Introduction to the Academic Perspectives of CSR Measurement

There is much interest and a growing number of studies on the measurement of what is known as corporate social responsibility (CSR). This growing attention is mainly due to the inexistence of unanimity with reference to its measurement due to the large amount of research on this topic. This lack of consensus requires an exhaustive study of the different methods for measuring this notion, so as to clarify and identify the main limitations of each of them, in order to advance knowledge on the current state of CSR

Determinación del papel de las características demográficas de los consumidores en el proceso de formación de lealtad basada en aspectos socialmente responsables

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become a crucial element in the corporate strategy of hotel companies. One of the main reasons is that the development of such initiatives favors the development of higher levels of customer loyalty. Similarly, customers´ demographic characteristics are a line of research that has traditionally focused the attention of academics since these features are considered useful tools for market segmentation and customers´ characterization. However, few studies have attempted to explore the role of demographic characteristics of consumers in their behavioral responses based on CSR aspects. Thus, the objective of this study is to analyze the role of three demographic characteristics –gender, age and educational level– in a conceptual model that relates customers´ perception of CSR and consumer loyalty. The results reveal that these demographic variables moderate various relationships in the proposed model.La responsabilidad social corporativa (RSC) se ha convertido en un elemento crucial en la estrategia corporativa de las compañías hoteleras. Una de las principales razones es que el desarrollo de este tipo de iniciativas favorece el desarrollo de mayores niveles de lealtad entre los consumidores. Igualmente, las características demográficas de los consumidores son una línea de investigación que tradicionalmente ha centrado la atención de multitud de investigadores por considerarse herramientas útiles para la segmentación de los mercados y la caracterización de los consumidores. Sin embargo, son pocos los estudios que han tratado de explorar el papel que juegan las características demográficas de los consumidores en sus respuestas comportamentales basadas en aspectos de RSC. De este modo, el objetivo de esta investigación es analizar el papel de tres características demográficas –género, edad y nivel educativo– en un modelo conceptual que relaciona las percepciones de RSC y la lealtad de los consumidores. Los resultados revelan que estas variables demográficas moderan diversas relaciones del modelo propuesto

Customer CSR expectations in the banking industry

RESUMEN: Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine customer corporate social responsibility (CSR) expectations in the crisis context of the Spanish banking industry. The paper also takes into consideration the role that corporate governance structure plays in customer CSR expectations. Design/methodology/approach - Analysing 648 customers of savings banks and 476 customers of commercial banks, several univariate statistics and two cluster analyses are implemented. Findings - The authors identify significantly consistent patterns in the CSR expectations of savings banks and commercial banks customers. The customers of both types of banking companies have similar high expectations concerning the CSR oriented to customers, shareholders and supervising boards, employees, the community and legal and ethical CSR. Also customers of both types of banking companies can be consistently classified as customer oriented, legally (customer)-oriented and CSRoriented customers depending on their CSR expectations. Practical implications - These results have interesting implications for managers because it allows them to develop optimal CSR based on their customers' expectations. In this regard, it is observed that the CSR expectations of savings banks and commercial banks customers are quite homogeneous in such a way that the traditional differentiation in the CSR implemented by savings banks and commercial banks may be no longer justified. Originality/value - Previous scholars who have analysed customer CSR expectations have not studied them in a crisis context. This paper contributes to literature by proposing new managerial strategies for companies facing a product or corporate crisis. Scholars studying customer CSR expectations in the banking industry have not considered the role of corporate governance structure either. This paper provides detailed information about the CSR expectations of savings banks customers and commercial banks customers

Corporate social responsibility and customer loyalty: exploring the role ofidentification, satisfaction and type of company

ABSTRACT: Purpose - The aim of the authors of this paper is to propose a cognitive - affective - conative sequential model to study how three dimensions of corporate social responsibility (CSR) image (society, customers and employees) impact customer affective (identification and satisfaction) and behavioural recommendation and repurchase) responses in the banking industry. The authors also test how the type of company (savings banks vs commercial banks) moderates customer responses to these three dimensions of CSR image. Design/methodology/approach - A multi-group structural equation model is tested using information collected from 648 savings banks' customers and 476 commercial banks' customers in Spain. Findings - The findings demonstrate that the perceptions of customer-centric CSR initiatives positively and consistently impact customer identification with the banking institution, satisfaction, recommendation and repurchase behaviours in the savings and commercial banks' samples. The dimensions of CSR image that concern the activities oriented to society and employees only positively impact customer responses in the savings banks' sample. Practical implications - The findings of this study can assist scholars in creating more informative CSR-based loyalty models that take into consideration new variables (satisfaction and type of company) and better approaches to the conceptualization of CSR image (e.g. the formative approach). The findings can also assist savings and commercial banks in better designing their CSR and communication initiatives to benefit from customer affective and conative responses. Originality/value - The contributions of the paper are threefold: the authors include satisfaction as a new variable in the study of the CSR-based loyalty model; the CSR image is conceptualized as a formative construct, and this provides new justifications for the mixed results reported by previous scholars who have analysed the effects of CSR image on customer loyalty; and the authors explore the moderating role of the type of company on the CSR-based loyalty model proposed in the paper

How customers construct corporate social responsibility images: testing the moderating role of demographic characteristics.

ABSTRACT: This paper discusses the formation process of CSR images from a customer perspective. It analyses the influence of company-CSR coherence, motivational attribution and corporate credibility in the way customers evaluate CSR images in the banking industry. It also describes the impact of customer gender, age and educational level on the formation of CSR images. Results show that CSR images are based on customer perceptions of the company-CSR coherence, the attribution of altruistic motivations and corporate credibility when developing CSR initiatives. The findings also demonstrate that gender, age and educational level do not allow identifying differences in the way customers construct CSR images. Thus, they are not useful in segmenting customers for the design of better CSR and communication strategies

The stakeholder management theory of CSR: A multidimensional approach in understanding customer identification and satisfaction

ABSTRAC: Purpose - Based on the principles of the stakeholder management theory, this paper explores the multidimensional perceptions that customers of banking companies have of the corporate social responsibility (CSR) orientations of companies. The paper also explores how these multidimensional perceptions affect customer identification and satisfaction with banking companies. Design/methodology/approach - A structural equation model is tested using information collected from 1,124 banking service customers. Findings - The findings demonstrate that customers' perceptions of customer-related CSR and broad legal and ethical issues have significant positive impacts on customer identification and satisfaction with banking companies. Perceptions of shareholderrelated CSR also significantly boost customer satisfaction. In contrast, perceptions of employee- and community-related CSR do not have any significant effect on customer identification or satisfaction. The findings also confirm the importance of customer identification with the company as a key mediator in their satisfaction responses to multidimensional perceptions of the companies' CSR orientations. Originality/value - The contribution of the paper is based on the exploration of a multidimensional approach, which relies on the principles of the stakeholder management theory, to study customer responses to their perceptions of the CSR orientations of banking companies. Previous scholars have reported mixed findings when exploring customer responses to their perceptions of companies' CSR orientations. However, they have frequently considered customer CSR perceptions either as one-dimensional or a reflective second-order construct. Thus, previous scholars have ignored the possibility of multidimensional CSR perceptions having different effects on customer responses such as identification and satisfaction

An integrative framework to understand how CSR affects customer loyalty through identification, emotions and satisfaction .

ABSTRACT: Because previous scholars have offered few comprehensive models to understand the benefits of corporate social responsibility image in terms of customer behaviour, the authors of this paper propose a hierarchy of effects model to study how customer perceptions of the social responsibility of companies influence customer affective and conative responses in a service context. The authors test a structural equation model using information collected directly from 1,124 customers of banking services in Spain. The findings demonstrate that corporate social responsibility image influences customer identification with the company, the emotions evoked by the company and satisfaction positively. Identification also influences the emotions generated by the service performance and customer satisfaction determines loyalty behaviour. The findings have significant implications for service managers because they demonstrate that there are two paths to explain the satisfaction and loyalty of service customers. The first path is composed of the beliefs and emotions generated by the company at the institutional level. The second path is composed of the thoughts, attitudes, emotions and feelings generated by the company’s services

How customer support for corporate social responsibility influences the image of companies: Evidence from the banking industry

ABSTRACT: The authors of this paper carry out two studies to determine whether customer support for corporate social responsibility (CSR support) influences the way customers form their perceptions of CSR practices in the banking industry. Study 1 consists of a cluster analysis which provides information about four customer groups classified according to their support for CSR practices. These groups are labelled as the 'low support', 'social orientation', 'individual benefit', and 'high support' clusters. In Study 2, the authors test whether differences exists in the way the four clusters process their CSR perceptions. The results confirm the relevance of motivational attribution when socially oriented and highly involved customers evaluate CSR. Based on this information, the authors provide several recommendations for managers to effectively design and communicate their CSR strategies

El estudio de la gestión de los grupos de interés como vía para entender las consecuencias de la crisi económica en el sector bancario minorista.

RESUMEN. Las crisis económicas refuerzan la importancia que las empresas conceden a la responsabilidad social corporativa (RSC) como medio para recuperar su credibilidad y reputación en el mercado. El estudio múltiple de casos que se presenta en esta investigación trata de mostrar el papel que juega la RSC en las actuales estrategias de gestión de las entidades bancarias en España. Algunas de las empresas en este sector son líderes mundiales en la distribución de servicios bancarios, por lo que su estudio puede ayudar a otras empresas internacionales a implementar estrategias corporativas de éxito. El análisis se basa en la perspectiva teórica de la gestión de los grupos de interés y se centra en las actividades concretas que las distintas entidades bancarias desarrollan para gestionar sus políticas de RSC. Los resultados demuestran que una aproximación estratégica a este concepto, derivada de una importancia especial que determinadas empresas conceden a los clientes y los empleados, conduce a una mayor rentabilidad de las políticas de RSC. Esta idea pone de manifiesto la relación que existe entre la maximización de beneficios y la gestión de los grupos de interés, lo que ayuda a entender la solidez que han demostrado los bancos en la reciente crisis financiera. Otras entidades, como las cajas de ahorros, que han desarrollado políticas de RSC basadas en una perspectiva de grupos de interés más amplia, se han enfrentado a problemas de solvencia y liquidez que han derivado en una profunda modificación del panorama competitivo nacional.ABSTRACT. Financial recessions strengthen the importance businesses give to corporate social responsibility (CSR) in order to enhance credibility and reputation. The multiple case study presented herein aims at disclosing the role of CSR in the current strategic management of banking institutions in Spain. Some of the companies in this country are world leaders and their study can help other international businesses to implement successful corporate strategies. The analysis draws on the theoretical perspective of stakeholder management theory and focuses on practical activities of different kinds of banking institutions to address how they manage their CSR policies. The findings demonstrate that a strategic approach to CSR, derived from a special significance given to customers and employees in the management of stakeholders, leads to profitable CSR policies. This idea underscores the connection between profit maximization and stakeholder management which accounts for the current robustness of banks in the marketplace. Other institutions developing CSR strategies around social stakeholders have encountered solvency and cash-flow problems which have seriously modified the national marketplace

Personal traits and customer responses to CSR perceptions in the banking sector.

Purpose. The purpose of this paper is to explore the moderating role of six personal traits in a causal model to study how customers? perceptions of corporate social responsibility (CSR) influence their affective and behavioural responses to companies. Design/methodology/approach. A structural equation model is tested in a sample of 1,124 banking service customers in Spain. Based on this model, a multisampling analysis is implemented to determine how gender, age, educational level, CSR support, collectivism and novelty seeking moderate customer responses to CSR perceptions. Findings. The findings show that customer responses to CSR perceptions are consistently moderated by gender, age and CSR support. Men, people aged over 45 and highly supportive customers respond to CSR perceptions more positively than women, younger people and customers exhibiting a low level of CSR support. The findings concerning educational level and novelty seeking are less conclusive. Collectivism does not influence customer responses to CSR perceptions to any significant extent. Thus, the findings suggest that gender, age and CSR support are the most useful variables to segment the market to adapt CSR and communication strategies. Originality/value. Previous literature has mostly focussed on identifying the personal traits that differentiate socially oriented customers from others. Thus, this paper contributes to previous literature by exploring the role customers? personal traits play in the identification of differences in customers? responses to their perceptions of the CSR implemented by companies that sell traditional services, such as banking services