Understanding Corporate Social Responsibility as an Advertising Appeal: A Customer Analysis

Many companies are recognising the corporate and brand opportunities of implementing peripheral cues to help consumers gauge corporate reputation and product evaluations. As such, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) can be utilised as a marketing tool. However, communication is often a missing link between the firm’s initiatives and consumer awareness. The first study in this research will utilise a conjoint analysis to determine preferred CSR communication features for retail banking and retail petroleum brands. The second study will utilise the Theory of Planned Behaviour model to examine consumers’ attitudes and behavioural intentions based on advertising stimuli which incorporates a CSR appeal. Introduction: Communication challenges exist in advertising as the marketplace is cluttered, fragmentation of media increases and competition intensifies. Within the Australian retail banking and retail petroleum marketplace, increased competition means there is little room for differentiation as the core product approaches commodity status (Ovans, 1997). As such, peripheral cues such as ethics-based value propositions and brand personalities are being used to differentiate firms and increasingly, organisations are adopting CSR policies and initiatives into the business structure. However, “communication often remains the missing link in the practice of corporate responsibility...so [companies] are not getting full credit for their responsible corporate behaviour” (Dawkins, 2005). Recently, Westpac and BP have both run print advertising campaigns which focus on their firm’s CSR initiatives, embedding the CSR message into mainstream communications. Such examples highlight interest in the concept of CSR, both from practice and academia. Marketers view the increase in consumer environmental consciousness as business opportunities, implementing environmentally friendly strategies to position the business. (Pujari and Wright, 1995) Previous research has demonstrated a range of marketing benefits as CSR elicits positive corporate reputations which results in business survival and profitability, and thus, an effective mechanism to win or maintain competitive advantage (Van Riel and Balmer, 1997). Whilst extant CSR research has focused broadly at both a firm and consumer level in terms of reactions to CSR initiatives, little research has been conducted into consumer perceptions of CSR communications or communication strategies for environmental or social marketing in general (Obermiler, 1995). As a result, Maignan and Ferrell (2001) proposed a research framework to further insights into CSR as a marketing tool, looking into the corporate citizenship communication, consumer’s evaluation of corporate citizenship and individual consumer characteristics and the subsequent behaviours. This research aims to explore the communication route proposed in the research framework, in determining the effective features of CSR communications, and the impact on consumers’ attitudes and behaviour. Effectiveness of communication is necessary to cut through clutter, and effectiveness of CSR communications is even more important as consumers do not proactively seek information on company behaviour. Thus, there is a need to improve the effectiveness of communicating companies’ responsibility if mass consumer power is to be engaged and purchase behaviour influenced – this means tailoring the message to specific groups and extending beyond the niche group of consumers who are already engaged in these issues ie. CSR activists (Dawkins, 2005).