The asymmetric effect of corporate reputation communication on flagship and non‐flagship product evaluations
研究了企业能力（CA）与企业社会责任（CSR）两种声誉沟通对消费者评价旗舰产品和非旗舰产品的不同影响，发现CSR更利于旗舰产品，CA更利于非旗舰产品，且消费者缺乏产品信息时效应更显著。
Abstract This research investigates how corporate reputation communications, specifically, those that focus on corporate ability (CA) versus corporate social responsibility (CSR), impact consumer evaluations of flagship products and non‐flagship products. Across five studies utilizing different research methods (survey, eye‐tracking, and experiments), we demonstrate an asymmetric effect of corporate reputation communication on product evaluations, dependent on the product's flagship status in its company's product portfolio (i.e., all products owned and marketed by a company). Specifically, while CSR is more conducive to consumer evaluations of flagship products, CA is more beneficial for evaluations of non‐flagship products. Such effects are more prominent when consumers lack detailed product attribute information. Given the strategic importance of flagship products to a company, this work adds to the emerging body of research on CSR communication by highlighting its advantage in bolstering consumer evaluations of flagship products.