Winners’ Dilemma: How Serendipitously Winning from an Exogenous Crisis Affects Perceptions toward Companies’ Crisis Relief Communications

During crises, companies often strategically communicate their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives, anticipating favorable public responses. However, our research, encompassing six studies (two detailed in the web appendix), reveals that the effectiveness of such CSR communications is significantly influenced by the company’s perceived status during the crisis. This paper presents a novel insight: companies that gain unexpectedly or serendipitously during crises might evoke negative public reactions to their crisis-relief efforts. Through diverse crisis scenarios including the COVID-19 pandemic, wildfires, and the Ukraine-Russia conflict, our studies demonstrate that these “winning” companies experience reduced consumer willingness to engage in positive word-of-mouth (WOM) and show less preference for their products and services when they communicate their CSR activities. This adverse reaction is primarily due to the public’s perception of low sincerity on the part of these companies. However, when such companies disclose their material (in-kind) donations, it mitigates the negative impact of their “winning” status on public attitudes. Importantly, we found that this negative perception applies only to companies whose winning status during a crisis is serendipitous. Conversely, companies that achieve their winning status through legitimate efforts witness positive public responses. Our findings underscore the nuanced interplay between a company’s crisis-time status, public perceptions, and the strategic communication of CSR activities..

危机期间，企业通常会战略性地宣传其企业社会责任（Corporate Social Responsibility，CSR）举措，以期获得公众的正向反馈。然而本研究涵盖六项研究（其中两项详述于网络附录），研究发现此类CSR宣传的有效性，会显著受到公众对企业在危机期间地位感知的影响。
本文提出一项新颖的研究洞见：那些在危机中意外获益或偶然获利的企业，其开展的危机救援举措反而可能引发公众的负面反应。本研究依托新冠疫情、山火、俄乌冲突等多样危机场景开展研究，结果显示，当这类“获益型”企业宣传其CSR活动时，消费者的正向口碑传播（word-of-mouth，WOM）意愿会有所降低，且对其产品与服务的偏好程度也会下降。
此类负面反应的核心成因，在于公众认为这些企业缺乏诚意。不过，若这类企业披露其实物捐赠（in-kind donations）行为，则可缓解其“获益”地位对公众态度造成的负面影响。
值得注意的是，本研究发现，这种负面感知仅适用于那些在危机中偶然获利的企业；反之，那些通过合法合规途径获得危机中优势地位的企业，则会获得公众的正向反馈。
本研究结果凸显了企业在危机期间的地位、公众感知与CSR战略宣传之间复杂且微妙的相互作用。