CSR, Price Positioning, and the Halo–Liability Trade−Off for Perceived Product Quality
(A2026-132593)

AUTHORS

Tarje Gaustad, BI Norwegian Business School; Jakob Utgård, Oslo Metropolitan University

ABSTRACT

Consumers often infer product quality from a firm’s corporate social responsibility (CSR). CSR can create a halo that enhances perceived quality but can also be a liability when consumers assume social initiatives come at the expense of performance. We propose that brand price positioning acts as a boundary condition selecting between these routes. Across two experiments in retail and product contexts (n = 927), CSR increased perceived quality for discount brands but decreased it for premium brands. Mediation analyses show a two−route process: CSR boosts halo inferences for both brand tiers but heightens liability inferences selectively for premium brands. For premium brands, the negative liability path outweighs the smaller positive halo path, yielding a net negative effect on quality perceptions.