Please Clap! How Customer Service Quality Perception Affects the Authenticity of Sustainability Initiatives

Abstract

Why do some companies gain image benefits from sustainability investments and others do not? The extant literature posits that consumer perceptions of authenticity influence reactions to a company’s sustainability efforts. Thus, consumers’ preconceived notions about a firm may influence the firm’s return on sustainability investments. Through behavioral experiments, employing Social Judgment Theory, Availability, and Affect Heuristics, we assess how a firm’s service quality perception influences a consumer’s appraisal and response to its sustainability efforts. We find that preexisting positive service perceptions reinforce and amplify consumers’ sustainability attributions. By contrast, negative service perceptions undermine sustainability returns, engendering cynicism toward sustainability initiatives.