CSR in the fashion industry: the effects of consistency, fit and social cause involvement

The increased importance for companies to be viewed as socially responsible by consumers has increased the engagement in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) as well in recent years. This is also the case for companies in the fashion industry. The current study aimed to research the influence of two aspects of CSR engagement and – communication on corporate reputation and perceived CSR authenticity. CSR actions are not always executed as claimed, which is especially apparent in the fast fashion industry. Fast fashion brands such as ZARA and H&M have been exposed for not walking their CSR talk, meaning that they do not act upon the CSR claims they have made. The consistency in CSR talk and walk was hypothesized to be a factor that influences consumer responses to CSR engagement, similarly to CSR fit. While fit is a widely studied concept, researching its direct – and moderating influence within the context of the fashion industry in this study has expanded the literature on it further. The current study also aimed to research the moderating influence of consumers’ social cause involvement on the effects of consistency in CSR talk and walk and CSR fit. With the use of a quantitative online experiment with a 2 x 2 between-subject design, the following research questions were answered: How do the consistency in CSR talk and walk (inconsistent vs consistent) and CSR fit (low vs high) affect perceived CSR authenticity and corporate reputation in the fashion industry? and To what extent does CSR fit moderate the possible effects of consistency in CSR talk and walk, and how does consumer’s social cause involvement moderate the possible effects of consistency in CSR talk and walk and CSR fit on perceived CSR authenticity and corporate reputation in the fashion industry? This study included four conditions, in order to represent consistent and inconsistent CSR talk and walk, the participant was either shown a fast – or slow fashion company. Moreover, the high CSR fit condition was represented by the company recycling and donating clothes. The low-fit condition included donating money to schools in India and Bangladesh. Confirming the hypotheses, consistent talk and walk was found to have a positive effect on perceived CSR authenticity and corporate reputation. However, CSR fit had no direct – or moderating effect. Furthermore, the level of social cause involvement only had 2 a moderating effect on the relationship between consistency and corporate reputation. These findings highlight the importance of consistency in actions and claims in order to obtain the advantages of CSR engagement. Additionally, CSR fit might not be an important factor when the level of social cause involvement of consumers is generally high.