Does Customer Loyalty Depend on Corporate Social Responsibility?

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a study conducted to examine the dependence of customer loyalty on corporate social responsibility (CSR). CSR is a good opportunity for a company's differentiation, but only if customers value the company's efforts in this field. Loyalty is a primary goal of each company, but it is influenced by numerous factors. The goal of this paper was to examine if CSR influences customer loyalty as one possible factor. Based on the presented results, management recommendations are provided concerning business strategy, mission, and vision formulation, so companies can fulfill customers' interests and gain their loyalty.

Assessment of Corporate Social Responsibility and Its Impacts on Corporate Reputation of Companies in Selected Balkan Countries Former Yugoslavia States

“…Progressively, by engaging in CSR activities firms are trying to differentiate themselves from other competitors, create an expressive ties with their clients, stimulate employee satisfaction and loyalty to the company, build a basis for a greater customer tolerance to the growth of prices, create advantageous publicity, increase understanding of skeptical and negatively-oriented public officials and enhance CR and strengthen brand loyalty (Lu et al, 2019b). Therefore, scholars have identified customer's expectations and loyalty as important drivers for implementation of CRS (Abbas et al, 2018;Öberserder et al, 2013Vlachos et al, 2009;Yuen et al, 2016;Stanisavljević, 2017;Li et al, 2019). The customer's expectations are also influenced by institutional environment.…”

“…There are many recent studies analyzing the main drivers and determinants of CSR and its impacts (Bakan, 2004;Hult, 2011;Drummet, 2006;Christensen et al, 2013;Öberseder et al, 2013Mapelli et al, 2016;Ali et al, 2017;Dyduch & Krasodomska, 2017;Hafenbradl & Waeger, 2016). The main drivers and determinants of adoption of sustainable business practices such as CSR, identified by the authors are based mainly on institutional factors (Aoki, 2001;Postma & Hermes, 2003;Fiss, 2008;Fox et al, 2002;Roe, 2004;Draskovic & Stjepcevic, 2012;Draskovic & Lojpur, 2013) and less on the utilities determination responded to society and customer's needs (Abbas et al, 2018;Öberserder et al, 2013Vlachos et al, 2009;Yuen et al, 2016;Stanisavljević, 2017;Li et al, 2019) or executive characteristics such as leadership (Hafenbradl & Waeger, 2016;Barker & Mueller, 2002;Christensen et al, 2013;Kang et al, 2016;Maak et al, 2016;Petrenko et al, 2016;Lu et al, 2019c) or other factors.…”

Comparative Review of Corporate Social Responsibility of Energy Utilities and Sustainable Energy Development Trends in the Baltic States

“…Corporate social responsibility (CSR) allows utilities to deal with the challenges of sustainable development, including climate change, and implement sustainable business practices and CSR reporting [10]. The analysis of CSR practices of energy utilities in various world countries (Brazil [7,8], Poland [9], The US [10,11], China [12,13], India, and Japan [14], and groups of countries [15][16][17][18]), indicated the importance of CSR for dealing with the major risks and challenges that the energy sector is facing, i.e., corruption risks [19][20][21][22] and other important drivers like competition [36][37][38], reputation [40], customers loyalty [41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53], and policies [39,[53][54][55], etc.…”

“…The majority of studies dealt with the CSR of public sector enterprises and their impacts in the water sector [28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35]. The main areas of investigation were the drivers of CSR [36][37][38][39], as well as the impacts of CSR practices on consumer perceptions and loyalty [40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50]. However, broader outcomes of the CSR of energy utilities were mainly undervalued and lacked serious attention.…”

Corporate Social Responsibility and Corruption: Implications for the Sustainable Energy Sector

“…Alongside the regulatory requirements of mandatory environmental and labor relations which are defined by legal acts, new means are created in order to encourage enterprises to pursue better environmental and social standards [25]. Voluntary environmental and social activities are becoming an important factor in improving the image and reputation of a company [26][27][28][29]. In addition, this activity is economically viable and guarantees positive impact on the competitiveness and value of enterprises [30][31][32][33].…”