Exerting pressure or leveraging power? The extended chain of corporate social responsibility enforcement in business-to-business supply chains

In face of the increasing attention on issues of sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR) by the general public and policy makers, companies have put growing emphasis on ensuring CSR along their supply chains. Existing research has produced evidence that companies can increase their suppliers’ CSR engagement by exerting explicit pressure on them, for example, through contractual clauses. Adding to this conventional chain of CSR enforcement, this article conceptualizes and empirically validates a yet-undescribed extended chain of CSR enforcement that also leads to higher levels of CSR engagement by a supplier firm, irrespective and even in absence of explicit pressure by the customer firm. In particular, a customer firm's CSR orientation in interaction with a powerful position in the supply chain leads suppliers to perceive pressure to engage in CSR regardless of factually exerted pressure. As a result, suppliers are likely to increase their CSR engagement in order to be customer oriented or in preemptive obedience. These results entail substantial implications for policy makers as well as marketing academics and managers

Corporate Social Responsibility : eine Analyse aus Anbieter- und Kundenperspektive in Business-to-Business-Märkten

Corporate Social Responsibility, Anbieter- und Kundenperspektive, Business-to-Business-Märkt

Corporate Social Responsibility : eine Analyse aus Anbieter- und Kundenperspektive in Business-to-Business-Märkten

Corporate Social Responsibility, Anbieter- und Kundenperspektive, Business-to-Business-Märkt

Corporate Social Responsibility in Business-to-Business Markets

Suppliers should be aware of the fact that CSR matters: Their customers’ CSR perceptions influence customer loyalty Business process CSR engagement – CSR activities within a supplier’s core business operations – has a positive impact on customer loyalty by increasing customer’s trust towards the supplier. It signals positive company characteristics. Non-business process CSR engagement – CSR activities outside a supplier’s core business operations – has a positive impact on loyalty by strengthening customer’s identification with the supplier. It can differentiate a firm from its competitors