The buffering effect of continuous corporate social responsibilities engagement on negative consumer responses toward brand crises

This study aims to investigate how the extent of skepticism toward a firm's overall CSR practices spills over to consumers' evaluations of an actual incident, through examining recent crises involving Gucci and H&M. A total of 531 responses obtained through an online survey method were analyzed, and the results revealed that a low level of consumer skepticism toward a firm's corporate social responsibilities (CSR) practices increased trust, which in turn encouraged resilience (forgiveness) intentions for the firm's misconduct. Moreover, the resilience intention mitigated the extent to which consumers attributed the incident to the firm, perceived the severity of the incident, and perceptions of the firm's self-interest motives. The findings suggest that a firm's continuous and consistent CSR engagement can play a buffering role in alleviating negative consequences when brand crises occur. Therefore, the findings of this study will inform risk management by highlighting the protective effect of a firm's continuous CSR efforts.