Examining consumers’ responses to corporate social responsibility addressing childhood obesity: The mediating role of attributional judgments

Food marketers have responded with numerous self-regulatory actions intended to address childhood obesity. While research on corporate social responsibility (CSR) generally provides strong evidence with regard to the economic benefits enjoyed by socially responsible corporations, it is unclear how and why consumers respond to different levels of CSR, especially in the food industry. Our research examines the effects of CSR activities, intended to combat childhood obesity, on consumers’ company evaluations and subsequent purchase intentions, while assessing the mediating role of attributions, in a product-failure setting. Results indicate that a food company's high commitment toward a major social issue may trigger less blame to the food marketer for a product failure, which in turn positively affects consumers’ attitudes toward the company. Our findings offer strong evidence that food corporations can truly do well by doing good.