Impact of perceived corporate citizenship on purchase intention: across the fear of COVID-19 during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

PurposeThis paper examines the direct relationship between perceived corporate citizenship (CC) and purchase intention. This study also tests the mediating role of brand trust (BT), consumer–brand identification (CBI) and the moderating effect of personal norms and fear to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) by contributing social exchange theory (SET), brand relationship theory, social cognitive theory (SCT) and fear appeal theory.Design/methodology/approachQuantitative research was carried out by means of a survey with a sample of 411 regular consumers who work for national retail brands, where the unit of analysis was an individual. The study analysed the data to test the research hypotheses using SPSS and SMART partial least squares (PLS).FindingsThis study found a significant positive impact of perceived CC on purchase intention (direct path), and furthermore, a partial mediation was shown for the indirect approach. In addition, personal norms and fear to COVID-19 have a significant impact on the relationships between perceived CC on purchase intention, BT on purchase intention and CBI on purchase intention.Practical implicationsThis study provides useful insights for managers to implement CC strategies to enhance consumer purchase intention and brand relationship in the retail sector within the COVID-19 pandemic.Originality/valueThe current study is perhaps the first to investigate the impact of perceived CC on purchase intention across BT, CBI, personal norms and fear to COVID-19 in the retail industry, period of COVID-19 pandemic. The study also makes some significant theoretical contributions and previously did not shed light on customer behaviour in this context.

Corporate Social Responsibility Towards Purchase Intention Across Regional Identity: A Comparison Between South Asia and Southeast Asia During COVID-19

“…CSR is a solid arm to deal with a critical disaster like the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 has impacted on both planned and unexpected consumer purchase behaviours in the retail sector (Arachchi et al, 2022;Goswami & Chouhan, 2021), which are influenced by CSR strategy in retail marketing. Furthermore, 'good companies' (those with a good reputation for being socially responsible) are expected to attract consumers, whereas 'bad companies' (those who neglect their social duties or deceive in their reporting) are expected to lose consumers (Mas et al, 2021).…”

Sorry COVID-19! You Don’t Moderate My Intention to Purchase Functional Foods

“…Similarly, Thapa et al (2022) found the same findings, whereas COVID-19 anxiety moderated the association between luxury consumption behaviour and intent to purchase. Moreover, Arachchi et al (2022) further proved the significant moderation effect of COVID-19 on consumer purchase intention. Therefore, this study further proposed the following hypotheses to examine the moderation effect of the impact of COVID-19 on the proposed relationship as discussed above.…”

Product availability and stockpiling in times of pandemic: causes of supply chain disruptions and preventive measures in retailing

“…Consumer responses to COVID-19 restrictions involved complex psychological factors as evidenced by the “No Vax” and “No Green Pass” movements (Matarazzo & Diamantopoulos, 2022 ). Retailers can implement corporate citizenship campaigns thus reducing the consumers’ fear of COVID-19and hence its negative effects such as panic buying (Arachchi et al, 2022 ). Meanwhile, COVID-19 crisis could have increased the demand for reliable information alongside a significant use of data provided by public organizations (Dreisiebner et al, 2021 ).…”