Responsible you, despicable me: Contrasting competitor inferences from socially responsible behavior

An increasing number of products are emphasizing corporate social responsibility (CSR) as a point of differentiation. Despite this growth, however, research has been limited in investigating the impact of CSR activities on the competition. Here, we develop a new perspective of CSR by investigating consumer perceptions of direct competitors to socially responsible products. In three studies, we demonstrate that the socially responsible attributes of one product, while not affecting its overall evaluation, can lead consumers to form contrasting evaluations of competing products. Furthermore, we extend the inference making literature to highlight how and when the contrast toward competing products is formed.