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This study aims to develop a classification schema for strategic philanthropy as a framework for empirical investigation and managerial decision making. Additionally it aims to present experimental assessments of various types of philanthropy based on the classification schema.

This study presents the results of two experiments examining the effects of different types and implementation strategies of philanthropy on consumer perceptions of brand equity variables.

The experiments suggest that in a proactive condition corporate philanthropy does have an overall positive effect on consumer perceptions of corporate associations. However, the effects did not transfer to brand evaluations or patronage intentions. Additionally, philanthropy as a part of a recovery strategy has a consistent but non‐significant effect on consumer perceptions.

In the study manipulations respondents received the response at the same time as they read about the crisis. This generally would not happen in actual situations. A second limitation is the lack of control or manipulation for history between the company and the target segment in the directed philanthropy conditions.

The findings of this study have three managerial implications. First, traditional philanthropy may be effective for corporate or brand image objectives, but ineffective for brand evaluation and purchase objectives. Philanthropy directed toward a particular segment may also have a positive effect on consumers beyond that segment. Finally, in cases in which the objective is simply to thwart negative publicity, reactive philanthropy may not be a viable strategic option.

This study examines the effects of philanthropic activity on consumer perceptions of firms and the brands they market.

Corporate philanthropy in the U.S. has emerged since the mid-19th century. This essay takes a historical and interpretive perspective on its practice. The author categorizes corporate philanthropy into four ethical models to examine each modelʼs communicative priorities and ethical concerns. These communicative priorities and ethical concerns become more complex as corporate philanthropic entities utilize social media. To this end, the potential for what Coombs and Holladay (2012) called a “paracrisis” emerges. This essay examines the potential for community partners to be affected by a corporationʼs presence on social media (and vice versa) through the interpretive lens of the paracrisis. The paper concludes with recommendations for future research.

The purpose of this paper is to present a theory of how corporations and brands can address the prevalence of fake news. A matrix is proposed to examine how the transparency of the motivation of the communicator disseminating fake news interacts with how well the content of the fake news coincides with a consumer’s previously held bias.

A dichotomy is presented examining the role of “Schemer’s Schema” transparency by confirmatory bias.

Consumers will react differently to fake news depending on their “schemer schema” and the source of the information, as well as the believability of the story based on already existing beliefs.

This paper provides readers with a strategy to address the prevalence and reality of fake news. The purpose of this paper is theoretical in nature. While this manuscript lays the foundation for future empirical studies, said studies have not been conducted. Further, given the ever-changing nature of fake news dissemination this manuscript provides a picture at a specific time and place.

This manuscript provides insights for brand managers who are forced to address fake news.

This manuscript provides marketers with a strategy to better address fake news for organizations and brand.

This study aims to make a distinction between two types of authenticity (indexical vs iconic), the influence of both of which on the consumer’s inference of companies’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) motivation is determined. Meanwhile, the consumer inference of CSR activities can be affected by the situational context within which the CSR activities are contained. Therefore, the effect of the interaction between the authenticity type and the given social distance (based on the construal level theory) was also examined.

The study conducted a 2 × 2 between-subjects design experiment to examine the effects of authenticity type (indexical/iconic) and social distance (close/distant) on the perceived motive of the CSR information in a scenario.

The findings showed significant main effect of authenticity type but no significant main effect of social distance on persuasion knowledge. Participants in the indexical authenticity condition perceived a higher degree of persuasion knowledge than the participants in the iconic authenticity condition. Social distance moderated the effect of authenticity type such that for indexical authenticity, there was a significant difference on persuasion knowledge when the social distance was large. However, for iconic authenticity, the perception of persuasion knowledge was not significantly different between a large distance and a close distance.

The study identified the type of authenticity that is mainly perceived as a result of CSR activities and also determined its relation to the social distance dimension to infer a firm’s CSR motives.

There are many anecdotal accounts about industrial buyers’ perceptions of sellers, but little research exists empirically to determine these perceptions. This research generates a profile of industrial buyer perceptions of salespeople developed from a perceptual inventory gathered from a national sample of purchasing professionals. Both positive and negative profiles are identified, but means analysis generally supports the contention that industrial buyers have largely positive perceptions of salespeople. These profiles can be useful to both researchers and industry professionals in assessing the effects of buyer perceptions in industrial, business‐to‐business, and relationship marketing situations.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a set of research propositions concerned with how the alignment between socially responsible corporate image and corporate identity might be enhanced through the reduction of scepticism by considering diagnostic dimensions of the corporate social responsibility (CSR) image advertising claim.

The paper reviews corporate image advertising, the tool investigated for informing about the firm's CSR record, discusses the scepticism construct and theoretical explanations of why this communication approach might induce scepticism, considers extant empirical findings that lend support to these theories, and describes several elements of CSR advertising claims considered to be diagnostic and capable of inhibiting scepticism responses to CSR image advertisements among consumers. Research propositions are advanced and discussed.

The paper provides conceptual insights into reducing consumer scepticism toward CSR‐based corporate identity communicated via corporate image advertising.

The paper advances four research propositions, and proposes a method for testing these propositions.

The paper acknowledges the increase in CSR‐based corporate image advertising, discusses why such communication approaches may be prone to consumer scepticism, and considers message elements to inhibit this persuasion‐eroding cognitive response.

This paper suggests a study to understand how corporate identity based on CSR achievements can be more persuasively communicated via CSR‐based corporate image advertising

Environmental claims in advertising (green ads) provide competitive advantage to firms. This study aims to understand what kinds of environmental claims advertisers make in a developing nation like India. Further, implications for policymakers and advertisers are discussed.

A content analysis of 279 green print advertisements was conducted using a comprehensive list of claim categories identified from the advertising literature. These categories included advertiser profile; ad promotions – type, sector, appeal; claim – nature, type, focus, validity, emphasis; executional elements – illustration setting, presenter, format/structure and environmental issue, identified from past studies and practitioner interviews.

The findings suggest that majority of the advertisers using green ads are manufacturers. Consumer durables, real estate and power sector together constitute one-third of the total green ads. Further, most of the green ads are aimed at influencing consumer behaviour. Though most of the ads contain strong emphasis on environmental attributes, they are ambiguous. A large proportion of claims are credence in nature and lack product identification through environmental certifications. This study also identifies areas of concern including interpretation of the term green, use of multiple certifications, greenwashing and advertisers showing environmental responsiveness through event-based green advertising. Policy recommendations are made based on green advertising regulations governing them across developed and other developing countries.

The content analysis of the green advertisements in this study was limited to newspaper advertisements within the print media. Future studies may use advertisements from different media types, such as the internet ads and television commercials, to examine the effect of media type on the nature of green advertisements. It would also be interesting to examine the role of regulations as a moderator, influencing the claims made in green advertisements.

The findings of this study provide a comprehensive overview of the nature of green advertisements in India. Marketers may use these insights to design effective green advertising strategies.

Most of the extant literature has examined environmental claims in the context of developed nations, where regulations are well established. Very few studies have examined this issue in the context of developing countries. In addition, most of the previous studies have focused on specific issues like greenwashing, appeals and execution elements. The present study contributes to green advertising by examining environmental claims in case of a developing nation like India using a comprehensive list of claim categories. This study also identifies areas of concern and suggests recommendations for policymakers and advertisers.

Cognitive literary criticism is introduced as a bridge between cognitive approaches to the study of persuasion, and literary traditions in consumer research. As a successor to reader-response theory, cognitive literary theory focuses on the cognitive processes of interpretation, while keeping an eye on the aesthetic properties of the text. Paradigmatically cautious researchers might shy away from attempts to marry positivist cognitive constructs to interpretivist cultural theory, but this chapter argues that these qualms also conceal missed opportunities for the study of persuasion.

Insights from cognitive literary criticism are demonstrated at the hand of a LEGO ad.

Theory of mind and conceptual blending are crucial cognitive skills involved in the interpretation of persuasive texts.

Most research to date has kept literary and cognitive approaches to persuasion separate, black-boxing the processes of persuasion. This chapter argues for a revitalization of interest in aesthetic detail, informed by insights from cognitive science.

This article explores how the commentary of intermediaries – third-party entities that do not have direct economic stakes in the sales of goods – can contribute to the creation of new market categories comprising preexisting but neglected and undervalued goods. Specifically, I study how the Sundance Institute facilitated the creation of a market for independent cinema in the United States, suggesting that intermediaries create market categories by defining boundaries, generating criteria of evaluation, and setting standards for measuring and establishing hierarchies of quality, which help audiences understand and value the category. The study, thus, adds nuance to our understanding of markets and categories.