Nonprofit Organizations and Corporate Responsibility
Three Essays on Collaborative and Confrontational NPO Approaches Towards Companies, Their Effects and Their Interaction
This thesis comprises three essays examining the collaborative and confrontational strategies of NPOs towards companies and their impact on corporate responsibility. Utilizing social movement theory, nonprofit-business collaboration literature, and legitimacy theory, it addresses two main topics. First, it assesses the effectiveness of these strategies in shaping household perceptions of companies and NPOs. The findings reveal that both approaches significantly influence households' legitimacy evaluations of companies, which in turn affects consumption intentions. Collaborative NPOs tend to garner higher legitimacy and support from households compared to confrontational ones. Second, the thesis explores the interactions between these strategies, confirming that contrasting approaches can impact each other. When NPOs target the same company simultaneously, both may experience diminished effectiveness in shaping household perceptions and securing resources. However, applying these approaches sequentially leads to more favorable outcomes. The results suggest that NPOs with differing strategies should strategically collaborate to enhance their overall success in influencing corporate responsibility and gaining household support.
