TY - JOUR
T1 - The CSR green halo effect on the corporate–public communication
T2 - an experimental study
AU - Dong, Dong
AU - CHANG, Jay H C
AU - Wang, Tianjiao
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was fully supported by the Faculty Research Grant [FRG2/11-12/163] from the Hong Kong Baptist University.
PY - 2017/3/4
Y1 - 2017/3/4
N2 - Environmental corporate social responsibility (CSR) has been a popular practice among corporations. However, the mechanism and effectiveness of environmental CSR in affecting corporate–public communication are still unclear. Against the theoretical backdrop of the ‘halo effect’ and through a controlled experiment with 742 participants from Hong Kong and mainland China, we find that: if a company’s environmental CSR activity receives higher support from the consumers, it is less likely for consumers to avoid advertisements endorsed by the company. The CSR green halo effect therefore exists. Moreover, consumers’ nationality and their three preexisting attitudes (general environmental CSR support, environmental beliefs, and favorability of products’ country of origin) are important moderators of the green halo effect and need to be considered in practice.
AB - Environmental corporate social responsibility (CSR) has been a popular practice among corporations. However, the mechanism and effectiveness of environmental CSR in affecting corporate–public communication are still unclear. Against the theoretical backdrop of the ‘halo effect’ and through a controlled experiment with 742 participants from Hong Kong and mainland China, we find that: if a company’s environmental CSR activity receives higher support from the consumers, it is less likely for consumers to avoid advertisements endorsed by the company. The CSR green halo effect therefore exists. Moreover, consumers’ nationality and their three preexisting attitudes (general environmental CSR support, environmental beliefs, and favorability of products’ country of origin) are important moderators of the green halo effect and need to be considered in practice.
KW - corporate–public communication
KW - Environmental CSR
KW - experimental study
KW - Green halo effect
KW - online advertisement
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84995503354&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/01292986.2016.1257034
DO - 10.1080/01292986.2016.1257034
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:84995503354
SN - 0129-2986
VL - 27
SP - 213
EP - 230
JO - Asian Journal of Communication
JF - Asian Journal of Communication
IS - 2
ER -