CSR Communication as a Bolstering Crisis Response Strategy: Public Inferences of CSR Attributions and Leadership Styles

Despite numerous research on public attributions of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and subsequent responses, the question of how publics perceive CSR communications as a bolstering crisis response strategy remains partially unaddressed. Based on the integration of Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT) with the Persuasion Knowledge Model (PKM), we conduct an experiment with a 2 (topic knowledge - crisis type: accidental vs. preventable) x 2 (persuasion knowledge - CSR attributions: values-driven vs. strategic-driven) x 2 (agent knowledge – leadership styles: transformational vs. transactional) design. Results show main and interaction effects on dependent variables such as crisis responsibility perceptions, attitudes toward the company, and behavioral intentions. We highlight a significant role of public inferences of CSR attributions and leadership styles in responding to a company’s crisis response strategy. Theoretical and practical implications will be discussed.