This paper aims to examine the impact of nonspatial corporate social responsibility (CSR) proximity on consumer trust in CSR issues and engagement with virtual CSR initiatives, aiming to offer possible solutions to the engagement dilemma caused by increasing consumer skepticism.
This research examines the differential effects of emotional and cognitive CSR proximity on consumer CSR engagement through two studies conducted on Chinese social media. Qualtrics was used for data collection, and SPSS Statistics 24 was used for analysis.
The results revealed that the effect of emotional CSR proximity on consumer engagement in virtual CSR was much stronger than that of cognitive CSR proximity. In addition, desensitization may occur between emotional CSR proximity and consumer engagement among consumers with higher environmental consciousness. Furthermore, the mediation analysis shows that consumer trust in specific CSR issues partially mediates the relationship between nonspatial CSR proximity and consumer engagement in virtual CSR. However, nonspatial CSR proximity and consumer trust in CSR issues had negligible influence on consumer engagement with the e-retailer running the virtual CSR campaign in the mediation analysis.
This study contributes to the literature by integrating the stimulus–organism–response model and dual-system theory within the virtual CSR domain among young Chinese consumers. It highlights the moderating role of environmental consciousness and the mediating role of trust, offering insights for practitioners to prioritize emotional connections in virtual CSR initiatives.
