The Effect Of CSR Information On Consumer Brand Evaluation

With the deep development of globalization and institutionalization of corporate social responsibility, multinational corporations have taken social responsibility actively now rather than passively in the first place. Meanwhile, globalization has brought a psychological change to consumers all over the world. Many consumers today exhibit characteristics of both local and global identities. Based on the existing literatures, consumers often show their identity by choosing iconic products or brands. However, how will local and global identities affect consumers’brand evaluation? Related study has not given a clear answer yet. And the answer to these questions surely will extend the scope of the study of corporate social responsibility, which is also the purpose of this study.In this study, based on social identity theory, we attempt to answer the above question by studying the effects of accessible local and global identities in the context of consumers’evaluation of multinational corporations’social responsibilities. This study sets outdoor products industry, which is familiar to consumers, as design scene. The main conclusions are as follows:When an identity is informed to be diagnostic for decision making, an accessible global (local) identity will induce a more positive brand evaluation of multinational corporations who implement global (local) social responsibility than multinational corporations who implement local (global) social responsibility. Conversely, when the identity is informed to be non-diagnostic for decision making, an accessible global (local) identity will induce a less positive brand evaluation of multinational corporations who implement global (local) social responsibility than multinational corporations who implement local (global) social responsibility. According to study conclusions, we suggested that multinational corporations should pay more attention on consumers’identity and implement social responsibilities more specifically, which may improve consumers’brand evaluation greatly.