Evidence of the Primary Role of Environmental Image in Consumer CSR Evaluations

Abstract

Companies are investing greater resources into corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives as a component of their marketing strategy. Corporate philanthropic giving, sustainability initiatives, and community involvement are all on the rise as companies attempt to establish, maintain, and/or enhance a reputation for socially responsibility. For example, a Forbes listing of the seventy eight most generous companies noted that charitable giving rose from $3.6 billion in 2006 to $3.8 billion in 2007 (Kirdahy 2008). Similarly, many of the companies in Fortune’s ranking of the 100 best companies to work for avoided laying off employees despite the recent global economic downturn (Fortune 2010). Additionally, General Electric is doubling the investment into Ecomagination, a green focused research and development program, between 2010 and 2015 (Lombardi 2010). Initiatives such as these are becoming more common for companies as they are blatant, tangible signals of a firm’s CSR efforts. While being deemed socially responsible by analysts (e.g, CNN, Fortune, or KLD) requires a company to excel on all areas of CSR, a consumer’s evaluation may not entail the same broad assessment.