The Effect of Culture on Consumers' Willingness to Punish Irresponsible/Corporate Behaviour: Applying Hofstede's Typology to the Punishment Aspect of Corporate Social Responsibility

33 Pages Posted: 31 May 2006

See all articles by Geoffrey Williams

Geoffrey Williams

Academy of Responsible Management

John Zinkin

Nottingham University Business School (NUBS)

Date Written: April 2006

Abstract

This paper explores the relationship between attitudes to corporate social responsibility (CSR) and the cultural dimensions of business activity identified by Hofstede and Hofstede (2005) using a sample of nearly 90,000 stakeholders drawn from 28 countries. We develop five general propositions relating attitudes to CSR to aspects of culture. We show that the propensity of consumers to punish firms for bad behaviour varies in ways that appear to relate closely to the cultural characteristics identified by Hofstede. Further this variation appears to be understandable in terms of the standard interpretation of the Hofstede dimensions suggesting that cultural variation in the attitudes of consumers may play an important role in helping us to understand variations in CSR across countries. This in turn has implications for how managers of multinational companies should implement CSR strategies in different cultural contexts.

Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility, Culture, Hofstede

JEL Classification: M14, M21, Z1, M20, M10

Suggested Citation

Williams, Geoffrey Alan and Zinkin, John, The Effect of Culture on Consumers' Willingness to Punish Irresponsible/Corporate Behaviour: Applying Hofstede's Typology to the Punishment Aspect of Corporate Social Responsibility (April 2006). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=905202 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.905202

Geoffrey Alan Williams (Contact Author)

Academy of Responsible Management

Suite 2B-12-3, Block 2B, Plaza Sentra
2 Jalan Stesen Sentral 5
Kuala Lumpur, 50470
Malaysia

John Zinkin

Nottingham University Business School (NUBS) ( email )

Jubilee Campus
Wollaton Road
Nottingham, NG8 1BB
United Kingdom

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