TY - JOUR
T1 - Proactive Versus Reactive CSR in a Crisis
T2 - An Impression Management Perspective
AU - Rim, Hyejoon
AU - Ferguson, Mary Ann T.
PY - 2020/10/1
Y1 - 2020/10/1
N2 - This study investigates the effects of corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices on protecting and restoring company reputation in crisis situations. The results suggest the ability of proactive CSR to counter potential damage to corporate reputation caused by a crisis but not to serve as a remedy after a crisis. The findings further indicate a significant interaction effect between crisis type and the fit of reactive CSR for a company without proactive CSR. For a preventable crisis, a company is better off choosing low-fit reactive CSR than not engaging in reactive CSR at all. In a victim crisis, low-fit reactive CSR is more effective in improving company reputation than high-fit reactive CSR. When a company has been previously engaged in proactive CSR, the impact of fit across crisis types disappears. The mediating role of perceived altruism suggests the importance of sincerity in CSR.
AB - This study investigates the effects of corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices on protecting and restoring company reputation in crisis situations. The results suggest the ability of proactive CSR to counter potential damage to corporate reputation caused by a crisis but not to serve as a remedy after a crisis. The findings further indicate a significant interaction effect between crisis type and the fit of reactive CSR for a company without proactive CSR. For a preventable crisis, a company is better off choosing low-fit reactive CSR than not engaging in reactive CSR at all. In a victim crisis, low-fit reactive CSR is more effective in improving company reputation than high-fit reactive CSR. When a company has been previously engaged in proactive CSR, the impact of fit across crisis types disappears. The mediating role of perceived altruism suggests the importance of sincerity in CSR.
KW - corporate social responsibility
KW - crisis communication
KW - CSR-crisis fit
KW - impression management
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85062479499&partnerID=8YFLogxK
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U2 - 10.1177/2329488417719835
DO - 10.1177/2329488417719835
M3 - Article
SN - 2329-4884
VL - 57
SP - 545
EP - 568
JO - International Journal of Business Communication
JF - International Journal of Business Communication
IS - 4
ER -