could be impacted by global shocks.

Researchers conducted multiple studies examining audience responses to calls to action on environmental issues. Findings show that the more audiences perceive an issue as important, the more they respond to assertive messages. Less assertive and more suggestive calls to action proved more effective with issues that audiences perceived as less important.

Researchers examined the impact of different cause-related marketing ad messages on purchase intention and attitude toward a company. They found that the nature of support for a cause and its relationship to an outcome highlighted in a message can be significant factors.

This study suggests that to be effective, customization must be based on accurate identification of customer preferences.

Researchers surveyed young people to determine their expectations, attitudes and evaluations of CSR. They found that young consumers prefer communication that is personally relevant, factually based, and are more likely to believe communication claims.

Through an analysis of news reports, this study examined the role of the media in determining which negative corporate events reach a broader audience. Researchers found that media are more likely to report accidents at companies with a superior CSR record or at those with substantial past problems.

Researchers examined the relationship between consumers’ perceived ethicality of a corporation and their trust, loyalty, and emotional response at the product level. They found a direct relationship between consumer perceptions of a corporate brand and the perception of the product brands under a corporate umbrella.

Researchers conducted surveys to define, develop, and validate a measure of champion behavior that identifies and quantifies what champions actually do to promote innovations successfully in organizations.

Among members of any organization, there can be multiple perspectives on the organization’s identity. For managers to get the best results in these environments it is important to understand how these multiple identities relate to each other, to the organization’s goals and to its stakeholders, and apply the most appropriate strategy.

Why do high performing, prominent companies engage in corporate illegality that jeopardizes their reputation and puts future profits at risk? A recent study in the Academy of Management Journal highlights some of the factors that contribute to these events.

Researchers examined whether a firm’s corporate citizenship engagement strategy influences the relationship between corporate citizenship and financial performance. They found firms benefit more when the corporate citizenship strategy is consistent, involves related dimensions of corporate citizenship, and begins with aspects of corporate citizenship that are more internal to the firm.

Economist John Kay outlines an ambitious plan for transforming equity markets to combat a prevailing culture of short-termism that encourages companies to make shortsighted decisions, with significant consequences for the firms and their investors. He proposes a number of solutions to restore trust-based relationships and aligned incentives across the investment chain.