Consumers’ Responses to Corporate Motives: Is Covid-19 A Good CSR Initiative?
(A2022-106987)

AUTHORS

Ha Tran, RMIT University Vietnam; Long Nguyen, RMIT University Vietnam; Duy Dang-Pham, RMIT University Vietnam; Huy Pham, RMIT University Vietnam

ABSTRACT

Covid-19 outbreaks required brands to transform their CSR activities to address relevant social issues. Consumers develop good attitudes toward the brand if the CSR initiatives support the well-being of the society. With the emergence of social media, brands can utilize social media influencers to endorse CSR campaigns. This paper investigates how consumers’ perceived CSR motives influence their perceived brand credibility and brand love, taking into consideration of the moderating effects of SMI endorsement. Findings reveal that brand credibility mediates the effects of perceived CSR motives on brand love, and the effect was stronger without the SMIs endorsement. In addition, compared to the macro-SMI endorsement, the effect of CSR motives on brand credibility was stronger with the middle SMIs endorsement. Our research suggests some marketing communication approaches for CSR activities using SMIs to strengthen the effectiveness on brand credibility and brand love.