Abstract
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a key part of organizational strategy, yet its credibility depends on how consumers interpret brand motives. This thesis examines how brand personality (warmth vs. competence), CSR message focus (people, planet, profit), and consumer skepticism interact to shape perceptions of CSR authenticity.
A 3x2 between-subjects experiment was conducted using Tony’s Chocolonely (warmth) and Heineken (competence) as manipulation brands. A total of 211 participants were randomly exposed to one of six CSR messages and rated perceptions of authenticity, skepticism, warmth, and competence.
Results showed that warm brands were perceived as more authentic than competent brands, and that consumer skepticism strongly reduced authenticity perceptions. Message–brand fit, however, did not moderate these effects. Across both brands, people-focused CSR messages were rated as more authentic than profit-focused ones. This suggests that the type of CSR message used is more telling for perceived CSR authenticity than message-brand fit. Contrary to expectations, competent brands appeared somewhat more vulnerable to skepticism than warm brands, though this trend was not statistically significant.
The study extends CSR communication research by showing that perceived sincerity outweighs strategic fit in authenticity judgments. For practice, it suggests that brands should emphasize warmth cues and people-centered initiatives to strengthen CSR credibility, while competence-oriented brands may need to invest more in transparency and trust-building to mitigate skepticism.
Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility, brand personality, warmth and competence, consumer skepticism, authenticity