Consumer Reactions to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in Thailand: The Moderating Effect of Competitive Positioning

Abstract

The aims of this study are twofold. First, it contributes to understanding the business case for CSR in developing countries by focusing on the consumer-organisational relationship. Second, this study replicates the conceptual framework of Du et al. (2007) to investigate the influences of the moderating effect of competitive positioning on consumer reactions to CSR in Thailand. Few empirical studies have investigated the impact of CSR in the marketplace, and these studies have shown contradictory results on whether CSR’s impacts on consumer behaviour. Furthermore, even fewer studies have investigated the impact of this relationship in developing countries such as Thailand. Thus, the study addresses gaps in the literature by investigating the research problem: “Can CSR positioning be used as a moderator of consumer reactions within the competitive positioning of companies in Thailand?”