The impact of corporate social responsibility on consumer brand engagement and purchase intention at fashion retailers

Abstract

Consumers have demonstrated new ways of engaging with fashion retailers and experiencing their brand values. This research aims to understand better how fashion consumers form their purchase intentions, by exploring how their expectations about corporate social responsibility influence consumer brand engagement and purchase intention. The research comprises two studies, using different methodologies. The first study is quantitative; it involved 1296 individuals and the results were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The second study is qualitative and utilizes expert opinions from the fashion industry; it seeks to derive managerial and practical implications from the findings of the first study. The results show that corporate social responsibility influences the purchase intention of fashion consumers, but mainly through brand engagement. Consequently, fashion companies should focus on building consumer trust in the sustainability initiatives of brands, including by utilizing local suppliers.

Can Self-Presentation on Social Media Increase Individuals’ Conspicuous Consumption Tendency? A Mixed-Method Empirical Study on WeChat in China

“…Social media sites are essentially interactive platforms with built-in interactive tools including hashtags. As an important form of interactive marketing, social media marketing has been proven to promote the increase in corporate profits and consumer participation in many countries and regions [79][80][81][82][83][84][85][86]. As mentioned above, consumption is seen more as a tool to serve the needs of a higher level of society than as an activity in Chinese culture, which is referred to as "face consumption" [21].…”