To take a stand or not: effects of company-issue fit and perceived motivations for CSA on consumer response

Abstract

Purpose

This study examined how consumer response to corporations that take a stand (or not) on social/political issues – varied by “fit” between the company and the advocated issue – was mediated by perceptions of the motives for the advocacy.

Design/methodology/approach

A 2 (corporate stand: stand v. no stand) × 2 (company-issue fit: high v. low) experiment was conducted with a nationally representative sample of 1,204 U.S. adult consumers.

Findings

The study found that the effect of corporate stand taking on perceived corporate hypocrisy was moderated by company-issue fit. Also, companies were viewed as more hypocritical when taking a stand on an issue that was less relevant to the company’s business, despite the CSA being seen as being values-driven.

Originality/value

The study provides guidelines for companies to determine when and whether to take a stand on a CSA issue. Particularly, the results suggest that values promotion is not the sole determinant of successful CSA and that company-issue fit should be taken into account for a more comprehensive assessment of the given CSA.

Citation

Kim, S., Austin, L.L. and Gaither, B.M. (2024), "To take a stand or not: effects of company-issue fit and perceived motivations for CSA on consumer response", Corporate Communications: An International Journal, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/CCIJ-06-2024-0101