The Relationship of Sustainability Communication on Social Media with Banking Consumers’ Loyalty through e-WOM

Prior literature has largely addressed corporate social responsibility (CSR) from outcomes related to organizational themes. However, its importance for achieving consumer-related outcomes is something that has been largely ignored by contemporary researchers. Likewise, how CSR communication through social media can create positive emotions on the part of consumers has to date been under-explored. Hence, the present study aims to fill these gaps by investigating the impact of CSR communication of an organization through social media on consumer loyalty. The study also proposes electronic word of mouth (e-WOM) as a potential mediator between this relationship. The proposed model of the present study was tested in the banking sector of a developing country. The data were collected from a self-administered questionnaire and analyzed through the structural equation modeling technique (SEM). The results of the present study validated that CSR communication of a bank through social media directly and indirectly, through e-WOM, influences consumer loyalty in a positive manner. The results of the present study will be helpful for policymakers to better understand how well-planned CSR communication of an organization on social media can lead towards better consumer-related outcomes such as consumer loyalty and e-WOM.

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The Nexus of CSR and Co-Creation: A Roadmap towards Consumer Loyalty

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13020523 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (2) ◽

pp. 523

Author(s):

Naveed Ahmad ◽

Miklas Scholz ◽

Zia Ullah ◽

Muhammad Zulqarnain Arshad ◽

Raja Irfan Sabir ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Corporate Social Responsibility ◽

Social Responsibility ◽

Structural Equation ◽

Banking Sector ◽

Equation Modeling ◽

Service Development ◽

Consumer Loyalty ◽

Mediating Role ◽

Corporate Social ◽

The Impact

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is regarded as an effort to be undertaken by the businesses to contribute towards society at large positively. The idea behind the concept of CSR is that businesses are required to pursue the notion of pro-social objectives along with economic objectives. Research has long established that corporate social responsibility, along with its philanthropic nature, can also produce extraordinary marketing results for businesses. The relationship between CSR and consumer loyalty is well acknowledged in extant literature. Likewise, involving consumers through co-creation in the product/service development process may provide an exciting experience to consumers, which is likely to influence their loyalty. With these arguments, the present research investigates the impact of CSR on consumer loyalty with the mediating role of co-creation in the banking sector of an emerging economy such as Pakistan. Structural equation modeling (SEM) is used for data analysis in the present study. The results validate that CSR improves consumer loyalty, and co-creation partially mediates this relationship. The results of the current survey will help banking institutions to identify how they can develop core strategic considerations based on CSR and co-creation.

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Using Social Media as a Medium for CSR Communication, to Induce Consumer–Brand Relationship in the Banking Sector of a Developing Economy

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13073700 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (7) ◽

pp. 3700

Author(s):

Shuchi Gupta ◽

Nishad Nawaz ◽

Abhishek Tripathi ◽

Saqib Muneer ◽

Naveed Ahmad

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Purchase Intention ◽

Structural Equation ◽

Banking Sector ◽

Equation Modeling ◽

Developing Economy ◽

Consumer Loyalty ◽

Communication Medium ◽

Csr Communication ◽

Purchase Likelihood

Social media has emerged as a flexible and interactive communication medium in the present digital era. Contemporary businesses use social media to achieve different communication objectives. However, using social media as a communication medium for corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication with stakeholders like, consumers is not well-explored in the existing literature. Furthermore, prior studies have also failed to consider the blend of CSR communication and social media to achieve consumer-related outcomes, for example, their loyalty and purchase likelihood. To this end, the objective of this study is to examine the relationship of the CSR communication of a bank through social media with consumer loyalty and purchase intention. The current study also proposes brand admiration as a potential mediator between this relationship. The data were collected from the banking consumers through a self-administered questionnaire in a developing economy. The data were analyzed through the structural equation modeling (SEM) technique using AMOS software. The results of the current survey confirmed that CSR communication of a bank on social media has direct and indirect, via brand admiration, relations with consumer loyalty, and purchase intentions. The outcomes of this survey will be helpful for the policymakers to understand the importance of CSR communication on social media to enhance the loyalty, and purchase intention of banking consumers.

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CSR Communication through Social Media: A Litmus Test for Banking Consumers’ Loyalty

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13042319 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (4) ◽

pp. 2319

Author(s):

Naveed Ahmad ◽

Rana Tahir Naveed ◽

Miklas Scholz ◽

Muhammad Irfan ◽

Muhammad Usman ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Banking Sector ◽

Positive Impact ◽

Mediating Effect ◽

Consumer Loyalty ◽

Csr Communication ◽

Csr Strategy ◽

Prior Literature ◽

Litmus Test ◽

The Impact

Prior literature in the field of corporate social responsibility (CSR) has largely focused on investigating its relationship with organizational-related outcomes, whereas the impact of CSR on consumer behavior is largely ignored in the recent literature. Further, most of the prior studies have investigated CSR with a philanthropic viewpoint, but its importance in achieving marketing-related outcomes is something that is to date, underexplored. Hence, the aim of the present study is to investigate the impact of CSR communication through social media on consumer loyalty with the mediating effect of consumers’ brand admiration in the banking sector of Pakistan. The banking sector was selected due to the reason that this sector is homogenized in nature and creating consumers’ loyalty due to this homogenized character of this sector is challenging. The data of the present study were collected from different banking consumers through an adapted questionnaire on a five-point Likert scale. A total of 448 fully filled questionnaires were received which included 289 male and 159 female banking consumers. The results of the present study revealed that CSR communications through social media have a positive impact on consumer loyalty, and consumers’ brand admiration partially mediates this relationship. The findings of the present study would help policymakers from banking institutions to use CSR strategy from the perspective of marketing which is undoubtedly very important for every organization in the current digital age.

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The Relationship of CSR Communication on Social Media with Consumer Purchase Intention and Brand Admiration

Journal of theoretical and applied electronic commerce research ◽

10.3390/jtaer16050068 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 16 (5) ◽

pp. 1217-1230

Author(s):

Shuchi Gupta ◽

Nishad Nawaz ◽

Adel Abdulmhsen Alfalah ◽

Rana Tahir Naveed ◽

Saqib Muneer ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Purchase Intention ◽

Structural Equation ◽

Mediating Effect ◽

Equation Modeling ◽

Csr Communication ◽

Consumer Purchase Intention ◽

Relationship Of ◽

The Impact ◽

The Relationship

With the advent of the Internet and other digital technologies, contemporary businesses from all sectors are using social media for communication with consumers to engage them meaningfully with a brand. However, the use of social media for corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication is relatively new to the existing literature. Likewise, the impact of CSR communication through social media (CSR-S) on consumer emotions and behavior is, to date, underexplored. To address this, the present research aims to test the relationship of CSR-S on brand admiration and consumer purchase intention. The study proposes a direct relationship between CSR-S and purchase intention with a mediating effect of brand admiration. The data were collected from the banking consumers of Pakistan through a self-administered questionnaire. The authors distributed 800 questionnaires and received 463 questionnaires useful for data analysis, so the present research study response rate was around 59%. The data were analyzed using the structural equation modeling (SEM) technique in AMOS. The results revealed that CSR-S is positively related to purchase intention (β = 0.233). The results further showed that brand admiration partially mediates this relationship (β = 0.079). The survey respondents confirmed that their bank’s CSR communication helps enhance their purchase likelihood and their feelings of admiration for their bank. These findings will help policymakers at banking institutions better understand the importance of CSR communication on different social media platforms to achieve consumer-related outcomes.

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CSR or ISO Certifi cation: What Does Really Matter for Consumer in Developing Countries ?

IBT Journal of Business Studies ◽

10.46745/ilma.jbs.2019.15.01.08 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 15 (1) ◽

pp. 95-111

Author(s):

Ammar Ahmad ◽

Keyword(s):

Corporate Social Responsibility ◽

Social Responsibility ◽

Corporate Reputation ◽

Structural Equation ◽

Equation Modeling ◽

Consumer Loyalty ◽

Company Identification ◽

Corporate Social ◽

The Impact ◽

The Relationship

This empirical study was aimed to discover the impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and international standardization of organization (ISO) on corporate reputation (CR) and corporate reputation’s effect on consumer loyalty (CL). In addition, the relationship of corporate reputation & trust (T), corporate reputation with consumer company identification (CCI) was also examined. Lastly the association of consumer company identification, trust and consumer loyalty (CL) was also analyzed. The data was collected from 500 students of three different universities and survey instrument was administrated. Overall, eight hypotheses were examined to confirm the relationship among variables by using the CFA (Confirmatory Factor Analysis) and structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test the validity of the instrument with the help of AMOS and SPSS software. The result indicated that ISO and environmental CSR has direct relationship with corporate reputation. Corporate reputation had direct association with trust. Whereas, corporate reputation was significantly positive related with consumer company identification. Subsequently, Trust also showed positive relation with loyalty and positive relationship was found between consumer company identification and consumer loyalty. Furthermore, results showed that community development- corporate social responsibility had no relationship with corporate reputation and corporate reputation was significantly related with customer loyalty. The findings of this study contribute in the literature provided instrument authenticity and adaptability in Pakistani context. In this study limitations and future recommendations were also provided.

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CSR as a Potential Motivator to Shape Employees’ View towards Nature for a Sustainable Workplace Environment

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13031499 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (3) ◽

pp. 1499 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Linghui Kong ◽

Muhammad Safdar Sial ◽

Naveed Ahmad ◽

Mariana Sehleanu ◽

Zhihui Li ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Environmental Sustainability ◽

Environmental Performance ◽

Structural Equation ◽

Banking Sector ◽

Mediating Effect ◽

Equation Modeling ◽

Proenvironmental Behavior ◽

Sustainable Environment ◽

Corporate Social ◽

The Impact

Prior studies in the contemporary literature have largely ignored the important role of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in shaping employees’ views of self and nature. Although researchers have recently started to pay considerable attention to explore the link between CSR and environmental sustainability, determining how CSR can be effective in shaping the proenvironmental behavior of employees that is missing in the existing literature. The objective of the present research study is to test the impact of microlevel CSR activities to induce environmental performance of an organization with a mediating effect of employees’ pro-environmental behaviors. This study argues that CSR activities of an organization motivate the workers to rethink the relationship between self and nature; hence, they are encouraged to participate in activities that are helpful in terms of preserving the environment, such as participating in pro-environmental activities at the workplace. The proposed model of the study was tested in the banking sector of Pakistan and analyzed by using the structural equation modeling (SEM) technique in AMOS software. The results revealed that microlevel CSR activities, using employee proenvironmental behaviors as a mediator, directly and indirectly influence environmental performance of a bank. The results of the present study are helpful for policymakers of different banking institutions to understand how they can reduce the environmental footprint of their bank by using a well-planned CSR program that can induce transcendent emotions in employees to create a sustainable environment.

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CSR, Co-Creation and Green Consumer Loyalty: Are Green Banking Initiatives Important? A Moderated Mediation Approach from an Emerging Economy

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su122410688 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (24) ◽

pp. 10688 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Huidong Sun ◽

Mustafa Raza Rabbani ◽

Naveed Ahmad ◽

Muhammad Safdar Sial ◽

Guping Cheng ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Structural Equation ◽

Banking Industry ◽

Mediating Effect ◽

Equation Modeling ◽

Consumer Loyalty ◽

Current Survey ◽

Banking Institutions ◽

Indirect Relationship ◽

Corporate Social ◽

The Impact

The homogenization of the banking segment has made it difficult for banking institutions to practice the quality of services that are needed in order to retain consumers. Thus, these days, finding ways to increase consumer loyalty—especially green loyalty—has become a challenge for the banking industry around the planet. Research has long acknowledged that corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a strategic concern that could help organizations to increase consumer loyalty. However, the impact of CSR practices on green consumer loyalty is rarely addressed in the extant literature. Hence, the present research investigated the impact of CSR on green consumer loyalty with the mediating effect of co-creation in the banking industry of Pakistan. The study also introduced green banking initiatives as a moderator between the mediated relation of CSR and green consumer loyalty, with the intention that such a moderator would strengthen this indirect relationship. The structural equation modeling technique was used for the data analysis. The results confirm that CSR enhances consumer loyalty, and that co-creation partially mediates this relationship. Furthermore, green banking initiatives further strengthen this relation. The results of the current survey could help banking institutions learn how they can develop core strategic considerations based on the integration of CSR co-creation and green banking initiatives.

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Emergence of social media as new normal during COVID-19 pandemic: a study on innovative complaint handling procedures in the context of banking industry

International Journal of Innovation Science ◽

10.1108/ijis-10-2020-0199 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽

Author(s):

Durgesh Agnihotri ◽

Kushagra Kulshreshtha ◽

Vikas Tripathi

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Structural Equation ◽

Banking Sector ◽

Banking Industry ◽

Equation Modeling ◽

Media Environment ◽

Content Type ◽

Complaint Handling ◽

The Social ◽

The Impact

Purpose Banking industry has no option but to remain observant and redraft the contagion playbook as per the situation evolves owing to COVID-19. Therefore, this study aims to develop a model to examine empirically how effectively complaints are handled to control customer retaliation and negative e-word of mouth (eWOM) in such a pandemic situation, where banking institutions are using social media as a key platform. Design/methodology/approach A self-administered questionnaire was distributed among 309 participants who had encountered service failure and experienced complaint handling on Facebook. This study draws upon prevailing literature to test a series of hypotheses through structural equation modeling. Findings The findings show that effective complaint handling has a negative influence on customer retaliation in the social media environment. As a result, customer retaliation was found to have a positive association with negative eWOM. Therefore, this study has revealed that effective complaint handling will lead to decrease in customer retaliation and negative eWOM. Practical implications This study carries an understanding of effective complaint handling efforts by leading banks in the social media environment during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study recommends that customized and effective efforts by the banks can influence customer retaliation and negative e-WOM. Originality/value The study is conducted during COVID-19 pandemic considering the impact of COVID-19 on banking sector, which is a new phenomenon. This study has highlighted how banks have modified their working methodology during pandemic situation by using Facebook as a prominent platform to redress customers’ issues and complaints.

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Exploring the Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility Communication through Social Media on Banking Customer E-WOM and Loyalty in Times of Crisis

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18094739 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (9) ◽

pp. 4739

Author(s):

Dianxi Zhang ◽

Asif Mahmood ◽

Antonio Ariza-Montes ◽

Alejandro Vega-Muñoz ◽

Naveed Ahmad ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Corporate Social Responsibility ◽

Social Responsibility ◽

Organizational Performance ◽

Customer Loyalty ◽

Banking Sector ◽

Mediating Effect ◽

Csr Communication ◽

Corporate Social ◽

The Impact

Previous studies have largely explored corporate social responsibility (CSR) for organization-centric outcomes to achieve organizational performance, organizational commitment, or organizational citizenship behavior. However, the importance of CSR to achieve customer-centric outcomes is underexplored to date. Contemporary researchers have recently turned their attention toward CSR from the viewpoint of customer-centric outcomes. Therefore, the present study attempts to test the influence of CSR communication on social media and customer loyalty in the banking sector of a developing economy in times of crisis. This study also investigates the mediating effect of electronic word of mouth (E-WOM) with this relationship. The data of the present study were collected from different banking customers using a self-administered questionnaire. The empirical findings of this study validated that the CSR communication of a bank on social media increases customer loyalty, and E-WOM partially mediates this relationship. This study will be helpful for the banking sector to understand the importance of CSR communication to increase customer loyalty, which is very important for every bank in times of crisis.

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Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure: Responding to Investors’ Criticism on Social Media

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18147396 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (14) ◽

pp. 7396

Author(s):

Yuming Zhang ◽

Fan Yang

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Corporate Social Responsibility ◽

Social Responsibility ◽

Social Issues ◽

Media Criticism ◽

Csr Communication ◽

Depth Analysis ◽

Csr Disclosure ◽

Corporate Social ◽

The Impact

Companies use corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosures to communicate their social and environmental policies, practices, and performance to stakeholders. Although the determinants and outcomes of CSR activities are well understood, we know little about how companies use CSR communication to manage a crisis. The few relevant CSR studies have focused on the pressure on corporations exerted by governments, customers, the media, or the public. Although investors have a significant influence on firm value, this stakeholder group has been neglected in research on CSR disclosure. Grounded in legitimacy theory and agency theory, this study uses a sample of Chinese public companies listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange to investigate CSR disclosure in response to social media criticism posted by investors. The empirical findings show that investors’ social media criticism not only motivates companies to disclose their CSR activities but also increases the substantiveness of their CSR reports, demonstrating that companies’ CSR communication in response to a crisis is substantive rather than merely symbolic. We also find that the impact of social media criticism on CSR disclosure is heterogeneous. Non-state-owned enterprises, companies in regions with high levels of environmental regulations, and companies in regions with local government concern about social issues are most likely to disclose CSR information and report substantive CSR activities. We provide an in-depth analysis of corporate CSR strategies for crisis management and show that crises initiated by investors on social media provide opportunities for corporations to improve their CSR engagement.

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