Quality or Responsibility? The Impact of Two Categories of Corporate Social Responsibility on the Consumer-Brand Relationship

Given the increased interest and empirical research in corporate social responsibility (CSR) and irresponsibility, the present study identifies two categories of corporate information – corporate operational performance (COP) and corporate social performance (CSP) – to test and predict their respective impact on consumer brand advocacy and brand trust. Through an empirical study, the results from three-way interactions suggest that product the valence of CSR and the product involvement has moderating effects on brand advocacy. However, such moderating effects on brand trust are only found in high involvement products. Managerial implications and future research are also included in terms of applying these results for buzz marketing and cause-related marketing strategy development.