Understanding CSR Campaigns Through the Lens of Culture Values and Moral Emotion

This study aimed to examine the persuasive influences of moral emotions on younger consumers’ judgments and decision-making and the roles of culture and self-construal in processing corporate social responsibility (CSR) campaigns. This study employed a between-subjects experiment where American and Chinese participants viewed one of the two CSR advertisement campaigns designed with ego-focused (e.g., an advertisement elicited anger emotion) and other-focused appeals (e.g., an advertisement elicited guilt emotion). By employing an elaboration likelihood persuasion model (ELM), the results indicated that negative moral emotions had significant positive influences on attitudes toward the advertisements and purchase intention through the peripheral route. In addition, results revealed the interaction effects between guilt emotion and cultural values (i.e., country) on attitudes. This study also highlighted the moderating role of self-construal individual values in the relationship between guilt and attitudes toward the campaign. This research provides insights for communication practitioners on designing effective CSR campaigns to reach culturally diverse target audiences.