IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/sustdv/v32y2024i4p3541-3554.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Exploring the complexities of CSR and firm performances: Unveiling the relationship between social responsibility, ethical conduct, and consumer perceptions

Author

Listed:
  • Muhammad Faisal Shahzad
  • Jingbo Yuan
  • Mudassir Husnain
  • Guicheng Ma

Abstract

This study investigates the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and brand perception. It specifically examines how negative attitudes toward CSR activities and emotional contagion influence brand perception. The research focuses on young consumers as the sample population. The findings underscore the significance of CSR in shaping consumer attitudes and emotions toward brands. The results indicate that negative attitudes toward a company's CSR initiatives can exacerbate negative brand perception. Therefore, the study emphasizes the importance of companies demonstrating their dedication to sustainability and environmental stewardship to appeal to environmentally conscious customers. However, the research also acknowledges certain limitations include the geographical sampling size and sampling techniques, which should be taken into consideration.

Suggested Citation

  • Muhammad Faisal Shahzad & Jingbo Yuan & Mudassir Husnain & Guicheng Ma, 2024. "Exploring the complexities of CSR and firm performances: Unveiling the relationship between social responsibility, ethical conduct, and consumer perceptions," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(4), pages 3541-3554, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:sustdv:v:32:y:2024:i:4:p:3541-3554
    DOI: 10.1002/sd.2864
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/sd.2864
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/sd.2864?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sher Zaman Khan & Qing Yang & Abdul Waheed, 2019. "Investment in intangible resources and capabilities spurs sustainable competitive advantage and firm performance," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(2), pages 285-295, March.
    2. Meng, Lu (Monroe) & Duan, Shen & Zhao, Yijun & Lü, Kevin & Chen, Siyun, 2021. "The impact of online celebrity in livestreaming E-commerce on purchase intention from the perspective of emotional contagion," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    3. Seongho Kang & Won‐Moo Hur, 2012. "Investigating the Antecedents of Green Brand Equity: A Sustainable Development Perspective," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 19(5), pages 306-316, September.
    4. Farah, Maya F. & Newman, Andrew J., 2010. "Exploring consumer boycott intelligence using a socio-cognitive approach," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 63(4), pages 347-355, April.
    5. Romani, Simona & Grappi, Silvia & Dalli, Daniele, 2012. "Emotions that drive consumers away from brands: Measuring negative emotions toward brands and their behavioral effects," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 55-67.
    6. Shahid Rasool & Roberto Cerchione & Jari Salo, 2020. "Assessing ethical consumer behavior for sustainable development: The mediating role of brand attachment," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(6), pages 1620-1631, November.
    7. Muhammad Ishtiaq Ishaq & Eleonora Di Maria, 2020. "Sustainability countenance in brand equity: a critical review and future research directions," Journal of Brand Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 27(1), pages 15-34, January.
    8. Kim, Kyung Hoon & Kim, Kang Sik & Kim, Dong Yul & Kim, Jong Ho & Kang, Suk Hou, 2008. "Brand equity in hospital marketing," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 61(1), pages 75-82, January.
    9. Gao, Huasheng & Liu, Zhengkai & Yang, Chloe Chunliu, 2023. "Individual investors’ trading behavior and gender difference in tolerance of sex crimes: Evidence from a natural experiment," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 349-368.
    10. Wang, David Han-Min & Chen, Pei-Hua & Yu, Tiffany Hui-Kuang & Hsiao, Chih-Yi, 2015. "The effects of corporate social responsibility on brand equity and firm performance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 68(11), pages 2232-2236.
    11. Abdul Waheed & Qingyu Zhang, 2022. "Effect of CSR and Ethical Practices on Sustainable Competitive Performance: A Case of Emerging Markets from Stakeholder Theory Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 175(4), pages 837-855, February.
    12. Arun Madanaguli & Shalini Srivastava & Alberto Ferraris & Amandeep Dhir, 2022. "Corporate social responsibility and sustainability in the tourism sector: A systematic literature review and future outlook," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(3), pages 447-461, June.
    13. Xu, Aiting & Qiu, Keyang & Zhu, Yuhan, 2023. "The measurements and decomposition of innovation inequality: Based on Industry − University − Research perspective," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    14. Abdul Waheed & Qingyu Zhang & Yasir Rashid & Sher Zaman Khan, 2020. "The impact of corporate social responsibility on buying tendencies from the perspective of stakeholder theory and practices," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(3), pages 1307-1315, May.
    15. Bambauer-Sachse, Silke & Mangold, Sabrina, 2011. "Brand equity dilution through negative online word-of-mouth communication," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 38-45.
    16. Abdul Waheed & Jianhua Yang, 2019. "Effect of corporate social responsibility disclosure on firms' sales performance: A perspective of stakeholder engagement and theory," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(3), pages 559-566, May.
    17. Marcela Rocha Haase Uhlig & Emerson Wagner Mainardes & Valcemiro Nossa, 2020. "Corporate social responsibility and consumer's relationship intention," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(1), pages 313-324, January.
    18. J. Alfredo Flores‐Hernández & Jesús J. Cambra‐Fierro & Rosario Vázquez‐Carrasco, 2020. "Sustainability, brand image, reputation and financial value: Manager perceptions in an emerging economy context," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(4), pages 935-945, July.
    19. Alejandro Alvarado-Herrera & Enrique Bigne & Joaquín Aldas-Manzano & Rafael Curras-Perez, 2017. "A Scale for Measuring Consumer Perceptions of Corporate Social Responsibility Following the Sustainable Development Paradigm," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 140(2), pages 243-262, January.
    20. Xuan Liu & Tianyi Shi & Guohui Zhou & Mingzhe Liu & Zhengtong Yin & Lirong Yin & Wenfeng Zheng, 2023. "Emotion classification for short texts: an improved multi-label method," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-9, December.
    21. Rind, Asad Ali & Abbassi, Wajih & Allaya, Manel & Hammouda, Amira, 2022. "Local peers and firm misconduct: The role of sustainability and competition," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    22. Baskentli, Sara & Sen, Sankar & Du, Shuili & Bhattacharya, C.B., 2019. "Consumer reactions to corporate social responsibility: The role of CSR domains," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 502-513.
    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. Tahir Yousaf & Muhammad Faisal Shahzad & Qurat ul Ain, 2025. "Evaluating the environmental impacts of Chinese decentralization policies toward SDG 13," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(1), pages 939-956, February.
    2. Alka Kumari & Manvendra Pratap Singh, 2025. "The dharma of work: Cracking the code to social sustainability puzzle for the future of human resources," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(2), pages 2047-2059, April.

    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. Mehnaz & Jiahua Jin & Azhar Hussain & Muhammad Akib Warraich & Abdul Waheed, 2024. "Impact of perceived CSR practices on customers loyalty. The mediating role of reputation and customer satisfaction," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(5), pages 3724-3734, September.
    2. Gálvez-Sánchez, Francisco Jesús & Molina-Prados, Aida & Molina-Moreno, Valentín & Moral-Cuadra, Salvador, 2024. "Exploring the three-dimensional effect of corporate social responsibility on brand equity, corporate reputation, and willingness to pay. A study of the fashion industry," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    3. Abdul Waheed & Qingyu Zhang & Yasir Rashid & Muhammad Sohail Tahir & Muhammad Wasif Zafar, 2020. "Impact of green manufacturing on consumer ecological behavior: Stakeholder engagement through green production and innovation," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(5), pages 1395-1403, September.
    4. Shuhui Jiang & Kang Chen, 2024. "Multidirectional analysis for sustainable development: An examination of sustainable policies, corporate social responsibility, and organizational performance," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(5), pages 4385-4396, October.
    5. 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.
    6. Raiswa Saha & Shashi & Roberto Cerchione & Rajwinder Singh & Richa Dahiya, 2020. "Effect of ethical leadership and corporate social responsibility on firm performance: A systematic review," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(2), pages 409-429, March.
    7. Kumar, Sanjeev & Rajaguru, Rajesh & Yang, Lin, 2024. "Investigating how brand image and attitude mediate consumer susceptibility to eWOM and purchase intention: Comparing enterprise-owned vs. third-party online review websites using multigroup analysis," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    8. Yiying Liu & Juanjuan Niu & Yongbin Zhou & Ruoqi Huang, 2023. "Achieving corporate sustainable development through social responsibility, green activities, and stakeholders management: A multidirectional cause analysis," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(4), pages 2997-3007, August.
    9. Paolo Antonetti & Stan Maklan, 2018. "Identity Bias in Negative Word of Mouth Following Irresponsible Corporate Behavior: A Research Model and Moderating Effects," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 149(4), pages 1005-1023, June.
    10. Thi Hong Nguyet Nguyen & Nguyen Khanh Hai Tran & Khoa Do, 2023. "An empirical research of corporate social responsibility on creating the green brand equity: An exploratory of Vietnamese consumers' perception in the bank industry," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(3), pages 1292-1299, May.
    11. Woon Leong Lin & Siong Hook Law & W. N. W. Azman‐Saini, 2020. "Market differentiation threshold and the relationship between corporate social responsibility and corporate financial performance," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(3), pages 1279-1293, May.
    12. Curina, Ilaria & Francioni, Barbara & Hegner, Sabrina M. & Cioppi, Marco, 2020. "Brand hate and non-repurchase intention: A service context perspective in a cross-channel setting," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    13. Kara, Karahan & Yalçın, Galip Cihan & Akagün Ergin, Elif & Simic, Vladimir & Pamucar, Dragan, 2024. "A neutrosophic WENSLO-ARLON model for measuring sustainable brand equity performance," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    14. Amin Ansary & Nik M. Hazrul Nik Hashim, 2018. "Brand image and equity: the mediating role of brand equity drivers and moderating effects of product type and word of mouth," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 12(4), pages 969-1002, October.
    15. Abdul Waheed & Muhammad Shahid Khan & Muhammad Akib Warraich & Mehwish Asghar Ali, 2024. "Environmental policy vs. Environmental innovation: An examination of policies disclosure on sustainable development from stakeholder theory perspective," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(3), pages 2506-2516, June.
    16. Jinhua Li & Yongyi Chen & Qiankai Qing, 2021. "Differentiated consumer responses to corporate social responsibility domains moderated by corporate social responsibility perceptions: A Kano model‐based perspective," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(6), pages 1606-1619, November.
    17. Yindan Zhang & Yuanyuan Li, 2023. "Society 5.0 versus Industry 5.0: An examination of industrialization models in driving sustainable development from a normative stakeholder theory perspective," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(5), pages 3786-3795, October.
    18. Abdul Waheed & Qingyu Zhang & Yasir Rashid & Sher Zaman Khan, 2020. "The impact of corporate social responsibility on buying tendencies from the perspective of stakeholder theory and practices," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(3), pages 1307-1315, May.
    19. Mochales, Gerardo & Blanch, Javier, 2022. "Unlocking the potential of CSR: An explanatory model to determine the strategic character of CSR activities," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 310-323.
    20. 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.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:wly:sustdv:v:32:y:2024:i:4:p:3541-3554. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1099-1719 .

    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.