Companies called out by hashtag movements like #BoycottStarbucks face not just a potential loss of revenue, but also a rising likelihood that customers will go out of their way to lie, cheat and steal from them.

Smith School professor Amna Kirmani explores how a company's corporate social responsibility activities might influence whether consumers will try to cheat the company.

Upstarts lacking a proven track record can offset their disadvantage by explicitly promoting themselves as highly moral. Sympathetic consumers will respond.