Corporate Social Responsibility and Irresponsibility: How Do Consumers React to Ambivalent CSR Information? Application in the Retailing Sector—An Abstract

Both poll results and academic research suggest that many company stakeholders expect firms to be socially responsible, what leads companies to spend substantial resources in development of innovative social and environmental programs and in their communication to consumers. Yet at the same time, the world has witnessed some of the greatest cases of corporate irresponsibility with environmental disasters such as the BP oil disaster or human abuses in some parts of the world, such as the Rana Plaza case, and more recently the VW’s ongoing emissions scandal. Quite surprisingly, irresponsible corporate activities have received limited attention in the CSR literature until recently.