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Consumer Social Responsibility (CnSR): Toward a Multi-Level, Multi-Agent Conceptualization of the “Other CSR”

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Abstract

Despite considerable debate as to what corporate social responsibility (CSR) is, consumer social responsibility (CnSR), as an important force for CSR (Vogel in Calif Manag Rev 47(4):19–45, 2005), is a term that remains largely unexplored and under-theorized. To better conceive the role consumers play in activating CSR, this paper provides a multi-level, multi-agent conceptualization of CnSR. Integrating needs-based models of decision making with justice theory, the article interpretively develops the reasons (instrumental, relational, and moral) why variously positioned agents leverage consumers as a force for corporate social responsibility. The paper theoretically expands currently limited conceptions of CnSR by exploring the levels at which diverse agents engage with CnSR (Who and What?) and the needs driving these agents (Why?). The paper suggests that the so-called “consumer side of CSR” (Devinney et al. in Stanf Soc Innov Rev:29–37, 2006) is contingent upon the presence, absence, and varying intensities of underlying agent needs. Academic and managerial implications are drawn in the paper’s conclusion.

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Notes

  1. In this article, we treat the terms “moral” and “ethical” as synonymous, in line with previous consumer and business ethics research (for a justification see Beauchamp et al. 2008).

  2. See e.g. http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/feb/01/google-twitter-egypt?INTCMP=SRCH (last accessed April 2013).

  3. See e.g. http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2013/apr/02/google-privacy-policy-legal-threat-europe?INTCMP=SRCH (last accessed April 2013).

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  1. Nottingham University Business School, Jubilee Campus, Wollaton Road, Nottingham, NG8 1BB, UK

    Robert Caruana

  2. Royal Holloway University of London, Egham Hill, Egham, Surrey, TW20 0EX, UK

    Andreas Chatzidakis

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  1. Robert Caruana
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  2. Andreas Chatzidakis
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Correspondence to Andreas Chatzidakis.

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Caruana, R., Chatzidakis, A. Consumer Social Responsibility (CnSR): Toward a Multi-Level, Multi-Agent Conceptualization of the “Other CSR”. J Bus Ethics 121, 577–592 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-013-1739-6

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