The influence of the types of media on the formation of perceived CSR

The objective of this study is to analyze how the media used to communicate a socially responsible activity influences the perception of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). To do this, an empirical study was conducted with two samples of consumers who were shown an advertisement about a socially responsible activity inserted in either a newspaper or a social network. The data were collected using a personal survey conducted with 623 consumers in Spain and analyzed using structural equation modeling. The results show that the CSR perceived by the consumer changes depending on the medium used to communicate the socially responsible activity. If the socially responsible activity is communicated in a newspaper, the company-cause congruence influences CSR both directly and indirectly through corporate credibility. However, when communicated on a social network, the relationship is only indirect. In addition, the relationship between corporate credibility and CSR is more intense in the social network than in the newspaper. Moreover, there is corroboration of the influence of the company-cause congruence on perceived corporate ability in both the newspaper and the social network, with no significant difference noted between them.