Contrasting reactions to the same CSR initiative : the case study of LUSH’s #SpyCops Campaign

• Autor(a) principal: Freire, Maria Margarida Adubeiro Mendes
• Data de Publicação: 2020
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.14/29671
• topic: Controversial CSR; Reputation; Image; CSR attributions; Consumer-company identification; CSR controverso; Reputação; Imagem; Atribuições de CSR; Identificação consumidor-empresa; Domínio/Área Científica::Ciências Sociais::Economia e Gestão

CSR initiatives are an emerging and rapidly expanding strategy used by firms to achieve competitive advantage. However, in today’s socially charged environment, the connection between CSR initiatives and stakeholders’ interest and approval is not so straightforward. Companies have ventured into CSR initiatives that might be considered controversial and polarising. This dissertation outlines a case study based on a controversial CSR initiative - LUSH’s #SpyCops campaign. LUSH is no stranger to controversial social initiatives. However, the dimension of the backlash originated by the #SpyCops campaign was something LUSH could have never predicted. This campaign divided the public opinion, the general public heavily opposing the initiative, with the hashtag #FlushLUSH trending on Twitter UK and Lush’s Facebook rating dropping 1star in just the first day of the campaign, and a group composed mainly by LUSH’s loyal customer base that reacted in support of the campaign, resulting in a sales increase of 13%. With this case study students will have the opportunity to conceptually explore the reasons behind this unexpected outcome through the analysis of relevant moderators of the relationship between a CSR initiative and consumers’ perception. The students will also be exposed to the dynamics of consumers’ different opinions of the same CSR campaign and how the success of a campaign relies on complex interplay between consumer associations, Consumer-Company Identification, and CSR attributions.