Impact of Socially Responsible Values on Corporate Reputation

Stéphane BernardSylvain Rozès

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Research Question

– Does using ethical values in corporate communication benefit the organization in terms of reputation ?

– Key concepts▪ Corporate communications▪ Values▪ Ethical ideology▪ Image and reputation

– Corporate Communications: « Everything the organization says, does and communicates » (Van Riel and Balmer, 1995)

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Structure of Values (Schwartz and Boehnke, 2004)

Openness to

chan

geSelf-Transcendence

Cons

erva

tionSelf-Enhancement

Self-Direction

Stimulation

Hedonism

Achievement

Power

Security

ConformityTradition

Benevolence

Universalism

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Ethical Ideology

– Forsyth (1980) defines a bi-dimensional scale to characterize a person’s ethical ideology:▪ Idealism▪ Relativism

– 4 groups are defined:

relativism

idealism high low

high Situationists

Rejects moral rules; advocates individualistic analysis of each act in each situation; relativistic.

Absolutists

Assumes that the best possible outcome can always be achieved by following universal moral rules.

low Subjectivists

Apparaisals based on personal values and perspectives rather than universal moral principles; relativistic.

Exceptionists

Moral absolutes guide judgments but pragmatically open to exceptions to these standards ; utilitarian.

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Initial Model

corporate communication

corporateactions

corporateculture

emissionof values

perceptionof values

perceptionof actions

corporatereputation

ethicalideology

Measurement Model

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resultingconservation

resultingself-

-achievement

idealism

relativism

perceived values

ethical ideology

actions

reputation

perceptionof actions

friendliness

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Methodology

– Internet survey – sample size 276 (267 questionnaires retained after initial analyses)

– For each respondent:▪ Measure of personal values and perceived values on a 21-

item proposed by Schwartz, derived from the initial 56-item scale ;

▪ Measure of ethical ideology on Forsyth’s scale (20 items) ;▪ Measure of company reputation on a 49-item scale

suggested by Davies (49 items).

– 8 real-life companies

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Coefficients of the Model

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Structure of Values (Schwartz and Boehnke, 2004)

Openness to

chan

geSelf-Transcendence

Cons

erva

tionSelf-Enhancement

Self-Direction

Stimulation

Hedonism

Achievement

Power

Security

ConformityTradition

Benevolence

Universalism

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Ethical Ideology Scale

– Forsyth (1980) defines a bi-dimensional scale to characterize a person’s ethical ideology:▪ Idealism▪ Relativism

– 4 groups are defined:

relativism

idealism high low

high Situationists

Rejects moral rules; advocates individualistic analysis of each act in each situation; relativistic.

Absolutists

Assumes that the best possible outcome can always be achieved by following universal moral rules.

low Subjectivists

Apparaisals based on personal values and perspectives rather than universal moral principles; relativistic.

Exceptionists

Moral absolutes guide judgments but pragmatically open to exceptions to these standards ; utilitarian.

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Conclusion (1/2)

– Significant effects▪ ethical values in corporate messages have a positive effect on company

reputation;

▪ perception of corporate actions has a strong positive effect;

▪ moderating effect of ethical ideology: people with a “strong” ethical ideology will be much more critical of ethical values in communication messages.

– Practical applications to company communications▪ possibility to pre-test corporate communications messages with specific

targets;

▪ standard scales can be used to verify alignment between key corporate elements (internal values, perceived values, actions).

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Conclusion (2/2)

– Limits▪ Sample;

▪ Phrasing of questions.

– Further developments▪ validation with other stakeholders;

▪ better understanding of openness to change vs. conservation as ethical dimension.

– correspondence s.bernard@esc-toulouse.fr