IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v13y2021i21p11975-d667958.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Role of Corporate Social Responsibility Perceptions in Brand Equity, Brand Credibility, Brand Reputation, and Purchase Intentions

Author

Listed:
  • Shu Wang

    (Department of Business Administration, Nanhua University, Chiayi County 62249, Taiwan)

  • Ying-Kai Liao

    (Program of International Business, Nanhua University, Chiayi County 62249, Taiwan)

  • Wann-Yih Wu

    (Department of Business Administration, Nanhua University, Chiayi County 62249, Taiwan)

  • Khanh Bao Ho Le

    (Department of Business Administration, Nanhua University, Chiayi County 62249, Taiwan)

Abstract

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is becoming one of the most critical challenges that firms must address to survive in the competitive market. This study investigates the impact of customers’ CSR perceptions on their purchase intentions as mediated by brand equity, brand credibility, and brand reputation in order to identify the benefits of CSR integration for business development. The study employs a quantitative approach to collect data from customers who purchase cosmetics through an online survey. PLS-SEM software is used to analyze the data from the 380 responses. The results indicate that customers’ perceptions of the CSR of a firm affect their intention to purchase its brands in the future. Brand equity, brand credibility, and brand reputation mediate the impact of CSR perceptions on purchase intentions. Since previous studies have not employed a comprehensive approach to verifying the influence that CSR exerts through brand credibility, brand reputation, and brand equity, the results provide an essential reference for academics who conduct empirical research on the subject. This paper is also particularly beneficial for marketers and managers who wish to develop marketing strategies and brand management techniques that boost business efficiency.

Suggested Citation

  • Shu Wang & Ying-Kai Liao & Wann-Yih Wu & Khanh Bao Ho Le, 2021. "The Role of Corporate Social Responsibility Perceptions in Brand Equity, Brand Credibility, Brand Reputation, and Purchase Intentions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-19, October.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:21:p:11975-:d:667958
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/21/11975/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/21/11975/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jeng, Shih-Ping, 2016. "The influences of airline brand credibility on consumer purchase intentions," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 1-8.
    2. Dwivedi, Abhishek & Nayeem, Tahmid & Murshed, Feisal, 2018. "Brand experience and consumers’ willingness-to-pay (WTP) a price premium: Mediating role of brand credibility and perceived uniqueness," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 100-107.
    3. Park, Eunil, 2019. "Corporate social responsibility as a determinant of corporate reputation in the airline industry," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 215-221.
    4. Troiville, Julien & Hair, Joe F. & Cliquet, Gérard, 2019. "Definition, conceptualization and measurement of consumer-based retailer brand equity," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 73-84.
    5. Juan Pineiro-Chousa & Marcos Vizcaíno-González & M. Ángeles López-Cabarcos, 2016. "Reputation, Game Theory and Entrepreneurial Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(11), pages 1-13, November.
    6. Michael Spence, 2002. "Signaling in Retrospect and the Informational Structure of Markets," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(3), pages 434-459, June.
    7. Carroll, Archie B., 1991. "The pyramid of corporate social responsibility: Toward the moral management of organizational stakeholders," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 39-48.
    8. Sandra Maria Correia Loureiro & Eduardo Moraes Sarmento & Goulwen Le Bellego, 2017. "The effect of corporate brand reputation on brand attachment and brand loyalty: Automobile sector," Cogent Business & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 4(1), pages 1360031-136, January.
    9. Longinos Marin & Salvador Ruiz & Alicia Rubio, 2009. "The Role of Identity Salience in the Effects of Corporate Social Responsibility on Consumer Behavior," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 84(1), pages 65-78, January.
    10. Fabien Pecot & Altaf Merchant & Pierre Valette-Florence & Virginie de Barnier, 2018. "Cognitive outcomes of brand heritage: A signaling perspective," Post-Print hal-01831914, HAL.
    11. Chetna Kudeshia & Amresh Kumar, 2017. "Social eWOM: does it affect the brand attitude and purchase intention of brands?," Management Research Review, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 40(3), pages 310-330, March.
    12. , Aisdl, 2020. "Corporate social responsibility and firm financial performance: A literature review," OSF Preprints aymk7, Center for Open Science.
    13. HakJun Song & Wenjia Ruan & Yunmi Park, 2019. "Effects of Service Quality, Corporate Image, and Customer Trust on the Corporate Reputation of Airlines," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-14, June.
    14. Pecot, Fabien & Merchant, Altaf & Valette-Florence, Pierre & De Barnier, Virginie, 2018. "Cognitive outcomes of brand heritage: A signaling perspective," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 304-316.
    15. Muhammad Adnan Bashir & Syed Muhammad Faheem & Masood Hassan & Waseem Akhtar Shaikh, 2019. "Impact Of Brand Equity On Consumer Brand Preference And Brand Purchase Intention," IBT Journal of Business Studies (JBS), Ilma University, Faculty of Management Science, vol. 15(1), pages 15-11.
    16. António C. Moreira & Nuno Fortes & Ramiro Santiago, 2017. "Influence of sensory stimuli on brand experience, brand equity and purchase intention," Journal of Business Economics and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(1), pages 68-83, January.
    17. Eunil Park & Taeil Han & Taehyeong Kim & Sang Jib Kwon & Angel P. Del Pobil, 2016. "Economic and Environmental Benefits of Optimized Hybrid Renewable Energy Generation Systems at Jeju National University, South Korea," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(9), pages 1-12, September.
    18. Foroudi, Pantea & Yu, Qionglei & Gupta, Suraksha & Foroudi, Mohammad M., 2019. "Enhancing university brand image and reputation through customer value co-creation behaviour," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 218-227.
    19. Bougoure, Ursula Sigrid & Russell-Bennett, Rebekah & Fazal-E-Hasan, Syed & Mortimer, Gary, 2016. "The impact of service failure on brand credibility," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 62-71.
    20. Liu, Matthew Tingchi & Wong, IpKin Anthony & Tseng, Ting-Hsiang & Chang, Angela Wen-Yu & Phau, Ian, 2017. "Applying consumer-based brand equity in luxury hotel branding," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 192-202.
    21. Sally Baalbaki & Francisco Guzmán, 2016. "A consumer-perceived consumer-based brand equity scale," Journal of Brand Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 23(3), pages 229-251, May.
    22. Veloutsou, Cleopatra & Moutinho, Luiz, 2009. "Brand relationships through brand reputation and brand tribalism," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 62(3), pages 314-322, March.
    23. Patricia Martínez & Andrea Pérez & Ignacio Rodríguez del Bosque, 2014. "Exploring the Role of CSR in the Organizational Identity of Hospitality Companies: A Case from the Spanish Tourism Industry," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 124(1), pages 47-66, September.
    24. Muzhar Javed & Muhammad Amir Rashid & Ghulam Hussain & Hafiz Yasir Ali, 2020. "The effects of corporate social responsibility on corporate reputation and firm financial performance: Moderating role of responsible leadership," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(3), pages 1395-1409, May.
    25. Shukla, Paurav, 2011. "Impact of interpersonal influences, brand origin and brand image on luxury purchase intentions: Measuring interfunctional interactions and a cross-national comparison," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 46(2), pages 242-252, April.
    26. Won-Moo Hur & Hanna Kim & Jeong Woo, 2014. "How CSR Leads to Corporate Brand Equity: Mediating Mechanisms of Corporate Brand Credibility and Reputation," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 125(1), pages 75-86, November.
    27. repec:gdk:wpaper:22 is not listed on IDEAS
    28. Songmi Kim & Heejung Lee, 2019. "The Effect of CSR Fit and CSR Authenticity on the Brand Attitude," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-10, December.
    29. Hajir Afzali & Sang Soo Kim, 2021. "Consumers’ Responses to Corporate Social Responsibility: The Mediating Role of CSR Authenticity," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-13, February.
    30. Muhammad Adnan Bashir & Syed Muhammad Faheem & Masood Hassan & Waseem Akhtar Shaikh, 2019. "Impact Of Brand Equity On Consumer Brand Preference And Brand Purchase Intention," IBT Journal of Business Studies (JBS), Ilma University, Faculty of Management Science, vol. 15(1), pages 138-148.
    31. Foroudi, Pantea & Melewar, T.C. & Gupta, Suraksha, 2014. "Linking corporate logo, corporate image, and reputation: An examination of consumer perceptions in the financial setting," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 67(11), pages 2269-2281.
    32. Wong, Tommy & Wickham, Mark, 2015. "An examination of Marriott's entry into the Chinese hospitality industry: A Brand Equity perspective," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 439-454.
    33. Lin, Chieh-Peng & Tsai, Yuan-Hui & Chiu, Chou-Kang & Liu, Chia-Ping, 2015. "Forecasting the purchase intention of IT product: Key roles of trust and environmental consciousness for IT firms," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 148-155.
    34. Chi-Shiun Lai & Chih-Jen Chiu & Chin-Fang Yang & Da-Chang Pai, 2010. "The Effects of Corporate Social Responsibility on Brand Performance: The Mediating Effect of Industrial Brand Equity and Corporate Reputation," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 95(3), pages 457-469, September.
    35. Xinshu Zhao & John G. Lynch & Qimei Chen, 2010. "Reconsidering Baron and Kenny: Myths and Truths about Mediation Analysis," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 37(2), pages 197-206, August.
    36. Marina Dabic & Ana Colovic & Olivier Lamotte & Mollie Painter-Morland & Silvana Brozovic, 2016. "Industry-specific CSR: analysis of 20 years of research," Post-Print hal-02907079, HAL.
    37. Boulding, William & Kirmani, Amna, 1993. "A Consumer-Side Experimental Examination of Signaling Theory: Do Consumers Perceive Warranties as Signals of Quality?," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 20(1), pages 111-123, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Guo, Wenshan & Luo, Qiangqiang, 2023. "Investigating the impact of intelligent personal assistants on the purchase intentions of Generation Z consumers: The moderating role of brand credibility," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    2. Hee-Kyung Koh & Regina Burnasheva & Yong Gu Suh, 2022. "Perceived ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) and Consumers’ Responses: The Mediating Role of Brand Credibility, Brand Image, and Perceived Quality," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-15, April.
    3. Dongock Bang & Jiwon Lee & Matthew Minsuk Shin, 2021. "Partner Selection Strategies in Global Business Ecosystems: Country Images of the Keystone Company and Partner Companies on the Brand Quality Perception," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-12, November.
    4. Imran Khan & Mobin Fatma, 2023. "Impact of CSR Authenticity on Brand Advocacy: The Mediating Role of Brand Equity," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-11, May.
    5. Faisal Masud & Dr. Ali Raza Hamid, 2023. "Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility on the components of Brand Equity: A study of multichannel banking in the context of Pakistani Banks," Journal of Policy Research (JPR), Research Foundation for Humanity (RFH), vol. 9(2), pages 433-442.
    6. Camila Kolling & José Luis Duarte Ribeiro & Donato Morea & Gianpaolo Iazzolino, 2023. "Corporate social responsibility and circular economy from the perspective of consumers: A cross‐cultural analysis in the cosmetic industry," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(3), pages 1226-1243, May.
    7. Xinhua Zhao & Hui An, 2023. "Research on the Mechanism of Heterogeneous Corporate Environmental Responsibility in Z-Generation Consumers’ Sustainable Purchase Intention," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-19, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Hsiu-Hua Chang, 2017. "Consumer Socially Sustainable Consumption: The Perspective toward Corporate Social Responsibility, Perceived Value, and Brand Loyalty," Journal of Economics and Management, College of Business, Feng Chia University, Taiwan, vol. 13(2), pages 167-191, August.
    2. Hussain, Shahzeb & Melewar, T.C. & Priporas, Constantinos-Vasilios & Foroudi, Pantea & Dennis, Charles, 2020. "Examining the effects of celebrity trust on advertising credibility, brand credibility and corporate credibility," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 472-488.
    3. Bernd F. Reitsamer & Alexandra Brunner-Sperdin, 2021. "It’s all about the brand: place brand credibility, place attachment, and consumer loyalty," Journal of Brand Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 28(3), pages 291-301, May.
    4. Saloua Bennaghmouch & Martine Deparis & Hanene Oueslati & Marie-Catherine Paquier & Gerald Cohen & Laurent Grimal & Hocine Sadok, 2021. "Franchise et RSE : impact social et environnemental de la franchise," Working Papers hal-03694438, HAL.
    5. Hee-Kyung Koh & Regina Burnasheva & Yong Gu Suh, 2022. "Perceived ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) and Consumers’ Responses: The Mediating Role of Brand Credibility, Brand Image, and Perceived Quality," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-15, April.
    6. Rajesh Sharma & Vranda Jain, 2019. "CSR, Trust, Brand Loyalty and Brand Equity: Empirical Evidences from Sportswear Industry in the NCR Region of India," Metamorphosis: A Journal of Management Research, , vol. 18(1), pages 57-67, June.
    7. Jialing (Catherine) Lin & Zhimin Zhou & Fucheng Zheng & Xinru Jiang & Ninh Nguyen, 2023. "How do hotel star ratings affect the relationship between environmental CSR and green word‐of‐mouth?," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(5), pages 2651-2663, September.
    8. Cambier, Fanny & Poncin, Ingrid, 2020. "Inferring brand integrity from marketing communications: The effects of brand transparency signals in a consumer empowerment context," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 260-270.
    9. Muflih, Muhammad, 2021. "The link between corporate social responsibility and customer loyalty: Empirical evidence from the Islamic banking industry," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    10. Vicenta Sierra & Oriol Iglesias & Stefan Markovic & Jatinder Jit Singh, 2017. "Does Ethical Image Build Equity in Corporate Services Brands? The Influence of Customer Perceived Ethicality on Affect, Perceived Quality, and Equity," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 144(3), pages 661-676, September.
    11. Cao Thi Mien Thuy & Trinh Quoc Trung & Nguyen Vinh Khuong & Nguyen Thanh Liem, 2021. "From Corporate Social Responsibility to Stock Price Crash Risk: Modelling the Mediating Role of Firm Performance in an Emerging Market," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-17, November.
    12. Pecot, Fabien & Merchant, Altaf, 2022. "Why and when is older better? The role of brand heritage and of the product category in the evaluation of brand longevity," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 533-545.
    13. Hafiz Yasir Ali & Muhammad Asrar‐ul‐Haq & Shaheera Amin & Sadaf Noor & Muhammad Haris‐ul‐Mahasbi & Muhammad Kashif Aslam, 2020. "Corporate social responsibility and employee performance: The mediating role of employee engagement in the manufacturing sector of Pakistan," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(6), pages 2908-2919, November.
    14. Nick Lin-Hi & Igor Blumberg, 2018. "The Link Between (Not) Practicing CSR and Corporate Reputation: Psychological Foundations and Managerial Implications," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 150(1), pages 185-198, June.
    15. Magnoni, Fanny & Valette-Florence, Pierre & De Barnier, Virginie, 2021. "Modeling the effects of place heritage and place experience on residents’ behavioral intentions toward a city: A mediation analysis," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 428-442.
    16. Madeeha Zafar & Imran Ali, 2016. "The Influence of Corporate Social Responsibility on Employee Commitment: The Mediating Role of Employee Company Identification," Asian Social Science, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 12(12), pages 262-262, December.
    17. Swaen, Valérie & Demoulin, Nathalie & Pauwels-Delassus, Véronique, 2021. "Impact of customers’ perceptions regarding corporate social responsibility and irresponsibility in the grocery retailing industry: The role of corporate reputation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 709-721.
    18. Ibrahim Sameer, 2021. "Impact of corporate social responsibility on organization’s financial performance: evidence from Maldives public limited companies," Future Business Journal, Springer, vol. 7(1), pages 1-21, December.
    19. M. Kouzez & J. Y. Lee & G. Branellec & J. Oh, 2023. "RSE et banques en ligne : le cas du marché sud-coréen," Post-Print hal-04469792, HAL.
    20. Rama Shankar Yadav & Sanket Sunand Dash & Shreyashi Chakraborty & Manoj Kumar, 2018. "Perceived CSR and Corporate Reputation: The Mediating Role of Employee Trust," Vikalpa: The Journal for Decision Makers, , vol. 43(3), pages 139-151, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:21:p:11975-:d:667958. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.