The complicity of corporate sustainability on social issues: Investigating the mediating roles of valence and perceived authenticity

Abstract

As many corporations show an increasing commitment to a more sustainable behavior by involving in various sustainable issues, news media and public expectations about a corporation’s sustainable management and operation have also increased. Drawing on the concept of perceived authenticity and expectancy violation theory, we conducted two experiments to examine how positive and negative coverage of corporate sustainability in social issues influence attitude toward the company and word of mouth. The results indicate that exposure to positive coverage of corporate sustainability in controversial social issues resulted in a higher level of perceived authenticity through increased valence. The higher level of perceived authenticity then resulted in a favorable attitude and word of mouth. Moreover, this indirect effect varied by individuals’ expectedness. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.