Corporate Social Responsibility Communications on Social Media and Consumers’ In-Role and Extra-Role Behavior: An Empirical Study in China

This study investigates how social media (WeChat, Weibo, and Douyin) CSR communication influences consumers’ behavior in China. The research attempts to investigate the relationships between the consumer’s perceptions of risk, consumer altruistic attribution, CSR communications, brand identification, and in the role and extra-role behaviors. This is done using quantitative data from a survey of 424 social media users. The results show that CSR communications that are effective in terms of communication will increase attribution for altruism, reduce the perception of risk, and increase identification with the brand, thereby increasing consumer engagement in both in-role (e.g. purchase behavior) and extra-role (e.g. brand advocacy) actions. The results of this study are of value to CSR and consumer behavior literature through their validation and extension of the stimulus organism response model. Implications for implementation form include the use of CSR communication strategies to enhance consumer trust, loyalty, and advocacy in the digital age. The results indicate that CSR’s strategic value in creating sustainable consumer relationships and consumer-responsible behavior in social media.