Informational or emotional? The influencing mechanism of digital corporate social responsibility related interactive content on product purchase intention

Digitalization has transformed the way enterprises communicate corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives, highlighting the critical role of interactive content in the realm of digital CSR (DSR). This research investigates the influence of informational and emotional DSR content on consumer perceptions and behavioral outcomes through two experimental studies. Study 1 employed a one-factor between-subjects design (informational vs. emotional) with 50 participants in each condition. Study 2 utilized a 2 × 2 factorial design (content type: informational vs. emotional; product quality certification: present vs. absent), with 50 participants assigned to each of the four conditions. The results demonstrate that informational content significantly enhances consumers' perceptions of competence and positively influences purchase intentions. In contrast, emotional content primarily evokes perceptions of warmth but does not directly impact purchase intentions. However, the presence of product quality certification amplifies the effectiveness of emotional content, creating a “warm glow” effect that enhances warmth perceptions and fosters consumer engagement. These findings underscore the importance of combining emotional content with informational details, such as time, place, amount, and channel, to balance warmth and competence in DSR communications. By integrating the Stereotype Content Model and the “warm glow” effect into DSR research, this study provides theoretical advancements and practical insights for optimizing DSR-related interactive content strategies to maximize consumer engagement and purchase behavior.