University of Twente Student Theses
The two faces of corporate brands : the impact of product brands' contradictory CSR perceptions on the relationship with the brands and corporate brand
Werleman, I.C.D.R. (2016) The two faces of corporate brands : the impact of product brands' contradictory CSR perceptions on the relationship with the brands and corporate brand.
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| Abstract: | There has been a growing body of literature that explores a company’s behavior regarding the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) that often is contrary to their stated social responsibility core values (e.g., Wagner, Lutz & Weitz; Janney & Gove, 2011). In addition Wagner, Lutz and Weitz (2009) introduced the concept of corporate hypocrisy and posit when a company exhibits inconsistent CSR information, it elicits the perception of corporate hypocrisy (i.e., the belief that the company claims to be something that is actually not) among its consumers, resulting in negative evaluations towards the company. Previous studies that explored the consequences of this concept and CSR inconsistencies have only regarded the company as one entity (i.e., the company that preaches CSR and also engage in irresponsible behavior). However, research that explores the impact of inconsistent CSR information perceptions from different entities from a company, such as independent product brands owned by the same company, are very limited. Therefore, this study examines the effects of corporate hypocrisy as the consequence of product brands’ contradictory CSR information on the consumers’ relationship with the brands and on the corporate brand reputation and brand trust. The study results indicate that product brands’ contradictory CSR information does elicit perception of corporate hypocrisy and results in negative impact on the corporate reputation and corporate brand trust. The results also showed that corporate hypocrisy has a negative impact on the product brands’ consumer-brand relationship. |
| Item Type: | Essay (Master) |
| Faculty: | BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences |
| Subject: | 05 communication studies |
| Programme: | Communication Studies MSc (60713) |
| Link to this item: | https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/69557 |
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