The salience of corporate social responsibilty to symbolic consumer value and brand relationship quality

Abstract

Firms engage in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and go to great lengths to showcase it to their consumers. Some firms even leverage on their CSR as a key facet of their business strategy. Although consumers have been reported to articulate positive preferences for CSR, CSR related consumer outcomes in the market remain poor in general. The primary reason for it is reported to be consumers’ perceived lack of value from CSR. In view of that problem, this study set out to examine consumers’ perception of value from CSR. To that end, a mixed methods embedded research design was adopted. Drawing from the Self-theory, this study proposed a conceptual model that operationalised the perception of symbolic value from CSR to consumers and subsequently the outcomes therefrom. To validate the measurements and to assess the structural fit of the model, this study adopted the Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) statistical technique. In addition, this study sought to further understand the meaning of the symbolic value that consumers experienced from CSR by conducting in-depth interviews. The findings validate this study’s proposed operationalisation of symbolic value from CSR to consumers. It was found that symbolic value perception was bifurcated on two levels of abstraction, which were the product and the firm, that lead to strong and enduring relationships between consumers and brands. This study also found that the meaning from the symbolic value that consumers experienced from CSR is profound, as it relates to an individual’s innate need for enhancement of his/her self-concept. The consumers were found to experience such meaning under six conditions related to CSR implementation. Namely when it is promoted, strategic, consistent, tangible, transparent, and innovative. Together, these findings contribute theoretically to the research on the dynamics of consumer value creation from CSR. In addition, it enables researchers to understand the meaning that consumers ascribe to the symbolic value that they perceive from CSR. These findings are also expected to assist firms in reformulating their marketing and consumer value delivery strategies towards generating better CSR related consumer outcomes in the market.