Making information on CSR Scores Salient: A Randomised Field Experiment

Becchetti, Leonardo; Salustri, Francesco; Scaramozzino, Pasquale

Abstract

We locate a giant ‘school report-like’ scorecard poster with domain-specific social and environmental responsibility scores of the ten leading world food companies, measured by the Oxfam ‘Behind the Brands’ world campaign, at the entrance of selected supermarkets. We test the impact of these scores on consumers’ choices by means of a randomised field experiment. Our findings show that the Oxfam ranking matters since the treatment has a positive and significant effect on the market share of the companies with the highest scores and a negative and significant effect on the companies placed at the lowest ranks. Invisibility matters too, with the largest non-ranked companies selling in the store experiencing a slight fall in their market shares.

Citation

Becchetti, L., Salustri, F., & Scaramozzino, P. (2019). Making information on CSR Scores Salient: A Randomised Field Experiment. Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, 81(6), 1193-1213. https://doi.org/10.1111/obes.12301

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jan 16, 2019
• Online Publication Date: Feb 26, 2019
• Publication Date: Feb 26, 2019
• Deposit Date: Jan 21, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 21, 2019
• Journal: Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics
• Print ISSN: 0305-9049
• Electronic ISSN: 1468-0084
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 81
• Issue: 6
• Pages: 1193-1213
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/obes.12301
• Keywords: Consumer economics, Randomised field experiment, Corporate social responsibility.
• Publisher URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/obes.12301
• Additional Information: Additional Information : JEL Classification: D12 (Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis); C93 (Field Experi- ments); M14 (Corporate culture, Social responsibility).