Investigating the reception of broad versus specific CSR messages in advertisements in an environmental context

Abstract

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) advertising to influence consumers’ attitudes, beliefs, and intentions is becoming increasingly popular. This research adds to the growing body of literature on the reception of CSR messages through two separate investigations (study 1 using a fictitious clothing brand and a college student sample and study 2 using a generic product, a fictitious soap brand, and a more representative sample drawn from Amazon Turk) that manipulate the type of CSR message in ads (either broad or specific) in an environmental context and test its interaction with individuals’ LOHAS rating. Findings suggest that consumers in the high LOHAS group rated the brand and the ad with specific CSR messages more favorably than the one with a broad message. Implications are drawn.