schuler & cording 2006 argue that consumers directly affect retail companies'financial performance through their purchasing decisions and thus are likely to be particularly important stakeholders for these firms, and they further argue thatcsr information could influence those consumer decisions. in support of such a claim , bhaduri&ha-brookshire2011 also report that apparel consumers preferred to have social responsibility information easily available and did not want to search for it. while schuler&cording 2006 posit that csr information provided by the firm (as opposed to being provided by an external entity) likely has less intennsity with consumers as it may be perceived as being biased and less credible. thusit is unclear whether companies would see standalone csr reports as an effective medium for infiuencing consumers.