Customer Corporate Social Responsibility Research Articles

Social order or social justice? The relationship of political ideology with consumer preferences for Corporate Social Responsibility

Despite the recognized importance of political ideology in shaping consumer behavior across various contexts, it remains unclear whether conservatives and liberals exhibit different preferences when it comes to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Using survey data from 598 respondents in the United States, our findings indicate a positive correlation between conservatism and consumer preference for customer, supplier, and shareholder CSR domains. Conversely, conservatism correlates negatively with consumer preference for environmental and societal CSR domains. These relationships are mediated by social order and social justice. Conservatism also has a negative indirect relationship with consumer preference for employee's CSR domain through social order. Overall, our study contributes to the marketing literature by demonstrating that political ideology is related to divergent preferences for CSR, with group-related moral motives serving as mediators in these relationships.

Corporate social responsibility activities, consumers’ trust and gender: an analysis of Islamic banks in Somalia

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate the link between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and the amount of trust customers have in Somali Islamic banks. Furthermore, the role of gender in CSR activities and Islamic bank clientele is evaluated.Design/methodology/approachThroughout February and March 2022, 410 clients of Islamic banks in Somalia were surveyed using a questionnaire. The partial least squares approach and the structural equation model are applied to examine the data.FindingsFindings indicate that all variables of CSR activities, such as social product, social legal, social needs, social environment and social employees’ responsibility, are influential and significant predictors of trust in Islamic banks in Somalia. Gender inequalities moderate the relationship between social product, social needs, social environment, social employee and trust. Conversely, only social legal responsibility was unaffected by gender differences in Somalia regarding people’s trust in Islamic banks.Practical implicationsA sample from a developing country such as Somalia is useful for shedding light on the outcomes of consumers’ perceptions of and trust in businesses’ CSR in the developing world. Furthermore, this study contributes to knowledge regarding CSR and how it can help the Islamic banking industry. Its findings will be useful to policymakers and regulatory bodies in the banking industry in their efforts to improve CSR.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first empirical investigation of its kind about the understudied relationship among customer trust, CSR efforts and gender in Somalia context. Furthermore, it investigates how gender specifically moderates CSR in the Islamic banking sector in a developing country.

Mediating Role Of Human Capital Between Corporate Social Responsibility And Technological Innovation: The Case Of High-Tech Firms In China

This study aims to empirically test the relationship between multi-dimensional corporate social responsibility (CSR), human capital, and technological innovation of high-tech enterprises and analyze the mediating role of human capital. This study focuses on high-tech firms located in China. An online questionnaire was distributed among employees of high-tech enterprises. Analysis was performed using a partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). The results show that shareholder, employee, customer, environment, and social CSR significantly affect human capital, and human capital plays a partial mediating role in the relationship between CSR and technological innovation. This study differs from previous CSR research, which evaluates the link between the five dimensions of CSR and technological innovation to examine new opportunities for the development of technological innovation in high-tech enterprises.

What drives the fulfillment of social responsibility among international construction contractors? Stakeholder perspective

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is important for the growth of the construction industry; hence, the factors that influence construction contractors to implement CSR should be understood. Using government supervision as a moderator and CSR strategy as a mediating variable, the influence of stakeholders on the fulfillment of CSR by international construction contractors (ICCs) was explored in this study. ICC managers’ completed online questionnaires, and partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) were used to analyze the survey data. The results revealed that CSR strategies are influenced by customer expectations, partners expectations, and employee participation in CSR. Local community pressure had no direct effect on CSR strategies, and government supervision had a positive moderating effect on the relationship between customer expectations and CSR strategies. The findings of this study allow policymakers and practitioners to understand the elements driving CSR implementation and establish a win-win situation for society, stakeholders, and corporations.

Impact of different types of corporate social responsibility on fit, attitude and behavior

Purpose Despite the fact that fit positively influences customers’ attitudes toward companies, previous research reveals differing roles of fit in the domain of corporate social responsibility (CSR) based on criteria and degree. Because the impact of fit between customers and service companies in the domain of CSR remains unclear in the hospitality context, this study aims to examine the effects of different CSR types on customer–CSR fit, attitude and behavioral intentions in hospitality settings. Design/methodology/approach A total of 219 usable hotel customer responses were collected and analyzed using SmartPLS software. Findings Results show that companies’ demonstration of CSR toward social/nonsocial stakeholders is most effective for increasing perceived fit by customers, followed by CSR toward employees and toward customers. Also, this study identifies perceived fit as an indicator of customers’ positive attitudes and revisit intentions. This study enhances our understanding of relationships among three dimensions of CSR activities and customers’ responses. Originality/value This study provides guidelines with which hospitality companies can create sustainable growth by engaging the welfare of communities, employees and customers.

The Effect of CSR on Buyback Decisions with Brand Image Mediation and Credibilitys Merek: Case of Wardah Halal Cosmetics in Indonesia

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is becoming one of the most critical challenges, where companies need to survive in an increasingly competitive business world. Therefore, the research conducted in this study is an investigation effort on the impact of customer CSR perception on repeat purchase intent, mediated by brand image and brand credibility, with the aim of uncovering the benefits of CSR values that have been applied within the company. This study used a purely quantitative approach, in collecting data on 290 people with female gender who had become customers of Wardah halal cosmetics, using questionnaires through online surveys. Smart PLS-SEM 4.0 software is used to analyze data. The results showed that perceptions from customers showed that the CSR activities produced by the company did not directly have a significant effect on the decision to repurchase its products. However, CSR significantly has a direct influence on its mediation variables, namely: (1) Brand Image; and (2) Brand Credibility. The results obtained provide an important reference for the academic world in terms of conducting empirical research on this subject, as well as benefits for marketers and company managers who want to develop their marketing strategies using CSR elements for the expected improvement of sustainable business development.

Investigating Trust to Bridge the Attitude–Behaviour Gap: A Study of Socially Responsible Customers in a Low Trust Society

While corporate social responsibility (CSR) is widely investigated in the Western world, the CSR attitude–behaviour gap is still wide and underexplored in the context of developing countries. Limited empirical research has tried to examine how CSR customer awareness (CA) may lead to subjective cognitive attributes such as customer’s trust on CSR, which in turn leads to behavioural outcomes (e.g., purchase intention) in a low trust society. To address these shortcomings in the literature, this article builds on the stakeholder theory to examine the influence of CSR CA on purchase intention (PI), considering the facilitatory roles of customer’s trust on CSR when company evaluation (CE) and product association (PA) moderate the mediated relationship. The data were collected in Pakistan from a sample of 321 socially responsible customers. Hypothesized relationships were tested using structural equation modelling using mediation and moderated mediation analysis. The results demonstrated that customers’ trust on CSR mediated the relationship between CSR CA and PI. PA was insignificantly different for low and high components of PA on the CA–trust–PI link compared to CE that was significantly different for the CA–trust–PI link. This indicates that, when socially responsible customers process CSR information, CE plays an important role regarding the associative attributes on the CA–trust–PI link than PA in low trust societies. The discussion and implications conclude the research study.

Diversify or concentrate: The impact of customer concentration on corporate social responsibility

Previous studies on the impact of customer concentration on firm-level outcomes mainly focus on financial and operational variables, and the influence of a concentrated customer base remains controversial. As one of the important issues of responsible and sustainable operations management, corporate social responsibility (CSR) has garnered increasing attention of scholars in recent years. However, research on CSR antecedents is far less than the studies of its outcomes, and few studies investigate what determines CSR engagement from buyer-supplier relationship perspective. Using a large sample panel data from Chinese publicly listed firms between 2010 and 2019, we find that a concentrated customer base is negatively associated with suppliers' CSR performance. Our results still hold after a series of robustness checks. Next, the results show that customer concentration is also negatively correlated with CSR's five dimensions, but the negative impact on non-core stakeholders is more significant than that on core stakeholders. Further, the mechanism analysis reveals that profitability and financial constraints are two potential transmission mechanisms in the linkage between customer concentration and CSR performance. Finally, we find that the negative impact is more salient when a supplier with higher transparency. Overall, our study suggests that a close relationship between a supplier and its major customers may impede the supplier's incentives to do good things, and a supplier may weigh benefits and costs to strategically adjust its CSR behaviour as a response to customer risk. These findings have significant implications for suppliers, customers, and regulators.

Influence of CSR awareness on Consumer Behavior through Trustworthiness: The New Approach

The goal of this research is to measure level of customer awareness of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in Georgian society and to study the influence of CSR awareness on consumer behavior through trustworthiness (one of the dimensions of corporate credibility) by revealing the correlations between customer awareness and corporate trustworthiness, customer willingness to be involved in CSR initiatives and customer purchase intentions. The descriptive research was carried out and data were collected based on the survey of 915 respondents located in Tbilisi, Georgia. The relationships between variables have been studied by using multiple regressions technique. This article provides data that lead to a new conceptual model and point the importance of elevating the level of customer CSR awareness in achieving corporate credibility goals.Beyond it, customers’ inclination to purchase products from those companies who care about their long-term interest has been revealed.

The Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility on Behavioral Intention: Customers’ Responses to Two Types of Fit

ABSTRACT Although interest is increasing in understanding customers’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) behavior, empirical research examining potential mediators between CSR activities and customers’ patronized behavior remains lacking. Thus, based on congruence theory, this article explores the role of CSR fit in behavioral outcomes. This study further developed and introduced dual types of fits, including customer–CSR fit and company–CSR fit in the hotel context. The two fits are tested as the consequence of CSR perception and antecedent of revisit intention. By using SmartPLS, results show that customers tend to exhibit revisit intention when they perceived the similarity between hotel and CSR activities than personal value relevance. The findings suggest that hotel companies need to design their CSR strategies to enhance congruence through effective communication.

Is CSR a motivator for socially responsible customers of for-profit social enterprises?

The rise and development of corporate social responsibility (CSR) as a very significant and influential dogma in current business practice supports the popularly held view that firms cumulatively enjoy substantial power and control over a vast majority of society’s resources. Such enormous power can be at times detrimental to society in general and as such it is just right that these corporate behemoths police themselves unilaterally and be of good service to the community. The objective of this research is to evaluate the bivalent effects as motivator and hygiene factor of CSR on socially responsible customers towards a for-profit social enterprise. This research also evaluates the significance of CSR towards customer relationship and positive word of mouth among Human Nature customers. Respondents in this study were the customers of an independent distributor of Human Nature products in the Philippines. Findings indicated that CSR wields a significant influence towards customer in enhancing customer relationship and CSR helps in encouraging customers to willingly support and endorse Human Nature products. CSR also exhibits bivalently both characteristics of motivator and hygiene factor in moderating the impact of perceived CSR towards relationship quality and positive word of mouth from customers. Results of this study can be used as a reinforcement to the idea that CSR can and could elicit positive attitude and behavior from customers. Furthermore, results of this study can also be used by scholars in further probing the corporate impact of various individual CSR initiatives instead of CSR itself in its totality.

Explicating micro foundations of corporate social responsibility: a moderated-mediation study of customer, investor and employee roles

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to provide an explication of micro foundations of Corporate Social responsibility (CSR). CSR, as a study domain, has been accommodating individual centric aspects. Extant literature delved into firm aspects like regulation, the role of individuals such as leaders and managers in shaping the agenda and practice on CSR.Design/methodology/approachBased upon the responses of 396 managers, the authors explored how young managers assessed firm CSR actions and develop their role as potential customers, investors and potential employees toward a firm. For this study, a mediated moderator analysis has been applied to test the model.FindingsThe authors found that between an individuals’ customer-centric role toward firm products, positively relate to being a potential employee. However, there was also the presence of the mediation role of the individuals’ inclination for becoming an investor in firm shares. Further, there was a moderation role of an individual’s firm CSR product assessment. The developed model had four factors, namely, customer CSR firm assessment (CCFA), customer CSR product assessment (CCPA), investor CSR evaluation (ICE) and employee CSR aspiration (ECA).Research limitations/implicationsIn this research, based upon systems justification theory and expectancy theory an individual-centric micro foundation based theoretical model on CSR were developed consisting of CCFA as an antecedent variable, ICE as mediating variable, CCPA as moderating variable and ECA as the dependent variable.Originality/valueThis study was one of the contributions toward a micro foundations based CSR approach model with role-plays as a customer, investor and potential employee.

When does customer CSR perception lead to customer extra-role behaviors? The roles of customer spirituality and emotional brand attachment

The first objective of this study is to test the mediating role of emotional brand attachment in the relationship between customers’ perception of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and two types of customer extra-role behavior: customer participation behavior and customer citizenship behavior. The second objective is to examine the moderating effects of customer spirituality on the customer CSR perception–emotional brand attachment relationship and the indirect relationship between customer CSR perception and customer participation/citizenship behavior through emotional brand attachment. We conducted a research survey with 615 South Korean bank customers and performed structural equation modeling to test our hypotheses. Emotional brand attachment partially mediated the relationship between customer CSR perception and customer participation/citizenship behavior. The positive association between customer CSR perception and emotional brand attachment was more pronounced when customer spirituality was high than when it was low. Customer spirituality further moderated the indirect effect of customer CSR perception and customer participation/citizenship behavior through emotional brand attachment. This is one of the first studies to explore the boundary conditions of customer spirituality that strengthen the association between customer CSR perception and customer extra-role behaviors via emotional brand attachment. The study advances customer CSR perception and spirituality research by proposing and testing a moderated mediation model.

Customers' corporate social responsibility awareness as antecedent of repeat behaviour intention

AbstractThe aim of the study is mainly to investigate the influence of hotel customers' perception and awareness of corporate social responsibility (CSR) concerning the environmental practices of hotels on the image of the establishments and on repeat behaviour intention (RBI) by said customers. Accordingly, a research model is established which allows an understanding of the underlying mechanism of perceived CSR practices, CSR awareness, hotel image and RBI. The growing interest shown by practitioners to understand the mechanism to achieve sustainable competitive advantage for hotels through their environmental policies and the scarce number of studies analysing customer CSR awareness and its influence on customer green hotels' engagement justify this study. Hence, the study strives to overcome this gap in the CSR literature. Data were collected from hotel guests who have stayed at green hotels in Spain over the last 12 months. The research model was estimated using a variance‐based structural equation modelling approach. The findings achieved and future research avenues derived from the study are of great value for both theorists and managers to achieve a sustainable development. The research model proposed can be applied to other tourist agents other than hotels and provide valuable knowledge for practitioners to understand to what extent their managerial CSR practices and their effort to communicate them are perceived by their stakeholders, which in turn influence the stakeholder engagments with those agents with a greater commitment to the environment.

Knowledge acquisition from intra- and inter-organisational relationships, CSR and financial performance

The purpose of this study is to identify how knowledge acquired from intra- and inter-organisational relationships influence corporate social responsibility (CSR) and their impacts on financial performance via the knowledge-based view (KBV). We used the KBV to argue that internal knowledge from employee relationships, external knowledge from partner and customer relationships and CSR practices together contribute to successful firm performance. The KBV can contribute to the analysis of CSR by offering important insights on valuable knowledge acquisition from a wider range of stakeholders. Fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis was employed to explain these causal relationships. Based on 73 firms from six service sectors listed in the Stock Exchange of Thailand, the findings provide support for the hypothesised links between intra- and inter-organisational relationships on CSR, which can result in improved financial performance. This study contributes to the management and CSR literature by investigating intra- and inter-organisational relationships as knowledge-based resources.

Knowledge acquisition from intra- and inter-organisational relationships, CSR and financial performance

The purpose of this study is to identify how knowledge acquired from intra- and inter-organisational relationships influence corporate social responsibility (CSR) and their impacts on financial performance via the knowledge-based view (KBV). We used the KBV to argue that internal knowledge from employee relationships, external knowledge from partner and customer relationships and CSR practices together contribute to successful firm performance. The KBV can contribute to the analysis of CSR by offering important insights on valuable knowledge acquisition from a wider range of stakeholders. Fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis was employed to explain these causal relationships. Based on 73 firms from six service sectors listed in the Stock Exchange of Thailand, the findings provide support for the hypothesised links between intra- and inter-organisational relationships on CSR, which can result in improved financial performance. This study contributes to the management and CSR literature by investigating intra- and inter-organisational relationships as knowledge-based resources.

Pursuing superior performance of service innovation through improved corporate social responsibility

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on the performance of service innovation (PSI), and the mediating effect of knowledge acquisition.Design/methodology/approachDrawing on social exchange and knowledge management theories, this paper establishes a relevant conceptual model and adopts a hierarchical regression analysis to examine the model with a data set of 298 firms from China.FindingsCSR positively affects the PSI; however, the effects vary when firms take responsibility for different stakeholders. CSR for the same group of stakeholders influences differently the short-term financial and long-term non-financial PSI, whereas knowledge acquisition mediates the impact of employee and customer CSR on PSI, but not the impact of community CSR on PSI.Practical implicationsManagers could improve the PSI of the firm by strategically assuming CSR and by managing corporate knowledge acquisition activities.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the service innovation literature by identifying the influence of particular types of CSR on PSI, and by highlighting the influencing mechanism of knowledge acquisition. It extends scholarly understanding of the antecedents of PSI as well as the business returns to CSR.

Mediating Role of Customer Satisfaction between Corporate Social Responsibility and Customer-Based Brand Equity

Using expectation conformation theory, this study theorized and empirically tested the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and customer-based brand equity via customer satisfaction. Data were collected from 225 customers of well-known brands of consumer goods and services using survey questionnaire consisting of standardized scales. Regression analysis using Baron and Kenney (1986) approach via SPSS was utilized to test the proposed hypotheses. Results confirm direct relationship between CSR and customer satisfaction and CSR and customer-based brand equity as well as direct effect of customer satisfaction on customer-based brand equity. In addition, the study also found support for mediating effect of customer satisfaction in relationship of CSR and customer-based brand equity. Importance of CSR activities, its awareness and communication are some of managerial implications of this study. Limitations of the study coupled with future directions have been highlighted

The perception of socially and environmentally responsible practices based on values and cultural environment from a customer perspective

The business environment undergoes constant and dynamic changes. The current social, legal and economic contexts where firms operate enable them to meet their stakeholders' needs. Accordingly, efficient management more oriented to meet customers' requirements regarding firm's corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices has been increasingly credited for the achievement of new firm managerial goals such as sustainability. Thus, the aim of this paper is to address the influence of the structure of human values and cultural differences by country on customers' CSR perception taking into consideration a firm's customers as one of its main stakeholders. Unlike the majority of earlier papers focusing on the relationship between customers' CSR perception and firm performance, this paper provides insights under the umbrella of social sustainability according to recent trends based on societal needs and firm commitments. The cross-cultural analysis has been conducted in a Latin American-European context by comparing two different cultural environments, Spain and Brazil, scarcely analysed in the managerial literature. The findings reveal that human values such as self-transcendence, conservation and openness to change exert a significant influence on the CSR's customer perception. Furthermore, cross-cultural differences by country moderate the relationship between these human values and CSR perception. The results allow for an adequate understanding of the drivers influencing customer perception of CSR social and environmental practices, and these drivers in turn are fundamental to firms' sustainability and, thus, firms' sustainable competitive advantage, as well as to academia to advance knowledge.

Motivating corporate social responsibility practices under customer pressure among small‐ and medium‐sized suppliers in China: The role of dynamic capabilities

AbstractSmall‐ and medium‐sized suppliers (SMSs) have experienced customer pressure to implement corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices. However, capabilities are needed for SMSs to respond to such pressure. To explore how SMSs can be effectively motivated to make CSR efforts under customer pressure, based on the theory of dynamic capabilities (DCs), this paper identifies five factors of DCs—knowledge accessing (DC1), codevelopment (DC2), supply chain partner development (DC3), supply chain rebuilding (DC4), and flexibility (DC5). Moreover, this paper develops a conceptual model assuming that the five DCs moderate the relationship between customer pressure and CSR practices among SMSs. Using questionnaires collected from 333 Chinese SMSs in manufacturing industries, hierarchical statistical results demonstrate the moderating effect for three of four identified CSR practices. An interaction analysis further reveals that a certain level of DCs is necessary. The results provide managerial implications for large customers and SMSs to improve CSR‐related DCs among SMSs.