Navigating Negative Events: How Ethical Perceptions Influence Consumer–Company Identification
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14738/assrj.1204.18563Keywords:
consumer‒company identification, ethics statements, consumer experience, collectivismAbstract
This study examines how consumers’ perceptions of the quality of corporate ethics statements influence consumer–company identification (CCI) in the aftermath of negative events.A survey was conducted with 179 consumers of Didi, a prominent Chinese ride-hailing platform that faced public controversy.The findings indicate that the perceived quality of ethics statements positively impacts CCI. Furthermore, collectivism serves as a positive moderator, strengthening the relationship between perceived ethics statement quality and CCI. Conversely, consumer experience acts as a negative moderator, weakening this relationship. This research offers actionable insights for corporate relationship marketing strategies. Companies seeking to enhance consumer identification should prioritize genuine alignment between their actions and ethical statements, underscoring the critical role of corporate ethics in navigating consumer relationships during crises.This study contributes to the literature on corporate social responsibility (CSR) by shedding light on the role of consumers’ perceptions of ethical statements in the context of negative corporate events, with a focus on collectivist cultural settings.
References
Ahearne, M.; Bhattacharya, C.B.; Gruen, T. Antecedents and Consequences of Customer-Company Identification: Expanding the Role of Relationship Marketing. Journal of applied psychology 2005, 90, 574.
Bhattacharya, C.B.; Sen, S. Consumer–Company Identification: A Framework for Understanding Consumers’ Relationships with Companies. Journal of Marketing 2003, 67, 76–88, doi:10.1509/jmkg.67.2.76.18609.
O’Reilly, C.A.; Chatman, J. Organizational Commitment and Psychological Attachment: The Effects of Compliance, Identification, and Internalization on Prosocial Behavior. Journal of applied psychology 1986, 71, 492, doi:10.1037/0021-9010.71.3.492.
Wagner, T.; Lutz, R.J.; Weitz, B.A. Corporate Hypocrisy: Overcoming the Threat of Inconsistent Corporate Social Responsibility Perceptions. Journal of Marketing 2009, 73, 77–91, doi:10.1509/jmkg.73.6.77.
Etter, M.; Ravasi, D.; Colleoni, E. Social Media and the Formation of Organizational Reputation. Academy of management review 2019, 44, 28–52.
Craft, J.L. A Review of the Empirical Ethical Decision-Making Literature: 2004–2011. J Bus Ethics 2013, 117, 221–259, doi:10.1007/s10551-012-1518-9.
Tajfel, H. Social Identity and Intergroup Relations; Cambridge University Press, 2010; Vol. 7;.
Saji, B.S. An Analysis of Attractiveness and Ethics-Related Perception of Banking Advertisements among
Strobel, M.; Tumasjan, A.; Welpe, I. Do business ethics pay off?: The influence of ethical leadership on organizational attractiveness. Zeitschrift für Psychologie / Journal of Psychology 2010, 218, 213–224, doi:10.1027/0044-3409/a000031.
Culiberg, B.; Čater, B.; Abosag, I.; Gidaković, P. Ethical Judgments in the Sharing Economy: When Consumers Misbehave, Providers Complain. Business Ethics Env & Resp 2023, 32, 517–531, doi:10.1111/beer.12520.
Nadeem, W.; Juntunen, M.; Shirazi, F.; Hajli, N. Consumers’ Value Co-Creation in Sharing Economy: The Role of Social Support, Consumers’ Ethical Perceptions and Relationship Quality. Technological Forecasting and Social Change 2020, 151, 119786, doi:10.1016/j.techfore.2019.119786.
Zhou, L. Social Responsibility and Employees’ Organizational Identification in Chinese Family Firms: Influence of Family Ownership and Family Commitment. Chinese Management Studies 2014, 8, 683–703, doi:10.1108/CMS-11-2012-0159.
Deng, X.; Xu, Y. Consumers’ Responses to Corporate Social Responsibility Initiatives: The Mediating Role of Consumer–Company Identification. J Bus Ethics 2017, 142, 515–526, doi:10.1007/s10551-015-2742-x.
Hayat, K.; Jianjun, Z.; Ullah, S. Relationship of Corporate Social Responsibility and Impulse Buying: Role of Corporate Reputation and Consumer Company Identification. IJMRES 2023, 13, doi:10.56536/ijmres.v13i1.376.
Lichtenstein, D.R.; Drumwright, M.E.; Braig, B.M. The Effect of Corporate Social Responsibility on Customer Donations to Corporate-Supported Nonprofits. Journal of Marketing 2004, 68, 16–32, doi:10.1509/jmkg.68.4.16.42726.
Aquino, K.; Reed II, A. The Self-Importance of Moral Identity. Journal of personality and social psychology 2002, 83, 1423, doi:10.1037/0022-3514.83.6.1423.
Pan, X.; Chen, X.; Yang, X. Examining the Relationship between Negative Media Coverage and Corporate Social Responsibility. Business Ethics Env & Resp 2022, 31, 620–633, doi:10.1111/beer.12430.
Zavyalova, A.; Pfarrer, M.D.; Reger, R.K.; Hubbard, T.D. Reputation as a Benefit and a Burden? How Stakeholders’ Organizational Identification Affects the Role of Reputation Following a Negative Event. Academy of Management Journal 2016, 59, 253–276.
Rhee, M.; Haunschild, P.R. The Liability of Good Reputation: A Study of Product Recalls in the U.S. Automobile Industry. Organization Science 2006, 17, 101–117, doi:10.1287/orsc.1050.0175.
Ellemers, N.; Spears, R.; Doosje, B. Self and Social Identity. Annu. Rev. Psychol. 2002, 53, 161–186, doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.53.100901.135228.
Folkes, V.S.; Kotsos, B. Buyers’ and Sellers’ Explanations for Product Failure: Who Done It? Journal of Marketing 1986, 50, 74–80, doi:10.1177/002224298605000206.
Lam, S.K. Identity-Motivated Marketing Relationships: Research Synthesis, Controversies, and Research Agenda. AMS review 2012, 2, 72–87.
Wolter, J.S.; Cronin, J.J. Re-Conceptualizing Cognitive and Affective Customer–Company Identification: The Role of Self-Motives and Different Customer-Based Outcomes. J. of the Acad. Mark. Sci. 2016, 44, 397–413, doi:10.1007/s11747-014-0421-6.
Hogg, M.A.; Terry, D.J. Social Identity and Self-Categorization Processes in Organizational Contexts. The Academy of Management Review 2000, 25, 121, doi:10.2307/259266.
Jordan, A.H.; Audia, P.G. Self-Enhancement and Learning from Performance Feedback. AMR 2012, 37, 211–231, doi:10.5465/amr.2010.0108.
Einwiller, S.A. Enough Is Enough! When Identification No Longer Prevents Negative Corporate Associations. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science 2006, 34, 185–194, doi:10.1177/0092070305284983.
Hoftede, G.; Hofstede, G.J.; Minkov, M. Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind: Intercultural Cooperation and Its Importance for Survival; McGraw-Hill, 2010; 79
Barkema, H.G.; Chen, X.-P.; George, G.; Luo, Y.; Tsui, A.S. West Meets East: New Concepts and Theories. Academy of Management Journal 2015, 58, 460–479, doi:10.5465/amj.2015.4021.
Lin, S.; Rogoff, E.G.; Foo, C.-T.; Liu, X. The Effect of Entrepreneurial Context on the Performance of New Ventures. Chinese Management Studies 2015, 9, 197–220, doi:10.1108/CMS-12-2013-0225.
Hongyu, N.; Mingjian, Z.; Qiang, L.; Liqun, W. Exploring Relationship between Authority Leadership and Organizational Citizenship Behavior in China: The Role of Collectivism. Chinese Management Studies 2012, 6, 231–244, doi:10.1108/17506141211236677.
Yin, J.; Qian, L.; Singhapakdi, A. Sharing Sustainability: How Values and Ethics Matter in Consumers’ Adoption of Public Bicycle-Sharing Scheme. J Bus Ethics 2018, 149, 313–332, doi:10.1007/s10551-016-3043-8.
Afonso Vieira, V.; Wolter, J.S.; Falcão Araujo, C.; Saraiva Frio, R. What Makes the Corporate Social Responsibility Impact on Customer–Company Identification Stronger? A Meta-Analysis. International Journal of Research in Marketing 2022, S0167811622000684, doi:10.1016/j.ijresmar.2022.09.002.
Vitell, S.J.; Nwachukwu, S.L.; Barnes, J.H. The Effects of Culture on Ethical Decision-Making: An Application of Hofstede’s Typology. J Bus Ethics 1993, 12, 753–760, doi:10.1007/BF00881307.
Farooq, M.; Farooq, O.; Jasimuddin, S.M. Employees Response to Corporate Social Responsibility: Exploring the Role of Employees’ Collectivist Orientation. European Management Journal 2014, 32, 916–927, doi:10.1016/j.emj.2014.03.002.
Dutton, J.E.; Dukerich, J.M.; Harquail, C.V. Organizational Images and Member Identification. Administrative science quarterly 1994, 239–263, doi:10.2307/2393235.
Johnson, M.D.; Morgeson, F.P.; Hekman, D.R. Cognitive and Affective Identification: Exploring the Links between Different Forms of Social Identification and Personality with Work Attitudes and Behavior. Journal of Organizational Behavior 2012, 33, 1142–1167.
Ashforth, B.E.; Harrison, S.H.; Corley, K.G. Identification in Organizations: An Examination of Four Fundamental Questions. Journal of Management 2008, 34, 325–374, doi:10.1177/0149206308316059.
Gioia, D.A.; Schultz, M.; Corley, K.G. Organizational Identity, Image, and Adaptive Instability. The Academy of Management Review 2000, 25, 63, doi:10.2307/259263.
Harquail, C.V. Organizational Identification and the “Whole Person”: Integrating Affect, Behavior, and Cognition. Identity in organizations: Building theory through conversations 1998, 223–231.
Pratt, M.G. To Be or Not to Be?: Central Questions in Organizational Identification. In Identity in organizations: Building theory through conversations; Sage Publications, Inc., 1998; pp. 171–208.
Walls, A.; Okumus, F.; Wang, Y. (Raymond); Kwun, D.J.-W. Understanding the Consumer Experience: An Exploratory Study of Luxury Hotels. Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management 2011, 20, 166–197, doi:10.1080/19368623.2011.536074.
Bhattacharya, C.B.; Rao, H.; Glynn, M.A. Understanding the Bond of Identification: An Investigation of Its Correlates among Art Museum Members. Journal of marketing 1995, 59, 46–57.
Karaosmanoğlu, E.; Banu Elmadağ Baş, A.; Zhang, J. The Role of Other Customer Effect in Corporate Marketing: Its Impact on Corporate Image and Consumer-Company Identification. European Journal of Marketing 2011, 45, 1416–1445.
Tung, W.; Liang, A.R.-D.; Chen, S.-C. The Influence of Service Orientation and Interaction Orientation on Consumer Identification. The Service Industries Journal 2014, 34, 439–454.
Elsbach, K.D. The Process of Social Identification: With What Do We Identify. Identity in organizations: Building theory through conversations 1998, 232, 237.
Bohner, G.; Dickel, N. Attitudes and Attitude Change. Annual review of psychology 2011, 62, 391–417, doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.121208.131609.
Camilleri, M.A. Walking the Talk about Corporate Social Responsibility Communication: An Elaboration Likelihood Model Perspective. Business Ethics Env & Resp 2022, 31, 649–661, doi:10.1111/beer.12427.
Demasi, R.; Voegtlin, C. When the Private and the Public Self Don’t Align: The Role of Discrepant Moral Identity Dimensions in Processing Inconsistent CSR Information. J Bus Ethics 2022, doi:10.1007/s10551-022-05282-z.
Wagner, T.; Korschun, D.; Troebs, C.-C. Deconstructing Corporate Hypocrisy: A Delineation of Its Behavioral, Moral, and Attributional Facets. Journal of Business Research 2020, 114, 385–394, doi:10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.07.041.
Pérez, A.; Rodríguez del Bosque, I. Corporate Social Responsibility and Customer Loyalty: Exploring the Role of Identification, Satisfaction and Type of Company. Journal of Services Marketing 2015, 29, 15–25, doi:10.1108/JSM-10-2013-0272.
Stanaland, A.J.S.; Lwin, M.O.; Murphy, P.E. Consumer Perceptions of the Antecedents and Consequences of Corporate Social Responsibility. J Bus Ethics 2011, 102, 47–55, doi:10.1007/s10551-011-0904-z.
Triandis, H.C.; Bontempo, R.; Villareal, M.J.; Asai, M.; Lucca, N. Individualism and Collectivism: Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Self-Ingroup Relationships. Journal of personality and Social Psychology 1988, 54, 323, doi:10.1037/0022-3514.54.2.323.
Robins, R.W.; Hendin, H.M.; Trzesniewski, K.H. Measuring Global Self-Esteem: Construct Validation of a Single-Item Measure and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. Pers Soc Psychol Bull 2001, 27, 151–161, doi:10.1177/0146167201272002.
Carroll, A.B. A Three-Dimensional Conceptual Model of Corporate Performance. The Academy of Management Review 1979, 4, 497, doi:10.2307/257850.
Carroll, A.B. The Pyramid of Corporate Social Responsibility: Toward the Moral Management of Organizational Stakeholders. Business horizons 1991, 34, 39–48, doi:10.1016/0007-6813(91)90005-G.
Garriga, E.; Melé, D. Corporate Social Responsibility Theories: Mapping the Territory. Journal of Business Ethics 2004, 53, 51–71, doi:10.1023/B:BUSI.0000039399.90587.34.
Brunk, K.H.; De Boer, C. How Do Consumers Reconcile Positive and Negative CSR-Related Information to Form an Ethical Brand Perception? A Mixed Method Inquiry. Journal of Business Ethics 2020, 161, 443–458.
Frynas, J.G.; Yamahaki, C. Corporate Social Responsibility: Review and Roadmap of Theoretical Perspectives. Business Ethics: A European Review 2016, 25, 258–285, doi:10.1111/beer.12115.
Jahn, J.; Brühl, R. Can Bad News Be Good? On the Positive and Negative Effects of Including Moderately Negative Information in CSR Disclosures. Journal of Business Research 2019, 97, 117–128.
J. Roulet, T. An Event-System Perspective on Disruption: Theorizing the Pandemic and Other Discontinuities through Historical and Fictional Accounts of the Plague. Academy of Management Review.
Ocasio, W. Towards an Attention-Based View of the Firm: Attention-Based View of the Firm. Strat. Mgmt. J. 1997, 18, 187–206, doi:10.1002/(SICI)1097-0266(199707)18:1+<187::AID-SMJ936>3.0.CO;2-K.
Ocasio, W.; Laamanen, T.; Vaara, E. Communication and Attention Dynamics: An Attention‐based View of Strategic Change. Strategic Management Journal 2018, 39, 155–167, doi:10.1002/smj.2702.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Jianxin Ge, Xiaohan Li, Tong Li, Song Lin
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
