The purpose of this study was to explore whether negative spillover effects occur in the context of a company–nonprofit partnership when a crisis strikes a partner organization, and to explore effective response strategies for the principal organization. We conducted an online experiment (N = 445) with a 2 (duration of partnership: long-term vs. short-term) x 2 (message strategy: denial vs. no response) x 3 (action strategy: ending partnership, continuing partnership, no response) between-subject design in the context of a fictional financial misconduct crisis. The results confirmed the existence of negative spillover effects; when respondents were exposed to crisis information about a partner organization, their attitude toward the principal organization became less favorable. We found that denial message strategies were more effective than no message strategy, restoring the image of the principal organization up to or even better than its pre-crisis level. None of the action strategies, however, were effective in recovering the image of the principal organization. We discuss the practical and theoretical implications.
목차
Abstract Literature Review Company–Nonprofit Partnerships as Strategic CSR Response Strategies to Negative Spillover Effects Method Participants and Procedure Stimuli Measures Results Discussion References Appendix