Search Results (34)

This study investigates the impact of perceived corporate social responsibility (CSR) on brand image within the automotive industry. It also examines how company reputation (CR) and product quality (PQ) mediate the relationship between CSR and brand image (BI). Utilizing a sample of 243 clients from the Pakistani automotive sector, data were collected through a survey and analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM) with AMOS version 24.0. The results indicate that perceived CSR positively influences brand image, with both company reputation and product quality acting as significant mediators. This underscores the importance of CSR initiatives for enhancing brand image. The findings have significant implications for auto manufacturers, highlighting the need to integrate CSR into their strategic brand management to improve company reputation, product quality, and, ultimately, brand image. This study expands the conventional understanding of CSR’s impact on consumer perceptions and addresses a critical gap in the literature. Full article

This article describes the Heritage Sustainability Index (HSI), a benchmarking tool that draws on a series of key indicators to rate company actions as they relate to the protection of cultural heritage. The purpose of the HSI is to provide an independent framework for lenders, borrowers, and civil society, including Indigenous Peoples, to evaluate corporate safeguard policies and practices related to cultural heritage, enabling informed decision making. Given their importance and influence, the HSI focuses on the practices of Global Systemically Important Banks (G-SIBs), which were chosen to represent a baseline for comparison across all industry sectors. The HSI’s indicators (n = 12) and sub-indicators (n = 48) were successful in illustrating the variability that exists among the G-SIBs. Corporations with an HSI value below the upper quartile of the distribution should take steps to enhance their cultural heritage safeguard practices. This is crucial because scores below this value reflect weak practices, indicating higher financial and reputational risk exposures and poor outcomes for cultural heritage. By focusing on improving their HSI values, these corporations can better mitigate potential risks and enhance their overall sustainability profile. The success and longevity of the HSI will depend on industry goodwill and the perceived risk that cultural heritage poses to corporate financial performance and reputation. Given the potential financial and reputational damage from a significant failure in cultural heritage stewardship, corporations are expected to recognize these advantages and find it an easy decision to support the adoption of the HSI. Full article

Mobile applications (Apps) serve as vital conduits for information exchange in the mobile internet era, yet they also engender significant cybersecurity risks due to their real-time handling of vast quantities of data. This manuscript constructs a tripartite evolutionary game model, “users-App providers-government”, to illuminate a pragmatic pathway for orderly information circulation within the App marketplace and sustainable industry development. It then scrutinizes the evolutionary process and emergence conditions of their stabilizing equilibrium strategies and employs simulation analysis via MATLAB. The findings reveal that (1) there exists a high degree of coupling among the strategic selections of the three parties, wherein any alteration in one actor’s decision-making trajectory exerts an impact on the evolutionary course of the remaining two actors. (2) The initial strategies significantly influence the pace of evolutionary progression and its outcome. Broadly speaking, the higher the initial probabilities of users opting for information authorization, App providers adopting compliant data solicitation practices, and the government enforcing stringent oversight, the more facile the attainment of an evolutionarily optimal solution. (3) The strategic preferences of the triadic stakeholders are subject to a composite influence of respective costs, benefits, and losses. Of these, users’ perceived benefits serve as the impetus for their strategic decisions, while privacy concerns act as a deterrent. App providers’ strategy decisions are influenced by a number of important elements, including their corporate reputation and fines levied by the government. Costs associated with government regulations are the main barrier to the adoption of strict supervision practices. Drawing upon these analytical outcomes, we posit several feasible strategies. Full article

The implementation of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in conjunction with proficient investor relations management (IRM) can enhance the reputation and appeal of enterprises, thereby fostering the sustainable development of enterprises. This paper examines the correlation between CSR and IRM by exploring the potential misinterpretation of socially responsible actions by listed companies as “hypocrisy”. We use the fixed effect model, moderating effect model and instrumental variable method to examine the correlation between CSR and IRM. The findings indicate that actively fulfilling corporate social responsibility can enhance interaction and communication between listed companies and investors in the capital market, thereby mitigating the risk of being perceived as “hypocrisy”. This positive effect is particularly pronounced when companies are experiencing poor operational performance. These conclusions remain robust even after conducting various tests to address endogeneity concerns. In terms of the underlying mechanisms, corporate social responsibility primarily enhances investor relations management through strengthening network communication and on-site interactions. Moreover, enterprises are more inclined to proactively interact with investors in the capital market when companies face severe financial difficulties, stringent financing constraints, or poor quality of information disclosure. Additionally, our study extends its analysis to elucidate how corporate social responsibility can mitigate the risk of stock price crashes from the perspective of investor relations management. Full article

The objective of this study was to investigate the concept of perceived corporate philanthropy (PCP) among consumers of luxury goods and examine the differences these consumers perceive in terms of philanthropic actions, particularly within the luxury sector. To address this question, we adopted the following approach: (1) Defining the concept of PCP through an extensive analysis of 2590 articles using GEPHI methodology. (2) Developing a measurement scale for the PCP construct. (3) Exploring the impact of PCP on perceived brand authenticity by comparing consumers of luxury hotels and standard hotels. The results of our multigroup analysis indicated a significant difference among consumers. Corporate philanthropic strategies had a notably stronger influence on the perception of PCP among luxury hotel consumers. This finding underscores the substantial divergence within the luxury marketing literature. These consumers seek brands that align with their desire to associate themselves with robust and authentic brands that carry symbolic significance, which allows them to identify and connect with these brands. By consuming these brands, they are able to attain their desired status. This study sheds light on a significant variable in contemporary marketing, namely, PCP, which provides new avenues for differentiation and leverage within the luxury goods industry. As a result, this study provides valuable managerial recommendations to companies and NGOs, aiming to assist them in tailoring their philanthropic strategies to effectively resonate with their target audiences and bolster their brand reputation. Full article

A growing number of companies are issuing corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports to publicize their commitment to sustainable development. However, skepticism remains among stakeholders about firms’ CSR information, which could hinder the success of worldwide CSR campaigns. Our paper examines mechanisms of how CSR disclosure resonates with stakeholders and influences their attitudes towards firms. Extending the current knowledge of CSR signaling effects, this paper provides a framework illustrating the interplay between CSR signaling properties and readers’ sensemaking processes, thereby predicting how corporate reputation is shaped through CSR communication. In order to test our theoretical hypotheses, a survey was conducted on 53 firms with 1521 respondents. The results show that the better the readers’ comprehension of a CSR report is, the stronger the signals of authenticity and corporate social performance (CSP) they perceive, the better the report value and value fit are recognized, and eventually, the more trust they hold for the firm. The relationship between comprehension of CSR reports and trust is partially mediated by the signaling-sensemaking process. Our research contributes to the literature on micro-foundations of strategic CSR by applying signaling theory in the context of CSR disclosure. The research findings have practical implications for firms’ CSR disclosure strategies. Full article

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a progressively significant issue for organizations and governments. To benefit from a good reputation that reflects on organizational performance, organizations must ensure the balance between stakeholders’ needs. This paper studies the direct and indirect effects of CSR on organizational financial performance as perceived by employees of organizations. The investigation used structural equation modeling to evaluate and describe the nature of the relationship between these two variables. The empirical study uses a perceptual approach, evaluating the perceptions of the closest stakeholders (employees). Data on the perceptions of 431 employees in Romanian organizations were collected following a questionnaire-based survey. The results indicate a strong effect of social responsibility on both direct and mediated organizational financial performance. The relationships established with the stakeholders ultimately affect organizational financial performance through variables such as the attraction and retention of employees, the attraction and loyalty of customers, more accessible access to capital, and the organization’s reputation. Full article

The way corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication relates to corporate reputation has attracted an increasing amount of attention from communication and business researchers and practitioners. To place our study in the context of CSR and employee communication, we proposed a CSR communication—motives—organizational identification—corporate reputation model. Data collected from an online Qualtrics survey (n = 811) supported all the proposed hypotheses linking informativeness and factual tone in CSR communication, employee-perceived intrinsic/other-serving motives of their organizations’ CSR activities, organizational identification, and corporate reputation. Specifically, informativeness and a factual tone in CSR communication were positively related to employee-perceived intrinsic/other-serving motives of their organizations’ CSR activities. Employee-perceived intrinsic/other-serving motives of their organizations’ CSR activities were positively associated with employee organizational identification. Employee organizational identification was positively related to corporate reputation. In addition, employee-perceived intrinsic/other-serving motives of their organizations’ CSR activities and employee organizational identification turned out to be two significant mediators in the proposed model between CSR communication and corporate reputation. We conducted a two-step structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis to analyze the collected data. The theoretical and practical implications of the study were discussed. Full article

Little is known about SMEs’ perceptions of CSR, sustainability, and business ethics, particularly in the fashion industry. We have even less information on the relationship between SMEs’ CSR actions and employer branding. This important knowledge gap is addressed in this study. We intend to focus on how small and medium-sized enterprises that are operating and considered sustainable in the fashion industry interpret the concept of sustainability, corporate social responsibility (CSR), and business ethics, which CSR elements appear in relation to employees, and how they contribute to employer branding. In the course of our qualitative research, we conducted semistructured, in-depth interviews with the owners and managers of 10 European businesses, bearing sustainability in mind. Our results show that the organisational culture and the reputation perceived by a wide range of stakeholders are the most essential elements of employer branding, which promotes employees’ commitment to sustainable fashion enterprises. Full article

Given that firms attempt to gain competitive advantages from corporate sustainability schemes, we employed an experiment to examine different types of sustainable performance disclosure—output, outcome and impact—that best promote the quality of relationships with consumers, relationships with the firm around satisfaction and trust, and perceived reputation. Derived from a student sample of 254 respondents from a business school in Thailand, the findings indicate that, among different levels of sustainability performance disclosure, consumers are more likely to perceive the satisfaction, trust, and reputation of the firm as higher if the firm demonstrates the impact (rather than output or outcome) of sustainable performance. Results are consistent across observed product and service categories. Implications of findings and directions for future studies are also discussed. Full article

The COVID-19 pandemic rapidly accelerated digitization in all fields of trading, especially in the B2C sector. The pandemic restrictions deepened the era of social distancing between young consumers and drew them further into the online environment, which allowed e-merchants to impress them even more, and with more ease, with the use of suitable online marketing communication. The overabundance of e-shops on the market may be very confusing for the consumer at this time, meaning that the corporate online reputation and its sustainability has never been as important as it is now. The investigation of online shopping consumer behavior and the factors that determine it is at the center of interest in both academic and practical spheres. In our study, we focused in more detail on investigating the relationship between the online shopping consumer behavior of young consumers and the perceived reputation of an e-shop in the era of digitization. The research sample consisted of 633 young consumer respondents. The method of exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was used in order to investigate the factors of online shopping consumer behavior, and the method of Ordinary Least Squared (OLS) model regression analysis was used to evaluate the relationships between individual factors and the perceived reputation of an e-shop. According to the results of EFA, four factors were identified: digital security, e-shop services, e-trust, and social responsibility and promotion. Subsequent testing confirmed the significant relationship between factors of online shopping consumer behavior and the perceived reputation of an e-shop in five cases. Full article

In response to the current social–political landscape, consumers’ expectations are changing. There is an increased need for companies to communicate about social issues such as climate change. This study is among the first to examine the differentiated and mediated effects of three messaging strategies: corporate social responsibility (CSR), corporate social advocacy (CSA), and corporate political activism (CPA), in the context of corporations communicating about climate change, which currently lacks scholarly attention. An online-survey experiment (N = 1048) compared the messaging strategies’ effects on three consumer responses: perceived credibility, perceived reputation, and positive word-of-mouth intention. Results from a structural equation model indicate that the type of corporate climate change communication (CCCC) has a differential effect on consumer responses. The differences are magnified by the mediation of consumers’ attribution of corporate climate motives in the relationship between the climate change message and consumer responses. This study advances scholarship on CSR, CSA, and CPA, and provides theoretical and practical implications for how a corporation communicates about climate change using different communication and engagement strategies. Full article

Personalization, mobility, artificial intelligence, corporate life transferred to the online world—all these elements will shape all intelligent solutions, including those for cities in the future also in the field of energy management. A necessary condition is to determine which specific repetitive behaviors and features smart cities will have to meet in order to build an image among residents and adapt to their preferences and requirements and energy requirements. Smart cities were created to support residents in using various services, to give them the possibility of easy communication without time and local barriers. Therefore, high-quality smart solutions in cities significantly affect trust in the city and can affect its reputation. Given that the purpose of the article is to examine the perception of intelligent solutions also in the field of energy and their impact on the sense of privacy and security, different exchanges of perceptions of quality, the risks they pose to residents and their perception of what gives a picture, have been studied. The results of empirical research clearly showed that the safety and level of satisfaction with the activities carried out by the city have a significant impact on the perceived quality, which in turn has a positive impact on reputation. The authors proposed a methodology based on the Kano model for examining residents’ satisfaction in order to investigate undefined desires and identified and confirmed needs and to study the analysis of risk and potential threats. The study was in the form of a proprietary questionnaire that can be used in similar surveys on the satisfaction of residents; 2685 correctly completed questionnaires were analyzed and the results obtained after submission were included in management action plans. The city government has expressed an interest that the measures taken will be reviewed after one to two years. Full article

This study examines how corporate reputation is perceived by investors through the financial performance and equilibrium of several airline companies. We used a sample of 22 companies. Nineteen are listed in the World Airline Awards 2018 ranking based on client satisfaction, and three companies are included in the Fortune ranking and enjoying the best corporate reputations in the airline industry. The analyzed period was 2016–2018. The purpose of this study was to rank airline companies based on financial indicators by means of the TOPSIS method to see whether the companies included in the Fortune ranking would keep a similar hierarchy. Results indicated that companies maintained a similar order in the TOPSIS ranking after considering financial performance and equilibrium indicators. The overall conclusion was that companies with a good financial performance and equilibrium enjoyed a good corporate reputation from investors’ point of view. Full article

Corporate Social Responsibility has multiple faces that contradict each other. On the one hand there is the communication of great aspirations and ambitions. On the other hand, there is the unruly practice that complicates living up to those ambitions. These contradictions are, without being exhaustive, caused by a focus on economic performance, organizational behavior, adherence to leading supply chain paradigms, and reputation management. In general, corporate communication about social responsibility is perceived as hypocritical. This research looks at how these communications initiate sustainability measures in the distribution and supply chain functions of a large multinational company. In a single embedded case study, data collection took place using semi-structured interviews complemented with document research. The empirical results show that the supply chain managers were positively critical of the communication about implemented sustainability measures and considered them as an invitation to act. However, they assessed the organization that surrounded them to be less lenient due to the different objectives of the various functions. The respondents diverged about which sustainability measures to apply and embed in the supply chain organization. It became clear that the knowledge base of the respondents was fragmented and incoherent. Reflecting on the research results, the role of top management seems crucial when it comes to coherent policy, knowledge development, and the prioritization of sustainability measures. Full article