Deeper Insights into Different Consumer Perceptions of CSR Communication: Germany vs. United States vs. China

Research, so far, has dealt insufficiently with the different consumer perceptions of CSR communication across nationalities, in spite of the growing number of multinational companies and their increased need to implement cross-national CSR communication strategies. This paper therefore addresses this research gap by examining whether Ger-mans, as compared with US-Americans and Chinese, assign different credibility scores and attribute different motives to a company´s CSR communication. The results reveal that US-Americans and Chinese assign a higher degree of credibility to CSR communi-cation and attribute other-centered motives more strongly to CSR communication than Germans. Moreover, the results confirm the role of motive attribution as a mediating variable. (Nomination for Best Paper Award)