Analysis of Retailers’Communication Approaches in Sustainability and Social Responsibility Reports

Abstract

Following the emergence of stakeholders' societal awareness, retailers adopted different types of social actions and have recently begun to publish social reports to demonstrate their commitment to sustainability and social responsibility in order to be perceived as good corporate citizens.The purpose of this paper is to analyze and to discuss approaches adopted by retailers in communicating about their societal commitment through their non-financial reports.Using a qualitative methodology, we found that these reports are purely informative for some retailers, whereas for others, they are a societal positioning tool allowing retailers to differentiate themselves from competitors.

The Relationship Between Corporate Social Responsibility and Customer Loyalty

“…Rust et al (2001) offer five dimensions of customer perception of a brand's ethics: Community events, private policy, environmental record, hiring practices, and guarantees. Customers' perception of businesses becomes stricter because they understand more about CSR so their judgments about those activities will eventually change and may affect the willingness to buy (Ali et al, 2021;Mejri & De Wolf, 2012). This means that when businesses start doing CSR, consumers gradually become more sensitive, and at the same time begin to use CSR as a criteria to evaluate the business's performance.…”

“…It implied that an increase in attitude loyalty will generate an increase in behavior loyalty. Consumers' recognition of businesses becomes more demanding as they become more aware of CSR and their attitudes will ultimately influence their willingness to buy (Mejri & De Wolf, 2012). Consumer understanding and sensitivity to social welfare have motivated organizations to demonstrate a sense of social responsibility (Osman et al, 2021).…”

Mediating Role of Brand Image in the Relationship between Corporate Social Responsibility and Brand Equity: An Investigation of Unilever Bangladesh Limited

“…CSR may be used to develop a stronger brand image and generating favourable customer perceptions such that it becomes a significant source of competitive advantages (He & Lai, 2012). Research also shows that consumers' acknowledgement of businesses becomes more stringent as they became warier of CSR, and their reaction would eventually affect their desire to purchase (Mejri & De Wolf, 2012). In order to enhance the environmental and social success of the organization, the responsible actions of the business should be assessed, estimated, audited and disclosed to the public which began the concept of 'Triple Bottom Line" (TBL) model, which is now a popular concept to different organizations, management, and consultants.…”