Consumers' Expectations of Corporate Social Responsibilities in a Product Harm Crisis: A Comparative Study

Abstract

Based on a survey conducted in China and Sri Lanka, the study examined consumer expectations of corporate social responsible strategies (CSR) in a product harm crisis. Mainly four CSR strategies were considered namely, economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic. A self administrated, pre-tested questionnaire survey was used in response to the fictitious product harm crisis scenario. Total 201 respondents participated in the survey. Study reveals that Chinese expect legal responsibilities from the business while Sri Lankans expect ethical, legal, and philanthropic responsibilities in the face of company culpable crisis. Moreover, economic and legal CSR expectations vary significantly between China and Sri Lanka whereas ethical and social CSR expectations do not vary between these two cultures. These findings provide useful..guidance for crisis managers and CSR implementers in selecting CSR strategies in crisis and for further academic inquiries.