GRADUATE SCHOOL OF COMMUNICATION
UNIVERSITY OF AMSTERDAM
MASTER THESIS
Master Communication Science – Corporate Communication
Is Traditional Media Back in the Race
in the Social Media Age?
The Effects of Medium Type, its Perceived Credibility, and CSR fit
on Citizens’ scepticism towards
Corporate Social Responsibility Messages
Student: Christine Greule Student number: 11726105 Supervisor: Sandra Jacobs Date of submission: 31-01-2019
Abstract:
The present experiment investigated (1) if the medium type (newspaper versus blog post) had a direct effect on citizens’ scepticism towards the CSR message, (2) whether the perceived credibility of the medium type explained the latter relationship, (3) and whether CSR fit has a moderating role. The exposure to a newspaper article did not significantly lead to lower scepticism towards the CSR message than the blog post by the company. However, the perceived credibility of the medium type fully mediated the relationship between the medium type and citizens’ scepticism towards the CSR message. Consequently, how citizens
perceived the credibility of the medium type determined how sceptical they were towards the CSR message. Further, CSR fit was salient in this study and has a main effect on citizens’ scepticism. This study proved that the pattern of how the public trusts news information can be found in CSR communication, namely that traditional media is increasingly seen more credible than social media. Despite living in a social media age, this study stresses the relevance of traditional media in CSR communication.
Introduction
“We become what we behold … We shape our tools and, afterwards, our tools shape us.”
–– Culkin, J.M., 1967
The stated quote comes from the idea of Marshall McLuhan’s work who saw the potential the media has in shaping society and how we perceive the world. The Canadian professor and philosopher is well known for his famous phrase ‘the medium is the message’ (1967). He believed that it is the medium that influences the readers perception and not the information of the message itself. In reality, mediums have changed the way we behave today. Studies have shown that memory and attention are shrinking due to digital technology (Jacobson, 2018). We learn how to multi-task, we replace words by emojis in online
conversation and news stories are posted with 280-character tweets. Furthermore, one can argue that social media platforms are used by the type of medium; such as LinkedIn is the medium for business networking or Facebook is the medium for social connections (Bernardo, 2018).
Living in an age of sustainability, corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a hot topic for organizations today (Skarmeas & Leonidou, 2013). Thus, taking over socially responsible tasks are becoming increasingly important for organizations. However, consumer scepticism of CSR activities is rising (Leonidou & Skarmeas, 2015). Therefore, there is much attention being paid towards CSR communication (Du, Bhattacharya & Sen, 2010; Morsing & Schultz, 2006). Basing on McLuhan’s theory ‘the medium is the message’, this thesis will
experimentally investigate whether the medium type, rather than the content, affect the scepticism of citizens towards the CSR message. Regarding CSR communication research, there is a largely unexplored area in the investigation of the effects of different medium types on public scepticism towards CSR (Austin & Gaither, 2018). Previous research has already drawn attention towards the importance of media in CSR communication (Jeong, Paek & Lee, 2013; Leonidou & Skarmeas, 2015; Wang, Tong, Takeuchi & George, 2016). More recent
research focuses on social media and its two-way communication as effective tools for CSR communication (Ali, Jiménez-Zarco & Bicho, 2015; Cho, Furey & Mohr, 2017; Saxton, Gomez, Ngoh, Lin & Dietrich, 2017). Other studies found out that non-corporate sources such as an independent and third-party source, were more preferred by the public than corporate sources for CSR communication (Kim & Ferguson, 2018). In another corporate field, namely crisis communication, researchers examined that traditional media versus social media have different outcomes on how people respond to a message (Austin, Liu & Jin, 2012; Liu, Jin & Austin, 2013; Schultz, Utz & Göritz, 2011). Thus, studies have shown how influential media is; however, examining the influence of different medium types on public scepticism towards CSR activities based on information source, has not been explored yet.
This thesis will investigate whether there is a difference between the exposure of a newspaper article and a blog post by the company, both containing identical informational messages, on citizens’ scepticism towards the CSR message. Moreover, the moderating effect of either high or low CSR fit –the congruence between company and the CSR activity– will be studied. Furthermore, it is theorised that the perceived credibility of the medium type mediates the relationship between medium type and citizens’ scepticism. This study will extend Elving’ s study (2013) by starting with a company of good reputation which has the lowest level of scepticism and analyse whether the usage of different medium types have different effects on the level of scepticism for citizens. This research gap can add to existing CSR communication literature and be beneficial for organizations understanding the effects of different medium types in CSR communication.
Therefore, the research question is as follows: To what extent does the medium type
through its perceived credibility influence citizens’ scepticism towards CSR messages? And to what extent does the CSR fit moderate this relationship?
Theoretical Background
In this section, the theoretical background starts by introducing Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Secondly, citizens’ scepticism towards CSR messages will be thematised. Thirdly, the influence of medium type on citizens’ scepticism towards the CSR message will be theorised. Fourthly, the relationship between medium type and citizens’ scepticism will be explained by the perceived credibility of the medium type. Lastly, the moderation effect of CSR fit will be posited.
Introduction to CSR
In the past, the traditional view of a company’s social responsibility was to make profit (Friedman, 2007). However, over time a wider view has developed and what we consider as modern CSR is based on Carroll’s pyramid of Corporate Social Responsibility. Archie Carroll (1991) thought that profit is important, but businesses have a wider purpose and social
responsibility to society. Carroll developed a CSR pyramid model (1991) and differentiated four kinds of responsibilities for companies, which are economic, legal, ethical, and
philanthropic. Each responsibility builds upon each other where the economic factor is the baseline (Carroll, 1991).
With a growing socially conscious market environment, organizations are taking over socially responsible tasks ranging from community services to environmental and
humanitarian protection (Du et al., 2010). Therefore, CSR communication is becoming widely acknowledged to inform, respond and involve stakeholders in CSR (Du et al., 2010; Morsing & Schultz, 2006).
Citizens’ scepticism towards CSR messages
Besides the multiple benefits for companies using CSR activities such as improving its image and stakeholders’ attitudes, one downside effect is that stakeholders become sceptical towards the CSR activity as the main goal for-profit organizations is to make profit (Becker-Olsen, Cudmore, & Hill, 2006; Du et al., 2010). Therefore, a lot of attention is paid on reducing scepticism of stakeholders in CSR communication research (Bae & Cameron, 2006; Becker- Olsen et al., 2006; Elving, 2013; Forehand & Grier, 2003; Kim &Lee, 2009; Yoon, Gürhan-Canli, & Schwarz, 2006). In CSR communication, consumers are seen as key stakeholders for shaping CSR strategies (Abdeen, Rajah & Gaur, 2016). However, for this research paper, the main focus is on the general public and their perception of CSR activities. Hence, the aim of the study is to find out how sceptical citizens are towards CSR initiatives and not necessarily consumers of a brand or product. Measuring citizens’ scepticism can be of interest for companies as the opinion of citizens can affect the company’s reputation and how the CSR communication is received (Kiousis, Popescu & Mitrook, 2011). Moreover, when companies are taking over a socially responsible task, their business extends the market place and contributes to the wider context of society and thereby affecting also citizens. Therefore, in this thesis citizens will be taken as the focal point and not consumers.
Scepticism is defined as the tendency to disbelieve (Skarmeas & Leonidou, 2013). Moreover, scepticism is often combined with cynicism, suspicion, and distrust (Elving, 2013; Skarmeas & Leonidou, 2013). The term cynicism revolves around the thought that the
behaviours of individuals are mainly seen as selfish and motivated by egoistic motives (Elving, 2013). However, cynicism is seen as a personality trait whereas scepticism is
situational and not always present (Elving, 2013). Suspicion emerges when it is assumed that there is a motive behind the individual’s behaviour (Skarmeas & Leonidou, 2013). Distrust occurs when the individual thinks the other party wants to harm its wellbeing (Cho, 2006). Moreover, scepticism can be divided into dispositional scepticism and situational scepticism.
Dispositional scepticism is a personality trait and has an ongoing distrust. While situational scepticism is the state that varies depending on the situation and context (Skarmeas &
Leonidou, 2013). This thesis will focus on situational scepticism in which people can change their mind depending on the situational factors. Moreover, the attribution theory of Heider (1958) enlightens why some people are more sceptical than others. The theory (1958) analyses whether the individual gives internal or external attributions to himself or others. Regarding this research, internal attribution happens when citizens think the company’s motives of CSR activities are truly honest and intrinsic. Whereas, external attribution occurs when citizens think the motives of the company are only external which means only for-profit making reasons (Elving, 2013). Hence, studies found out that if there is high scepticism towards the CSR activity, there is a negative effect on consumers’ attitude towards the company and purchase intention (Becker-Olsen et al., 2006; Ellen, Webb, & Mohr, 2006). Thus, the levels of scepticism are a predictor of the success of the CSR campaign (Elving, 2013). Moreover, in the study of Elving (2013), the results showed that the lowest levels of scepticism are when the company has a good reputation and a high CSR fit. However, the study involved only one medium type for the manipulation, namely an advertisement of a CSR activity in a newspaper article. This study will use informational messages and
investigate whether there still are differences in the level of scepticism of a company with a good reputation by using different medium types.
A Theory of ‘the Medium is the Message’
In communication science, one of New Media theories is McLuhan’s (1967)
technology driven idea ‘the medium is the message’, which posits that technology and media itself have a direct effect on society without the influence of the actual content of the medium. McLuhan explained that modern media can be seen as extensions of human senses which have the ability to influence what we perceive in our world (McLuhan, 1967). Regarding the 21st century, the media landscape has drastically changed and is still changing with the rise of
social media (Stephen & Galak, 2012). Today, we have traditional and social media, both used for different reasons. Traditional media mainly focus on news and information. Social media once were platforms for social connections and interactions with friends and
communities. However, today social media are widely used as source for news information (Fletcher & Nielsen, 2018). Although both traditional and social media are used as source for news, people’s perceptions and reactions are different, despite having the same content (Johnson & Kaye, 2015; Kiousis, 2001; WoonBong & Marshall, 2003). Public’s trust in traditional media such as newspapers are increasing since 2013 whereas the use of social media for news is decreasing (Newman, Fletcher, Kalogeropoulos, Levy & Nielsen, 2018). Regarding social media, people navigate the news more with a ‘generalised scepticism’ (Fletcher & Nielsen, 2018). In the study of Fletcher and Nielsen (2018), conducted in four different Western countries, they found out that the majority of people follow the news on social media but are sceptical in all forms of selection including editors and journalists. Another study examined that most people who use social media for news information do not have a lot of trust in the content (American Press Institute, 2016). Mainly due to events in which social media news were associated with ‘fake-news’, one can argue traditional media have gained its credibility again in the digital world (Newman et al., 2018). Furthermore, in the field of crisis communication, the study of Schultz et al. (2011) found out that newspapers were perceived more reliable and neutral than corporate blogs or corporate tweets, even for the twitter users (Schultz et al., 2011).
These discoveries suggest that there is a pattern for the usage of news information. Consequently, one can argue that people use specific medium types due to their
characteristics rather than their content. Social media platforms are rather trusted and used for social connections and interactions with friends and communities whereas the usage for news information is losing its credibility. On the other hand, the public tends to use traditional media for quality news and accurate information. Trust is salient how people view and
respond to the content. Thus, as discussed in the previous section, scepticism emerges from distrust and distrust leads to suspicion (Skarmeas & Leonidou, 2013). As people tend to trust the medium type rather than the content, it can be argued that scepticism rises due to the type of medium rather than the content.
In the field of CSR communication, different medium types are used for
disseminating the CSR activity to the public. Annual reports are commonly used for CSR activities due to their high level of credibility. However, as the aim of the study is to have the general perception of the public and not regular consumers of a company, annual reports have not been seen as suitable for this research. On the other hand, news coverage has been proven to be effective for disseminating the CSR activity (Du et al., 2010; Kim & Ferguson, 2014; Mercadé-Melé, Molinillo & Fernández-Morales, 2017). Thus, a newspaper was chosen as medium type for this research as they are commonly used by citizens. Blogs, Facebook and Twitter are seen as important social media platforms for CSR communication (Ali et al., 2015; Cho et al., 2017; Saxton et al., 2017). However, companies often use Facebook and Twitter to repost the CSR blog of the company. Unlike in crisis communication where a shorter text is an effective communication strategy (Schultz et al., 2011), for CSR
communication it is rather informativeness that gains citizens’ trust and avoids suspicion (Kim, 2017; Kim & Ferguson, 2018). Therefore, a blog post was selected as the second medium type for this research.
Using a newspaper article and a blog post by the company is to analyse whether the level of scepticism changes due to the medium type rather than the message. As the trust of news reported by newspapers are in general higher than for social media, it is assumed that when citizens read a newspaper article about a CSR activity their scepticism will be lower than when they read a blog post by the company. Therefore, the following hypothesis is posited:
H1: Scepticism will be lower when citizens read the CSR message from a newspaper article than when they read it from the company’s blog post.
The Perceived Credibility of Medium Types in CSR Communication
Following the previous literature review of the ‘medium is the message’, arguably, there is a pattern within society regarding the usage of social and traditional media for news information. To understand the effect of the medium type on the perceived credibility of the medium type, the theory of genre needs to be explained. Genre is widely discussed in media theory which the word ‘genre’ comes from originally Latin and means ‘kind’ or ‘class’ (Chandler, 1997). Following the theory of ‘the medium is the message' in which for example Facebook is the medium for socialising and entertainment, genre emerges from “either the experience using media or by the socialisation into the norms of media use” (Flanagin & Metzger, 2000, p. 517). Thus, the genre theory explains that media users of news source information identify the genre of the medium type which is either ‘quality’ media or ‘social’/’entertainment’ media, and guides their interpretation of the content (Flanagin & Metzger, 2000, p.517). In fact, they apply their knowledge of that genre before reading and interpreting the content (Flanagin & Metzger, 2000, p.517). Consequently, one can explain that when exposed to a medium type, such as a traditional medium or a social medium, citizens interpret the information accordingly to the genre which affects the perceived credibility of the medium type.
The influence of the perceived credibility of traditional and social media on citizens’ scepticism can be explained through the categorisation of owned and earned media (Stephen & Galak, 2012). Owned media is the media activity which the company can control for such as press releases, blog posts, website’s posts or brochures. Earned media is the media activity that is not generated by the company but by others such as likes and shares on social media
platforms, word-of-mouth, and journalists. Companies can influence the earned media activity but cannot directly generate the activity (Stephen & Galak, 2012).
In Du et al. study (2010), they advocate that the less control of the media by the company, the more credible the CSR activity becomes. Moreover, Kim and Ferguson (2018) found out that the third-party endorsement is a crucial part for the acceptance and validity of the CSR message. In fact, the public is more likely to respond more positively towards a CSR message that involves a non-corporate, third-party source than a corporate source (Kim & Ferguson, 2014; Kim & Ferguson, 2018). Hence, the blog post which is controlled by the company (owned media) generates less credibility than for a newspaper article which content is produced by the news organization (earned media). Therefore, the perceived credibility of a newspaper article will receive lower scepticism by the public than the perceived credibility of the blog post. The second hypothesis is as follows:
H2: Scepticism will be lower when citizens read the CSR message from a newspaper article than when they read it from the company’s blog post which is explained when the credibility of the medium type is perceived highly rather than lowly.
CSR Fit
In the field of CSR communication, existing research emphasises the importance of CSR ‘fit’ (Austin & Gaither, 2018). The theory of CSR fit states that a high fit between the social issue and the company’s business, such as a logical association, will lead to more favourable reactions of the stakeholders (Austin & Gaither, 2018; Du et al., 2010). Consequently, a high fit generates a positive influence on public’s attitudes towards the company and its products as the public sees the congruence between the company and the issue (Du et al., 2010; Elving, 2013; Gupta & Pirsch, 2006). Whereas a perceived low CSR fit, which does not follow a logical association between company and issue, is more likely to receive negative responses as the public elaborates their motives as competitive or financial motivations (Du et al.,
2010). However, other studies found out that a low fit can actually lead to more favourability of the stakeholders (Bloom, Hoeffler, Keller, & Basurto Meza, 2006). Nevertheless, CSR fit has shown to be an influential moderator on the relationship between message and response (Hartmann, Fernández, Apaolaza, & D’Souza, 2018). CSR fit also proved to have a
moderating effect on the credibility of CSR communication of organizations (Go & Bortree, 2017). Consequently, a high CSR fit led to higher credibility of the CSR message on social media. Furthermore, the researchers examined that when organizations delivered
informational messages in a one-way communication to the public, the effect of fit becomes salient regarding the credibility perception. This is an important finding for this thesis as both newspaper and blog engage in a one-way communication which indicates that a high CSR would decrease scepticism. Moreover, Mercadé-Mélé et al. (2017) examined that CSR fit has a main effect on how consumers perceive CSR and that the medium type has a moderating role. However, this thesis argues that through the pattern of the usage of media today, that the medium type has a direct effect on citizens’ scepticism and is explained by the perceived credibility of the medium type. In their results, Mercadé-Mélé et al. (2017) found out that when the public perceives the CSR activity as credible through a high fit, the activity can be communicated through social media. However, if the activity is seen less credible through a low fit, the findings have shown it is better to communicate the CSR activity through a
traditional medium rather than a social medium (Mercadé-Melé et al., 2017). These results are interesting for this thesis as they show that the traditional medium is seen more credible than the social medium. This paper argues that it is the medium type that affects citizens’
scepticism whereas CSR fit has a moderating role in this relationship.
Accordingly, with previous research, it can be assumed that CSR fit moderates the relationship between medium type and citizens’ scepticism towards the CSR message. Therefore, hypothesis 3a states:
H3a: Scepticism will be lower when citizens read the CSR message from a newspaper article than when they read it from the company’s blog post, and this negative effect will be more pronounced for high CSR fit rather than for low CSR fit.
Moreover, a high CSR fit generates higher credibility of the CSR communication in which it can be assumed that the strength of the perceived credibility of medium type will be affected whether it is a high or low fit. Hypothesis H3b is as follows:
H3b: Scepticism will be lower when citizens read the CSR message from a newspaper article than when they read it from the company’s blog post, which is explained when the credibility of the medium type is perceived highly rather than lowly, and this negative effect will be more pronounced for high CSR fit rather than for low CSR fit.
FIGURE 1. Conceptual model: Medium type of the CSR message and citizens’ scepticism
Method
This study conducted an online survey embedded experiment. This true experiment
manipulated the medium type and CSR fit of the international Dutch company Philips. During the experiment, respondents received either a newspaper article or a blog post with two
different CSR activities (high fit vs. low fit) (see appendix 1 for full experiment). Other several variables were controlled, and a pilot study was tested before running the actual experiment.
Sampling
A convenience sample was conducted in which respondents were recruited via Facebook, LinkedIn, word-of-mouth and other social media platforms. The requirements for the respondents were to be at least 18 years old and to be able to conduct an English
questionnaire. The study’s aim is to obtain the ‘general opinion’ of the public, where most of the respondents should know the company Philips and preferably live in the Netherlands. However, other countries were also included as Philips is an international company, known in many countries, and the general opinion of citizens was asked.
The questionnaire was accessed through a link with an estimate of 10 minutes to complete the questionnaire. The experiment was online from the 26th of November until the 10th of December 2018. In total, 195 people have responded to the experiment. However, participants had to be excluded due to not completing the questionnaire or failing the manipulation check. The final number of respondents with valid answers was N=136. The majority of respondents were female (78%) and the ages ranged from 19 to 72 years with the average age being 32.48 years (SD=14.89). Most of the participants were living in the Netherlands (64%), other countries were for instance Germany (8.8%) and Belgium (6.6%). Most of the respondents are students (44.9%), following 27.9% of adults being full-time
employed and 48.5% had a bachelor’s degree. Moreover, 96.3% understood the posed questions in the survey. Regarding the company Philips, 94.9% knew Philips and 56.6% had the opinion that Philips is a trustworthy company.
Experimental Design
A 2x2 factorial design was conducted; factor ‘Medium type’ as between-subjects variable (2 levels: newspaper vs. blog post) by factor ‘CSR Fit’ as between-subjects variable (2 levels: high vs. low CSR fit) (see Figure 2). The experiment was carried out by an online questionnaire called Qualtrics in which participants were randomly assigned to one of the four conditions through a randomisation procedure provided by Qualtrics (N=34 in Group 1, N= 34 in Group 2, N= 35 in Group 3, N= 33 in Group 4).
Medium type
CSR fit Newspaper article (A1) Blog post (A2) High CSR fit (B1) A1B1 A2B1 Low CSR fit (B2) A1B2 A2B2
FIGURE 2. 2x2 between-subjects factorial design: Medium type (2 levels) x CSR fit (2
levels)
Procedure
When entering the online survey, respondents first received information about the researcher and about the research topic of companies integrating humanitarian or
environmental projects into their business strategies. After participants agreed on an informed consent, questions were posed regarding their demographics and about their media usage. A short description of CSR was explained, and their general opinion of CSR motives were asked. After, a short description of the company Philips was introduced with questions asking
about Philips’ credibility. Then, the manipulation was exposed with one of the four conditions in which the respondents received an article of Philips’ CSR activity. After the exposure, the perceived credibility of the medium type of the respondents was measured. Their scepticism towards the CSR message was measured after. Coming towards the end, a manipulation check was implemented, and it was asked if they understood all questions. At the end of the survey, respondents were enlightened about the self-designed CSR activities of Philips for research purposes.
Independent Variables
Company. To test whether medium type and CSR fit have an influence on a company
with a high reputation, the international company Philips was chosen for this study. Philips is one of the largest electronic companies of the world and has been ranked 19th for the most reputable company in the world in the 2018 Global RepTrak 100 (Maltha, 2018). Philips is a company with relative high reputation, known by many, and targets different age groups. For possible intervening variables, the variable organization’s credibility was controlled (M=2.92,
SD=.90).
Medium type. To test the effect of different medium types in CSR communication, a
newspaper article and a blog post by Philips was implemented. Moreover, both medium types contained the same CSR activity, use of wording, and the structure of the message. Only the visuals were different. The newspaper article replicated the Dutch newspaper Volkskrant as the experiment was conducted in the Netherlands. Moreover, Volkskrant is one of the biggest quality newspapers in the Netherlands. The blog post replicated an actual blog post by
Philips.
CSR fit. Fit was manipulated by using a high and low CSR fit of the company Philips.
For the condition of high CSR fit, Philips partnered with UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund) to use its expertise and technology to improve the health of women and girls in
Philips’ activity improving the health services in underserved regions. Whereas for the low fit, Philips donated to the World Food Programme (WFP) and thereby supporting the NGO. This shows a low CSR fit as Philips has no association with food and is a random choice for donating.
Dependent Variable
Citizens’ scepticism towards the CSR message. Nine items were taken from the
study of Rim & Kim (2016) to measure scepticism towards the CSR message on a 7-point Likert scale from (1) “strongly agree” to (7) “strongly disagree”. A principal component analysis (PCA) showed that not all items were loaded on one component. Two components, which had been seen as not necessary for measuring the dependent variable, were extracted. One item score was reversed. After running a second time, the PCA showed that the 7 items form a single uni-dimensional scale: only one component has an eigenvalue above 1
(eigenvalue: 3.39)and there is a clear point of inflexion after this component in the scree plot. Together, these factors explain 48.47% of the variance in the original variables (items). After a direct oblimin rotation, all items correlate positively with the first factor, the variable “The message of Philips’ humanitarian project is intended to mislead consumers rather than to inform consumers” has the strongest association (factor loading is .79). Reliability of the scale is good, Cronbach's alpha = .82 (M= 4.18, SD=.86). Therefore, it appears that the scale
measures the dependent variable (see table 1 in appendix 2). One example of the items was “The company pretends to care more about society than it really does”.
Perceived Credibility of Medium Type. Perceived credibility was measured on five
items from Meyer’s model (1988) of media credibility on a 7-point Likert scale “totally agree” (1) to “totally disagree” (7). A principal component analysis (PCA) demonstrates that all items form a single uni-dimensional scale: only one component has an eigenvalue above 1 (eigenvalue: 3.03) and there is a clear point of inflexion after this component in the scree plot. Together, these factors explain 62.41% of the variance in the original variables (items). After
a direct oblimin rotation, all items correlate positively with the first factor, the variable "I think the medium from which I have read Philips’ humanitarian project can be trusted" has the strongest association (factor loading is .82). Reliability of the scale is good, Cronbach's alpha = .83 (M=3.62, SD=.96). Therefore, it appears the scale measures the mediator (see table 1 in appendix 3). One item example: “I think the medium from which I have read Philips’ humanitarian project is unbiased”.
Control variables. Several control variables were included that could influence the
results. Some examples of the control variables were media usage, organization’s (Philips) credibility and citizen’s general opinion of CSR motives were controlled and held constant in the regression analyses.
Pilot-Test
Before running the real experiment, a pilot-test of 19 respondents was conducted to test whether the two medium types and the two condition of CSR fit were clear and
understandable. Some adjustments were made from suggestions of the respondents, which were mainly to draw more attention towards the medium types.
Results
Manipulation Check
A manipulation check was carried out in which respondents had to select in the end of the survey which article they had read. Four possible answers were shown which stated one of the medium types and one of the CSR fit. People were excluded from the experiment if they failed the manipulation check as for those participants the manipulation was not successful, and for the study to be precise as possible, only people were included who were successfully exposed to the manipulation. To measure whether the manipulation of the experiment was successful, a cross-tabulation was performed. 21 respondents had to be excluded. After the
exclusion of the participants who failed the manipulation check, a Chi-square test was performed again, and the two assumptions can be met as no cells count less than five. All respondents of the two groups (100%) have identified the right medium type of the experiment, x2(3) = 136.00, p<.001. Moreover, 100% of the two groups have correctly recognised the right CSR fit of the manipulation, x2(3) =136.00, p<.001.
Randomisation Check
To check whether there was equal distribution between the participants in each group, several checks had been made with chi-square analyses and independent t-tests.
Regarding gender, women and men were equally distributed to the medium types,
x2(2) = 3.16, p = .206. Moreover, both genders were also equally distributed to the CSR fit,
x2(2) = .37, p = .830. The independent t-test showed that there are no significant differences between medium types and age (t(134) = .92, p = .362, 95%CI [-2.71; 7.39]), and medium types and employment status (t(134) = .37, p = .713, 95%CI [-0.64; 0.94]). However, the independent t-test showed that there is a significant difference between the medium types and education, (t(134) = -2.37, p = .019, 95%CI [-0.73; -0.07]), and a significant difference between CSR fit and education (t(134) = -2.59, p = .011, 95%CI [-0.76; -0.10]). Therefore, education will be used as a covariate in the analyses to control for this factor. The
independent t-test showed that there are no significant differences between CSR fit and age (t(134) = .77, p = .442, 95%CI [-3.09; 7.03]), and between CSR fit and employment status (t(132.35) = 1.56, p = .122, 95%CI [-0.17; 1.40]).
Testing Hypotheses
The Effect of Medium Type on Citizens’ Scepticism Towards the CSR Message
H1 states that scepticism will be lower when citizens read the CSR message from a newspaper article than when they read it from the company’s blog post.
To control for education, a two-way ANOVA was run to test the difference between the two medium types and use education as covariate. The assumptions for ANOVA has been met, we may assume equal variances in the population, F(1,134) = .11, p = .738. The test revealed that respondents were less sceptic towards the CSR message of the newspaper article (M = 4.29, SD = .88) than the blog post (M = 4.06, SD = .82). However, the results show that there is no significant difference between the two medium types on citizens’ scepticism, F (1, 133) = 2.69, p = .103, η2 = .02. Regarding H1, the hypothesis cannot be confirmed as there is no statistically significant difference between a newspaper article and a blog post on citizens’ scepticism towards the CSR message.
The Effect of Medium Type and its Perceived Credibility on Citizens’ Scepticism Towards the CSR Message
H2 expects that scepticism will be lower when citizens read the CSR message from a newspaper article than when they read it from the company’s blog post which is explained when the credibility of the medium type is perceived highly rather than lowly.
Mediation analyses1 were tested with Model 4 in the PROCESS macro by Hayes (Hayes, 2013) to examine the mediation effect of the perceived credibility of the medium type on the relationship between medium type and citizens’ scepticism. With the bootstrapping procedure, a sample of 5,000 was used to analyse the indirect effect with 95% confidence interval. If the confidence interval contains a zero, the indirect effect is not significant and there is no mediation effect. The covariate education was controlled and was held constant.
The results showed that there is no direct effect between medium type and citizens’ scepticism towards the CSR message, also called path c’ (b = -.13, p = .347). However, the
1In statistics, mediation is defined when X significantly predicts Y (c’), X significantly predicts M (a), and M significantly predicts Y controlling for X (b). It is said that when there is no significant total effect or direct effect of X on Y, the mediation is not possible. However, there is a large consensus among statisticians that a significant mediation effect can be calculated through the indirect effect which means that X affects Y through the pathway a and b (Hayes, 2009; Hayes, & Rockwood, 2017). According to Preacher and Hayes (2004), there is an importance of directly testing the significance of indirect effects. Therefore, H2 will use this approach.
indirect effect was statistically significant as it does not include zero (Indirect effect = .38, 95% BCBCI [.203, .591]). A newspaper article compared to a blog post led to higher
perceived credibility of the medium type (path a: b = -.79, p = .000) which consequently led to lower scepticism towards the CSR message (path b: b = -.48, p =.000) (see figure 3). The second hypothesis can be supported in which the effect of medium type on citizens’
scepticism towards the CSR message was fully mediated by the perceived credibility of the medium type.
The Interaction Effect of Medium Type and CSR Fit on Citizens’ Scepticism Towards the CSR Message
H3a claims that scepticism will be lower when citizens read the CSR message from a newspaper article than when they read it from the company’s blog post, and this negative effect will be more pronounced for high CSR fit rather than for low CSR fit.
A two-way ANOVA test was conducted to test the interaction effect of medium type and CSR fit on citizens’ scepticism towards the CSR message. The assumptions for ANOVA has been met, we may assume equal variances in the population, F(3,132) = .29, p = .831. While ANOVA test was run, education was controlled and did not influence citizens’ scepticism. The results showed that CSR fit does not moderate the relationship between medium type and citizens’ scepticism, F (1,131 ) = .30, p = .584, η2 =.00. Although not hypothesised, an interesting finding revealed from the results, that there is a statistical significant main effect of CSR fit with moderate effect size on citizens’ scepticism towards the CSR message, F (1,131 ) = 17.18, p < .001, η2 = .12. This finding indicates that when citizens were exposed to a high fit, they were less sceptic towards the CSR message while exposed to a low CSR fit, respondents were more sceptic towards the CSR message. Moreover, in the previous analysis for H1 the medium type did not influence citizens’ scepticism. However, having CSR fit and medium type together in the analysis, there is a significant main but small effect size on the difference between the two medium types on
citizens’ scepticism, F (1, 131) = 3.96, p = .049, η2 = .03. These findings confirm with previous research of the influence of high and low CSR fit on scepticism (Elving, 2013). Regarding H3a, the hypothesis cannot be confirmed as CSR fit does not moderate the relationship between medium type and citizens’ scepticism.
The Interaction Effect of Medium Type and CSR Fit on the Perceived Credibility of the Medium Type
H3b expects scepticism to be lower when citizens read the CSR message from a newspaper article than when they read it from the company’s blog post, which is explained when the credibility of the medium type is perceived highly rather than lowly, and this negative effect will be more pronounced for high CSR fit rather than for low CSR fit.
To test the moderated mediation, Model 7 with PROCESS macro for SPSS was run (Hayes, 2013). With the bootstrapping procedure, a sample of 5,000 was used to analyse the indirect effect with 95% confidence interval. If the confidence interval contains a zero, the indirect effect is not significant and there is no mediation effect. The covariate education was controlled and was held constant.
The results showed that there is no interaction effect between medium type and CSR fit on perceived credibility of medium type (b = .33, p = .261). The moderated mediation is statistically not significant as it includes zero (moderated mediation effect = -.16, 95% BCBCI [-.464, .117]). A medium type containing a high CSR fit compared to a low CSR fit did not lead to higher perceived credibility of the medium type. However, although not hypothesised, the analyses revealed that CSR fit has a statistically significant effect on the mediator (b = -.64, p = .002) which can be seen in figure 3. This finding supports previous research how essential a high CSR fit is for the credibility of CSR communication (Go & Bortree, 2017).
The third hypothesis cannot be confirmed, CSR fit does not moderate the relationship between medium type and the perceived credibility of the medium type.
FIGURE 3. Path model: Mediation and moderated mediation effects on the relationship
between medium type and citizens’ scepticism
The Effect of Education, Organization’s Credibility, Age and Gender on Citizens’ Scepticism Towards the CSR Message
Three control variables had statistically significant effects when included in the multiple regression model predicting citizens’ scepticism towards the CSR message. The residuals are distributed normally, and homoscedasticity has been met. The regression model with the variables significantly predicted citizens’ scepticism towards the CSR message, F(6, 126) = 12.76 , p < .001. The regression model can predict the dependent variable, but the strength of the prediction is moderate: 38 per cent of the variation in citizens’ scepticism can be predicted on the basis of medium type and perceived credibility of medium type (R2 =.38). For the control variable education, there is no significant effect on citizens’ scepticism, b* =
-.03, t = -.33, p = .741, 95% CI [-0.43; 0.30]. However, for organization’s credibility, there is a significant effect on citizens’ scepticism towards the CSR message but has a weak negative association on citizens’ scepticism, b* = -.28, t = -3.56, p = .001, 95% CI [-0.43; -0.12]. Age also significantly predicts the dependent variable but has a weak negative association on citizens’ scepticism, b* = -.24, t = -2.72, p = .007, 95% CI [-0.02; -0.00]. Likewise, gender is a predictor of the dependent variable but has a very weak negative association on citizens’ scepticism, b* = .16, t = 2.19, p = .030, 95% CI [0.03; 0.54]. For organization’s credibility, the higher the credibility of the organization Philips is perceived, scepticism decreases by .28 units on the scale measuring scepticism. Furthermore, male is more sceptic compared to female by .28 units on the scale measuring scepticism. Additionally, the higher the age, scepticism will decrease by .01 units on the scale measuring scepticism. For every effect prediction of each control variable, the other variables are assumed to be held constant. (see table 1 in appendix 4).
Discussion
The aim of the study was to examine the impact of medium type and CSR fit on citizens’ scepticism and whether the perceived credibility of the medium type explains the relationship between medium type and citizens’ scepticism towards the CSR message.
The results showed that there is no significant difference between a newspaper article and a blog post by the company on citizens’ scepticism towards the CSR message. However, the perceived credibility of the medium type showed a full mediation effect between medium type and citizens’ scepticism. Consequently, the medium type influenced how citizens
perceived the medium type’s credibility which influenced their scepticism towards the CSR message. The newspaper article led citizens perceived the medium type as more credible and thus, were less sceptic towards the message. Whereas, the blog post led citizens perceive the medium type as less credible and thus, were more sceptic towards the CSR message.
Another finding from this study showed how salient the role of CSR fit is in CSR communication. CSR fit did not moderate the effect of medium type or its perceived
credibility on citizens’ scepticism, as assumed in this study. However, the results showed that CSR fit has a main effect on scepticism and thus, is influential for effective communication. When Philips had a high CSR fit, respondents were less sceptic. Whereas, when Philips had a low CSR fit, respondents were more sceptic. This is in line with previous research (Du et al., 2010; Elving, 2013).
Theoretical implications
The results of this research have several implications for theory and can be added to existing CSR communication studies. In particular, ‘the medium is the message’ can be reflected in CSR communication. When people read a CSR message, the medium type plays a role regarding their scepticism. More precisely, it is the perceived credibility of the medium type that influences the scepticism towards the message. Previous research has already reflected on the shift between social media and traditional media where people rather build their trust or distrust on the type of medium rather than the content (Johnson & Kaye, 2015; Newman et al., 2018; Schultz et al., 2011). This pattern shows that the medium types are classified into genres which guides the reader’s interpretation of the content. The findings of a full mediation effect between medium type and citizens’ scepticism through the perceived credibility of the medium type supports this theory in which this pattern and classification of genres can be reflected in CSR communication.
Further, the findings showed that a high CSR fit induces less scepticism for both medium types, and thus, the type of medium is not important anymore. However, a low CSR fit increases scepticism and the use of the right medium type is necessary. Namely, a low CSR fit disseminated through a blog post increases scepticism and is explained by the social medium type and its media activity as owned media. Whereas, a low CSR fit reported in the
newspaper does not increase scepticism and is explained by the traditional medium type and its media activity as earned media.
Furthermore, the results showed that age plays a role regarding citizens’ scepticism. Younger generations tend to be more sceptical towards the CSR message than the older generation. An explanation can be that millennials are more involved in the level of CSR and are more concerned about companies’ values (Hershatter & Epstein, 2010). In addition, the study is in line with previous research, that women are compared to men, more favourable towards CSR and believe that organizations should contribute to benefit society (Hatcher & Stephen, 2015). Further, the organization’s credibility is also a crucial point for citizens’ scepticism. This is in accordance with previous research, namely without credibility one loses its legitimacy to operate (Lock & Seele, 2017). Hence, the results demonstrate that
organization’s credibility needs always to be taken into consideration when disseminating its CSR activity.
Lastly, this study gave more insights into the field of CSR communication by extending the study of Mercadé-Melé et al. (2017). This study showed that the perceived credibility of the medium type is a mediator in the process of communicating CSR and predicts citizens’ scepticism. Moreover, this study extended Elving’s work (2013) by
demonstrating that despite the company’s high reputation, there still are differences between the level of scepticism depending on the medium type.
Practical implication
Few practical implications can be drawn from this research. The findings of this research paper show how important media coverage is. Already previous research has indicated that news coverage is effective in CSR communication (Kim & Ferguson, 2018). Therefore, it is advised that companies should build meaningful relationships with media organizations or journalists and manage press releases. Moreover, this study proved that informational messages can be effective when using the right medium type according to its
CSR fit. Moreover, it is advisable to first publish its CSR activity by third-parties. For CSR communication, it is important to focus on credibility in which releasing a press release can increase the credibility of the CSR message. Moreover, using a combination of both
traditional and social media can have effective outcomes and increase credibility which already previous research has indicated as a successful strategy (Stephen & Galak, 2012).
Furthermore, companies whose main stakeholders or consumers are young males is advised to focus more on factually based CSR communication with more focus on personal values of the consumers (Schmeltz, 2017). Moreover, it is advisable for organizations to disseminate their CSR activities only when they are in good relations with its stakeholders and the public, as the organization’s credibility is an important element for the credibility of the CSR message.
Limitation & Future Research
In this study, there are some limitations that need to be discussed. First, an experiment attempts to replicate the reality as real as possible (Field, 2013). However, the manipulation of the newspaper article and blog post needs to be treated with caution as people are not in their natural habitat. Moreover, the Dutch newspaper article was manipulated with an English text that needs to be seen as a limitation. Furthermore, the measurement of the perceived credibility of medium type must be regarded carefully as people might perceive the credibility of the medium type through other intervening factors. Hence, people seeing the medium type on an online questionnaire might have influenced how they perceive the credibility of the medium type. Additionally, this study only measured the scepticism of the respondents. This can also be seen as a limitation as people were only asked how sceptical they were towards the message. Future research can replicate this manipulation in the language of their country and use additional medium types that have not been used in this study. Further, other
dependent variables such as intention to purchase or attitude towards the company can be added to future research to have a wider view of public’s perception on the CSR message.
Additionally, the experiment was a cross-sectional design where future research can establish a longitude experiment to see whether the results changes.
Regarding the sample, it does not represent the general public as it was a convenience sample in which the results need to be treated cautiously and cannot be generalised.
Moreover, the randomisation check showed that education was not randomised in the experiment. However, education was used as a covariate and was controlled for in all analyses.
This experiment focused only on one company, namely the Dutch company Philips. Hence, all results are subject to the organization’s credibility. Therefore, when examining the results, one should keep in mind that it is depended on one company. However, the results can, to an extent, be applied to other international companies with good reputations. Future research can replicate this experiment with a company of low reputation or coming from a stigmatised industry and compare the results with this study.
Conclusion
To conclude, this thesis showed that the pattern of how people trust medium types in news information also holds for CSR communication. People tend to trust the medium type more than the content in which traditional media is perceived more credible than social media. As there is a “generalised scepticism” towards CSR activities and a “generalised scepticism” towards social media regarding news, it demonstrates how important traditional media, especially newspapers, still is in CSR communication as people build their scepticism depending on how they perceive the medium type.
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Appendix
Appendix 1:
Introduction
Welcome and thank you for showing interest in this research! This investigation is being carried out by Christine Greule, Master student of Corporate Communication at the University of Amsterdam. The survey is about how companies integrate humanitarian or environmental projects into their business strategies. The survey will take around ten minutes and
revolves entirely around your opinion. There are no right or wrong answers. The information you provide is furthermore treated anonymously and can only be seen by myself. If you have any questions about this research or are you interested in the results, you can contact me by
emailing christine.greule@student.uva.nl. Thank you very much for your participation in my research!
Christine
I hereby declare that I have been informed in a clear manner about the nature and method of the research, as described previously.
I agree, fully and voluntarily, to participate in this research study. With this, I retain the right to withdraw my consent, without having to give a reason for doing so. I am aware that I may halt my participation in the experiment at any time.
If my research results are used in scientific publications or are made public in another way, this will be done such a way that my anonymity is completely safeguarded. My
personal data will not be passed on to third parties without my express permission. If I wish to receive more information about the research, either now or in future, I can contact
christine.greule@uva.nl. Should I have any complaints about this research, I can contact the designated member of the Ethics Committee representing the ASCoR, at the following address: ASCoR secretariat, Ethics Committee, University of Amsterdam, Postbus 15793, 1001 NG Amsterdam; 020‐‐525 3680; ascor‐‐secr‐‐fmg@uva.nl.
Demographics
What is your gender?
How old are you?
Which country do you live in at the moment?
I understand the text presented above, and I agree to participate in the research study.
Male Female Other
What is your highest qualification?
What is your current employment status?
Media Usage
What medium types do you use when reading news about companies from 1 being most often and 4 being least often (Drag and Drop)
Less than high school diploma
High school diploma or equivalent degree Bachelor's degree
Master's degree
Doctoral degree or PhD
Name your degree if its not mentioned
Student Full-time employment Part-time employment Unemployed Self-employed Home-maker Retired Twitter
Citizens' general opinion of CSR motives
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), also called corporate sustainability is a business approach in which corporations or companies take on
responsible tasks or contribute to sustainable developments such as humanitarian projects or caring about the environment.
Companies do CSR activities because they truly care about the cause (environment/humanity)
Newspaper (online/offline) Company's website (blog)
Strongly agree Agree
Somewhat agree
Neither agree nor disagree Somewhat disagree
Disagree
Strongly disagree
Companies do CSR activities to create a positive corporate image
I believe that companies have a “hidden agenda” in promoting CSR initiatives
Strongly agree Agree
Somewhat agree
Neither agree nor disagree Somewhat disagree Disagree Strongly disagree Strongly agree Agree Somewhat agree
Neither agree nor disagree Somewhat disagree
Disagree
Strongly disagree
