Anchoring effect in corporate social behaviors: evidence from donations and pollution
ISSN: 0025-1747
Article publication date: 22 November 2024
Issue publication date: 11 December 2024
Abstract
Purpose
This paper examines the role of the anchoring effect, including internal anchor formed by prior experience or external anchor produced by similar external practices of industrial competitors and investor networks in the decision-making of corporate social behaviors (CSBs).
Design/methodology/approach
This paper sets corporate donations and pollution as examples of CSBs, and conducts an empirical study through the data of A-share listed companies between 2010 and 2020 in China.
Findings
This paper found that both internal and external anchoring effects exist in CSBs. In addition, when internal and external anchors appear simultaneously, they will have the same intensity and promote each other.
Originality/value
This paper not only adds to the literature on the motives for CSBs and links cognitive and social psychology with strategic decisions but also has managerial implications for firms and managers.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This paper forms part of a special section “Decision making and heuristics in business relationships”, guest edited by Simone Guercini, Antonella La Rocca and Stefanos Mouzas.
This research was funded by The Humanities & Social Science Grant from the Ministry of Education, P. R. China (#20YJA630033). We thank Yanyang Zhan for early data collection.
Citation
Li, Q. and Wang, J. (2024), "Anchoring effect in corporate social behaviors: evidence from donations and pollution", Management Decision, Vol. 62 No. 11, pp. 3495-3517. https://doi.org/10.1108/MD-06-2023-1085
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2024, Emerald Publishing Limited