When Doing Good Backfires: The Paradox of CSR Within Crisis Contexts
Authors:
- Da Eun SongDSDa Eun Song
- Hyelim LeeHLHyelim Lee
Preprint
- 12 March 2026
- preprint
- Published by Elsevier in SSRN Electronic Journal
Abstract
This study examines the ambivalent effects of corporate social responsibility (CSR) during organizational crises. Although CSR aims to enhance reputation and legitimacy, unfulfilled expectations can intensify negative crisis perceptions. Drawing on expectation violation theory, this experiment investigates how CSR associations, crisis types, and relationship norms shape public perceptions of expectancy violation and crisis responsibility, and how these perceptions translate into organizational attitudes and negative secondary crisis communication (SCC) intentions on social media. Using a 2 (CSR association vs. none) × 3 (crisis type: performance vs. CSR-related morality vs. no CSR-related morality) × 2 (relationship norms: exchange vs. communal) between-subjects design, the results show no direct main effects of CSR association on attitudes. In morally aligned CSR crises, stronger CSR associations heighten expectancy violation and responsibility compared to non-aligned crises, even under communal relationship norms. However, in performance crises, CSR association reduces responsibility via a halo effect, yet increased violation and responsibility drive negative attitudes and secondary crisis communication.Keywords
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