ABSTRACT Digital technology has facilitated the rise of virtual corporate social responsibility (CSR) co‐creation models. However, there is still a lack of in‐depth discussion on how companies design virtual CSR activities to enhance consumers' willingness to participate. Based on cognitive coherence theory and signal theory, this study examines the effects of the interaction path (structural path vs. experiential path) and fit type (functional fit vs. image fit) of virtual CSR on consumer engagement. The study also explores the mediating role of processing fluency and the moderating role of cognitive style. Three experiments ( N = 442) were conducted to test the hypotheses. First, the interaction between interaction path and CSR fit type significantly affected engagement intentions. Specifically, functional fit facilitated consumers' engagement in the virtual CSR co‐creation of structured paths, whereas image fit enhanced consumers' engagement in experiential path activities. Second, processing fluency mediated this mechanism of action. Third, cognitive style moderated this effect, with intuitive consumers being more sensitive to the combination of experiential path and image fit, and analytical consumers being more influenced by structural path and functional fit. This study provides practical insights for designing CSR campaigns that match consumer perceptions.
Liu et al. (Tue,) studied this question.