The public may view that corporate social responsibility activities are due to self-directed motives as well as other-directed motives. The present study examined how the public`s attributions about CSR differ by exposure to prior information. Based o...
The public may view that corporate social responsibility activities are due to self-directed motives as well as other-directed motives. The present study examined how the public`s attributions about CSR differ by exposure to prior information. Based on priming theory and the persuasion knowledge model, it was expected that an advertising message is more likely to activate persuasion knowledge and increase self-directed attributions while decreasing other-directed attributions. On the other hand, a publicity message is less likely to activate persuasion knowledge and decrease self-directed attributions while increasing other-directed attributions. The results suggest that reading CSR messages after being exposed to advertising messages decreases other-directed attributions.