The role of corporate social marketing

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 268-279 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Jay Polonsky

PurposeThis commentary aims to discuss the potential role of corporate social marketing and identify instances where corporate involvement in social marketing is appropriate. This argument is based on the rationale that there should be a focus on the social outcomes of initiatives rather than on which organisations are delivering the message. Design/methodology/approachThe paper is conceptual and draws on previous marketing, social marketing and health-related literature to discuss the potential positive role of firms in social marketing. FindingsThe paper proposes that there are many instances where corporations can play a vital role in enhancing social outcomes, even though they too may benefit from these social marketing activities (defined as corporate social marketing). It is argued that corporate social marketing is not only appropriate but also may, in fact, be more effective than social marketing undertaken solely by non-profits or governments. However, it is also identified that there may be inappropriate corporate participation in social marketing. Practical implicationsTwo typologies are put forward to assist in evaluating the impact of firm behaviour on society and the situations where corporate social marketing may be more appropriate. These typologies may assist in identifying where firms can play a valuable role in social marketing activities. Social implicationsUse of the typologies proposed will assist in identifying where firms can play a valuable role in social marketing activities and bringing about social benefit. Originality/valueThe discussion of corporate involvement in social marketing generally has been positioned as negative and this paper identifies instances where corporate social marketing may not only be appropriate but also may, in fact, bring about better social outcomes than if the activities were undertaken by government or non-profits.

2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 267-286 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angie Chung ◽  
Hua Jiang

Purpose Based on the framing theory and the associative network theory, the purpose of this paper is to develop and test a model that examines the impact of employing corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication in apology statements after negative publicity. Specifically, this study examines the role of CSR fit and CSR history in reducing anger and negative word-of-mouth (NWOM). This study also examines whether perceived CSR motivation and skepticism toward the apology statement mediate the effect of CSR fit and CSR history on anger and NWOM. Design/methodology/approach This study was a 2×2 between-subject design manipulating CSR fit (high or low) and CSR history (long or short). Findings The findings of this study suggest that strategically employing CSR communication in an apology statement after negative publicity may reduce negative consumer reactions. Originality/value The effects of CSR history and CSR fit have been studied in different contexts, but the effects of mentioning the two components in terms of apology statements had been understudied. This paper fulfills an identified need to study how employing CSR communication in apology statements after negative publicity can mitigate negative audience reactions.


2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 423-440 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine Nickerson ◽  
Valerie Priscilla Goby

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the potential effectiveness of using corporate social marketing (CSM) as part of an advertising campaign targeting local Muslim consumers in Dubai. It aims to assess whether Dubai’s local Muslim community’s construal of corporate commitment has evolved beyond philanthropy toward receptiveness to a more embedded corporate societal engagement. Design/methodology/approach The examination is based on the framework of corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication that postulates a relationship between internal outcomes, such as the awareness of a cause, and external outcomes, such as the likelihood that a consumer will purchase a product. The authors designed a questionnaire using authentic advertisements for the same product, one with a CSM message and one without, and queried respondents’ opinions of the advertisements, their willingness to purchase the product and their perceptions of the company. Complete responses were collected from 245 Emirati women. Findings Significant differences in response to the CSM versus the non-CSM advertisement emerged. The product advertised via the CSM strategy engendered enhanced perceptions of the company among respondents, coupled with a heightened willingness on their part to purchase the product. This indicates that Emirati consumers have gone beyond the simple expectation of philanthropy, which is frequently associated with Muslim consumer loyalty, and value more evolved corporate social commitment. Originality/value While Muslim groups have been investigated extensively from various marketing perspectives, the present study is the first to investigate the impact of incorporating CSR into an authentic advertising campaign targeted at Muslim consumers.


2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 400-423 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tendai Chikweche ◽  
Richard Fletcher

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to expand knowledge about how middle class consumers in Sub-Saharan African markets behave, focusing on the potential role of social networks and the subsequent interactions that take place between these consumers and firms. Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative research method approach comprising personal interviews and observations targeted at consumers and business executives was used covering all four countries. Findings – Key findings include identification of middle of the pyramid (MOP) social networks, their impact on consumer behaviour and nature of consumer and firm interactions that take place as a result of the impact of social networks. Research limitations/implications – The sample size was restricted to 80 consumers in each of the four countries. This might limit generalisability. Practical implications – The study provides managers with insights on the potential role of social networks on marketing to the MOP in Africa. Social implications – The study provides managers with insights on the potential opportunities for corporate social responsibility solutions at the MOP. Originality/value – Research into the middle class in markets other than western advanced economies is a relatively new area of study. The majority of studies on the middle class have focused on North America and Europe ignoring the merging middle class in Africa. Hence, this research expands knowledge by providing basis for exploring new insights on the emerging marketing opportunity within the middle class in Africa.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pallab Kumar Biswas ◽  
Helen Roberts ◽  
Rosalind Heather Whiting

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the impact of female director affiliations to governing families on corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosures in the context of Bangladeshi firms. Design/methodology/approach This study uses a quantitative empirical research method grounded in Socioemotional Wealth (SEW) theory. Data was sourced from Bangladeshi publicly listed non-financial sector companies’ annual reports and stock exchange trading and publication reports and consists of 2,637 firm-year observations from 1996 to 2011. Pooled multivariate regression models are used to test the association between corporate social and environmental disclosure and female directors, and the family affiliation (or not) of those directors. Findings The findings provide strong evidence that female directors who are affiliated to the governing family, founders and other board members reduce CSR disclosure in family firms; unaffiliated female board directors enhance CSR disclosure, and this effect is significant in both family and non-family firms. Research limitations/implications Definitions of family firms and affiliated directors may lead to over-generalization in the results. Originality/value The study highlights variation in the nature of female board appointments in emerging market family-controlled firms. The findings bring attention to the role of affiliated female director appointments in family ownership structures and speak directly to family business owners, advisors and policy makers about the importance of unaffiliated female directors as catalysts of improved CSR disclosure in family and non-family firms.


2019 ◽  
Vol 122 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Niccolò Nirino ◽  
Nicola Miglietta ◽  
Antonio Salvi

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on firms’ financial performance (FP) in the food and beverage (F&B) sector. Design/methodology/approach The authors developed a conceptual model that hypothesizes a positive effect of CSR governance on CSR outcomes (environmental and social) and these on firm’s FP. Gathering data from 190 F&B companies, the authors empirically tested the validity of the model through an ordinary least squares regression analysis. Findings The findings highlight the positive impact of CSR governance on environmental and social outcomes, showing real societal concerns among companies’ stakeholders in the F&B industry. Studies on the effect of CSR outcomes on FP have shown mixed results. On one side, the social outcomes positively impact a firm’s performance; on the other side, environmental outcomes show insignificant or non-positive effects depending on different measurements of FP. Originality/value Despite the mixed set of results between CSR and a firm’s performance in the literature, this research provides a new framework in which the impact of CSR on FP is analysed through the effectiveness of CSR governance on CSR outcomes (social and environmental). Moreover, this study contributes to the CSR literature understanding the impact of both environment and social concerns by companies on firm’s FP in F&B context.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shafat Maqbool ◽  
Nasir Zamir

PurposeThe research on the role of corporate social responsibility in investors' decision process has proliferated over the past few decades. This paper aims to explore the mediating role of financial performance in the relationship between corporate social responsibility and institutional investors.Design/methodology/approachPanel regression was performed on a sample of 29 commercial banks nine years from 2009 to 2017.FindingsThe initial findings of the study show that that corporate social responsibility has a positive and significant impact on institutional investors. However, when the interaction term (financial performance) was incorporated, the relationship between CSR and institutional turns out to be neutral. The study concludes that financial performance plays a pivotal role in the selection of investment avenues.Originality/valueIn Indian context, there is a dearth of research work which studies the impact of sustainable practices on investors' decision process. This topic has received wider attention but lacks insights from developing countries, like India. This article presents a new approach to verify the relationship through the mediating variable (financial performance).


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Květa Olšanová ◽  
Andrea Escobar Ríos ◽  
Gina Cook ◽  
Petr Král ◽  
Marija Zlatić

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of luxury buyers' awareness of a luxury brand's corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities together with its individual brand-related sustainable dimensions (in terms of economic, societal and environmental) and luxury values on purchase intention for luxury products and, as a result, highlight the potential implications of these relationships for the luxury industry. Design/methodology/approach A luxury purchase intention model, which assumes an impact from traditional luxury values and CSR, was indicated based on the authors' previous qualitative research and corresponding literature review. To validate the model by proving that the suggested relationships are statistically significant, (1,100) luxury customers over the age of 18 were approached, and (253) valid responses were entered and analyzed using SEM to confirm the indicated theoretical model's hypothesized causal relations. Findings The findings suggest a positive and significant relationship between buyers’ awareness of a specific luxury brand's CSR-related activities and their purchase intention; however, certain demographics and gender both moderate this relationship. The moderating role of general attitudes toward CSR and sustainability on this relationship was not confirmed. Furthermore, awareness of the brand's CSR positively mediates the relationship between both the societal/environmental and economic parts of the brand-related individual sustainable dimension and purchase intention. Originality/value The results of this study are based on actual purchases of branded luxury items and validate the authors' indicative model based on earlier qualitative research by claiming a significant relationship between the purchase intention for a brand and awareness of its CSR activities amongst luxury shoppers.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Thanh Tiep Le ◽  
Aviral Kumar Tiwari ◽  
Abhishek Behl ◽  
Vijay Pereira

PurposeThis study aims to evaluate the impact of perceived cause- related marketing (perceived-CRM) on the repurchase intention (CRIN). Besides, brand image (BIMA) and customer satisfaction (CSAT) connect this relationship as mediating variables. Especially, the role of perceived corporate social responsibility (perceived-CSR) contributed to this nexus between perceived-CRM and BIMA, perceived-CRM and CSAT in emerging economies.Design/methodology/approachThe paper follows a quantitative approach. Based on a comprehensive literature review on perceived-CSR, perceived-CRM , BIMA, CSAT and repurchase intention, the authors evaluate the impact of those constructs on repurchase intention in an emerging market. The study sample was composed of 395 responses covering customers of consumer goods. The study uses the Smart PLS-SEM version 3.3.2 to analyze the data.FindingsThe findings revealed significant contributions to the extant CRM literature in some ways. This study's outcomes contribute to extending the existing literature on CRM and CSR. Specifically, the extension focuses on the mediating and moderating effects of BIMA, CSAT and perceived-CSR, respectively, in the relationship between perceived-CRM and CRIN. Moreover, the novelty of this study lies in providing a new approach to the influence of perceived-CRM on CRIN, with the mediating of BIMA, CSAT and moderating effects perceived-CSR integrated into a conceptual model.Practical implicationsFrom a management perspective, the contribution of this study plays a very important role in strategic planning to enhance competitive advantage and improve business performance on a sustainable basis. This sustainability is founded on an insight into how changes in contextual factors affect the perception and consumer behavior of millennials in fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) market, especially in a context of Covid-19 global crisis. It is important to emphasize that genuineness and transparency in all activities and communications are a prerequisite in today's sensitive context. The application of acquired insight into practice will help businesses operating in the consumer sector improve brand reputation and CSAT. As a result, this leads to enhanced competitive advantage of the business in the market, improved market performance and ultimately to an improvement in the overall performance of the enterprise.Originality/valueThis is the first study that explores the moderating role of perceived CSR on the nexus between perceived-CRM with brand image (BIMA) and CSAT to the best of our knowledge. Besides, the study also discovers the mediating role of BIMA and CSAT between perceived-CRM and repurchase-intention in an emerging economy. Findings in this study provided additional evidence to the increasingly important roles of perceived-CRM and perceived-CSR in creating win-win relationships with customers, aiming to solve specific social causes jointly. Further, the perceived-CRM and perceived-CSR mechanisms help businesses enhance their intangible assets and competitive advantages through enhanced BIMA and stronger CRIN. In the current context, the business environment is changing rapidly due to many factors that lead to increased competition at a global level. Therefore, improving competitive advantage is a mandatory condition for businesses to survive and develop sustainably.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdul Waheed ◽  
Qingyu Zhang ◽  
Abaid Ullah Zafar ◽  
Hashim Zameer ◽  
Muhammad Ashfaq ◽  
...  

PurposeThis study investigates the impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on organizational performance, especially competitive performance (CP) along with moderating role of the organizational culture (OC) from the banking sector of China. Drawing on the stakeholder theory, the first goal is to examine the relationships between CSR and organizational CP. Second, the purpose is to evaluate the moderation of OC between the relationship of CSR and CP, respectively.Design/methodology/approachSEM using SmartPLS was majorly engaged to ascertain the relationship and to inquire the assumed hypotheses. The convenience sampling was engaged to collect the data from the Chinese banking market with the help of students, colleagues and personal visits.FindingsThe findings exhibited that CSR both external and internal CSR has significant correlations on organizational CP within banking sector of China. Second, the findings revealed a positive moderation influence of OC between the relationships of CSR and organizational CP. The comprehensive analysis of each factor of CSR on organizational CP was autonomously inspected to understand the insights which ensure that how the incorporation of CSR and OC activities may improve organizational CP.Research limitations/implicationsThis study faces numerous limitations related to sample and geographic locations that assure new work possibilities for researchers across the world.Practical implicationsThis study equips insightful information for management on how organizations can obtain CP by consolidating CSR and OC activities as their more productive strategic tools. This article endows with potential theoretical and managerial implications with empirical addition to concerned literature of OC, CSR and organizational CP.Social implicationsUnderstanding OC and CSR activities can provide interesting and helpful insights for the personnel to perform well within the banking institutes.Originality/valueThe topic of CSR and culture has been known as the evolving concept that is getting strong concern for the researchers. The additional work particularly empirical is yet required to explore the insights on CSR and OC themes worldwide, especially in developing nations.


2018 ◽  
Vol 56 (9) ◽  
pp. 1917-1935 ◽  
Author(s):  
Weizhang Sun ◽  
Chunguang Zhao ◽  
Yaping Wang ◽  
Charles H. Cho

Purpose The purpose of the paper is to examine the impact of investor sentiment on managers’ decisions to provide CSR disclosures. The core issue focuses on whether, why and how managers adjust their approach to CSR disclosure to cater to the investor sentiment. Design/methodology/approach On the basis of 13,488 observations of A-share listed companies, the authors examine the impacts of investor sentiment on CSR disclosure, which is measured separately by the propensity to issue a standalone CSR report and the quality of CSR reports. Furthermore, the authors examine the moderating role of institutional factors in China. Findings The authors find that during low-sentiment periods, managers are more likely to issue a standalone CSR report and the quality of CSR reports is higher, and vice versa. Additionally, the authors find that the negative correlations between CSR disclosure and investor sentiment are stronger in state-owned enterprises. Research limitations/implications First, the measurement of investor sentiment reflects only a part of characteristics of investor sentiment. Second, the authors pay less attention to the specific items of a CSR report. Originality/value The study contributes to the literature on CSR disclosure and investor sentiment by combining the two fields together. Furthermore, the study deepens the understanding of the institutional context in China and contributes to research on the predictors of CSR disclosure.


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