CSR as a response strategy for scansis communication: effects and underlying mechanisms

Purpose Corporate social responsibility (CSR) might carry both risks and opportunities in an organizational crisis context, especially when the crisis is uniquely characterized by provoking moral outrage (i.e. scansis). The purpose of this paper is to explore how CSR might be leveraged as a scansis response strategy. Design/methodology/approach An online experiment was conducted (N = 461) to compare the effects of the standard corrective action against CSR-based strategies on reputational outcomes, with additional insights drawn from two underlying mechanisms, respectively negative moral emotion and skepticism. Findings The study found that compared to the standalone corrective action or the hybrid strategies combining CSR-based response and corrective action, people considered the scansis-stricken company employing a CSR-based strategy unrelated to the scansis the least acceptable, with higher reputational loss. In addition, both negative moral emotion and skepticism were found to mediate how people evaluated CSR-based scansis communication, with skepticism being the more salient mechanism. Originality/value The current study explored the relatively new and complex type of crisis that involves moral judgment and outrage (scansis). The findings altogether advanced research and practice on the role of CSR in crisis communication from the distinctive perspective of scansis.