ESTABLISHING CONSUMER TRUST IN CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY OF ISLAMIC BANKS

Abstract

In recent years, corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become a vital component and mainstream approach to business, with much attention devoted to the implications of CSR policies and practices. Yet firms still diffuse CSR initiatives without fully understanding the well-being of their stakeholders and the reactions towards the firm. The success of CSR can be determined by understanding consumer behaviours, thoughts, beliefs, attitudes, and experiences. In the case of Islamic banking, a sceptical attitude and atmosphere of distrust has prevailed because consumers are unable to distinguish between Islamic and conventional banking products and systems, and struggle to find effective CSR outcomes through Islamic banks. In a competitive environment where CSR differentiation and credibility are ongoing challenges, this research poses a fundamental question on what should constitute a CSR strategy of Islamic banks to develop trust. Using a general inductive qualitative approach, pertinent issues related to CSR and Islamic banks were extracted from 75 existing articles, to propose a framework using Quranic terms (ikhlas, istiqama, ta’awaun, tazkiya) to construct a favourable image of Islamic banks and CSR initiatives. The research findings suggest that this framework is capable of tackling consumers’ negative attitude and scepticism of Islamic banks and CSR activities.