How do irresponsibility attributions affect organisational reputation? Evidence from the banking industry
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Date
2023-10-31
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Publisher
Emerald Publishing Limited
Abstract
This study examines how potentially irresponsible banking operations affect organisational reputation. A moderated mediation model is applied to explain how major aspects of social irresponsibility affect the relationship between consumer awareness of allegedly irresponsible operations, blame, and bank reputation. The empirical context is the Swiss franc mortgage crisis that affected the banking industry in most Central and Eastern European countries.
The research uses data collected from a large survey (N = 1000) conducted among Polish bank consumers, including those with mortgage loans in Swiss francs. To test the proposed model, the authors use Hayes' process macro.
The findings show that blame fully mediates the effects of CSI awareness on organisational reputation. Three facets of social irresponsibility moderate this relationship. Specifically, the perceived harm and intentionality of corporate culprits cause people to be more likely to blame a bank for the difficulties posed by indebted consumers. At the same time, the perceived complicity of consumers in misselling a mortgage reduces the level of blame and its subsequent adverse effects on bank reputation.
Although a strong reputation is crucial in the financial industry, few studies have attempted to address reputational risk from a consumer perspective. This study helps to understand how potentially irresponsible selling of a financial product can adversely affect a bank's reputation.
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Keywords
corporate social irresponsibility, reputation, blame, attributions, foreign currency loans, mis-selling, mortgages
Citation
"International Journal of Bank Marketing", 2023