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Extensive research has examined the influence of online product reviews on consumer behavior. However, few have investigated the influence of reviewer submitted images on consumer attitudes. This research examines consumer perceptions of trust, information quality and valence disparity using three simulated online reviews appearing on TripAdvisor.com: one for a hotel, one for a cruise ship and one for a fast food restaurant. Findings reveal that reviews with images are seen as more trustworthy, and that consumers perceive reviews with images as possessing higher information quality than reviews containing text only. Likewise, the findings showed that effective images should be consistent with review text (e.g., reviewers do not respond positively to negative reviews linked with positive images, or vice versa).

Images are frequently used in online reviews, yet little research explores the effects that images have on online consumer behavior. This two-study investigation examines the effects of images in electronic word of mouth (eWOM) for both hedonic and utilitarian products. Results show that images affect the relationship between review text and purchase intention as well as trust for both product categories. However, images were shown to be more effective for hedonic than utilitarian products. Interestingly, it was found that congruence between the image and text is not a significant predictor of trust or purchase intention in some conditions (i.e., the images may not have to perfectly reflect the text to facilitate these outcomes for utilitarian products).

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While Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has become established in the managerial lexicon, its meaning and application varies according to geographical and sector contexts. In this chapter, we focus on the application of CSR across the banking and mining sectors in Australia to analyse the ways in which this managerial mechanism, with its theoretical underpinnings of social, environmental and economic balance, has been strategically appropriated and applied. We pose the key questions of how has CSR been implemented in Australia's largest industries and, secondarily, why has CSR not been more effective in transforming business practice in Australia? To demonstrate the alternative purposes to which CSR has been put, we use two case studies drawn from Australia's two most visible industries. The purpose of these case studies is to illustrate the larger conceptual ambiguity or fragmentation endemic to CSR and how this ambiguity affects its application – and therefore effectiveness – across different contexts.