Skip to main content

CSR Practices and Customer Loyalty: The Mediating Role of Corporate Image

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Proceedings of the Colloquium on Administrative Science and Technology

Abstract

Fostering loyal customers is frequently said to be the single most important driver of organizations’ long-term financial investment, which can lead to increase sales and market share, lower costs, and higher prices. Marketing experts have always emphasized the influence of corporate image as a strategically important variable from which customer loyalty could be fostered. The purpose of this study is to empirically investigate to which extent corporate image and thus customer loyalty could be achieved through the implementation of strategic corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives. Through exploratory factor analysis three pertinent areas of CSR have been determined, namely, environment, community, and customer. Multiple regression analysis carried out confirmed the positive influence of CSR initiatives over corporate image and eventually customer loyalty. Finally, this study further strengthens the belief that companies with their eye on their “triple-bottom-line” (customers, community, and environment) are bound to eventually outperform their less fastidious competitors.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Smith, R. E., & Wright, W. F. (2004). Determinants of customer loyalty and financial performance. Journal of Management Accounting Research, 16, 183–205.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Wang, W. C., Chen, Y. C., & Chu, Y. C. (2009). A study of customer loyalty management in Chinese retail supermarket. International Journal of Business and Management, 4(11), 85–95.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Haznedaroglu, E., & Bach, C., (2012). Building customer loyalty for company profitability: ASEE Northeast Section Conference University of Massachusetts Lowell Reviewed Paper, pp. 1–9.

    Google Scholar 

  4. Islam, M. S. (2010). The analysis of customer loyalty in Bangladeshi, mobile phone operator industry. World Journal of Management, 2(2), 130–145.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Ng, V., & Ng, I. (2003). Customer loyalty on recurring loans. In J. Liu, Y. Cheung, H. Yin (Eds.), Intelligent data engineering and automated learning (pp. 654–660). Berlin: Springer-Verlag.

    Google Scholar 

  6. Rundle-Thiele, S. (2005). Exploring loyal qualities: Assessing, survey-based loyalty measures. Journal of Services Marketing, 19(7), 492–500.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Santouridis, I., & Trivellas, P. (2010). Investigating the impact of service quality and customer satisfaction on customer loyalty in mobile telephony in Greece. The Total Quality Management Journal, 22(3), 330–343.

    Google Scholar 

  8. Saili, T., Mingli, Z., & Zhichao, C. (2012). The effects of loyalty programs on customer loyalty: The mediating role of customer value and the moderating role of relationship benefits. African Journal of Business Management, 6(11), 4295–4309.

    Google Scholar 

  9. DeWitt, T., Nguyen, D. T., & Marshall, R. (2008). Exploring customer loyalty following service recovery: The mediating effects of trust and emotions. Journal of Service Research, 10(3), 269–281. http://www.sagepublications.comAccessed 15 March 2013.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Farhat, R., & Khan, D. B. M. (2011). Importance of brand personality to customer loyalty: A conceptual study. New Media and Mass Communication, 1, 4–10.

    Google Scholar 

  11. Mandhachitara, R., & Poolthong, Y. (2011). A Model of Customer Loyalty and Corporate Social Responsibility. Journal of Services Marketing, 25(2), 122–133.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Liu, Y., & Zhou, X. (2009). Corporate social responsibility and customer loyalty: A conceptual framework. IEEE Xplore Digital Library, 978(1), 794–798. http://ieeexplore.ieee.org. Accessed 15 March 2013.

    Google Scholar 

  13. Onlaor, W., & Rotchanakitumnuai, S. (2010). Enhancing customer loyalty towards corporate social responsibility of Thai mobile service providers. World academy of science, engineering and technology, 66, 1574–1578.

    Google Scholar 

  14. Clottey, T. A., Collier, D. A., & Stodnick, M. (2008). Drivers of customer loyalty in a retail store environment. Journal of Service Science, 1(1), 35–48.

    Google Scholar 

  15. Evanschitzky, H., Ramaseshan, B., Woisetschläger, D. M., Richelsen, V., Blut, M., & Backhaus, C. (2011). Consequences of customer loyalty to the loyalty program and to the company. Journal of Academy of Marketing Science, 40(5), 625–638.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Gee, R., Coates, G., & Nicholson, M. (2008). Understanding and profitably managing customer loyalty. Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 26(4), 359–374.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Heal, G. (2004). Corporate social responsibility: An economic and financial framework. National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER): Working papers series, http://www.gsb.columbia.edu/faculty/gheal/ Accessed 15 March 2013. (Columbia Business School—Finance and Economics).

  18. Taylor, S. A., Celuch, K., & Goodwin, S. (2004). The importance of brand equity to customer loyalty. Journal of Product & Brand Management, 13(4), 217–227.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Kandampully, J., & Suhartanto, D. (2000). Customer loyalty in the hotel industry: The Role of customer satisfaction and image. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 12(6), 346–351.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Mahmoud, M. A., Tweneboah-Koduah, E. Y., & Danku, C. E. (2011). Key motivations for bank loyalty among university students in Ghana. Journal of Marketing Development and Competitiveness, 4(4), 96–107.

    Google Scholar 

  21. Mei-Lien, L. (2011). Impact of marketing strategy, customer perceived value, customer satisfaction trust, and commitment on customer loyalty. ProQuest Dissertations and Theses.

    Google Scholar 

  22. Duffy, D. L. (2003). Internal and external factors which affect customer loyalty. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 20(5), 480–485.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Carroll, A. B. (1991). The pyramid of corporate social resposibility: Toward the moral management of organizational stakeholders. Business Horizons, 34(4), 39–48.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Turker, D. (2009). Measuring corporate social responsibility: A scale development study. Journal of Business Ethics, 85, 411–427.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Cochran, P. L. (2007). The evolution of corporate social responsibility. Business Horizons, 50(6), 449–454.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Okada, E. M., & Mais, E. L. (2010). Framing the green alternative for environmentally conscious consumers. Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal, 1(2), 222–234.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Ailawadi, K. L., Luan, Y. J., Neslin, S. A., & Taylor, G. A. (16-17 May, 2011). The impact of retailers’ corporate social responsibility on price fairness perceptions and loyalty. Inra-Idei Seminar on Competition and Strategies in the Retailing Industry, Toulouse, France.

    Google Scholar 

  28. Rahman, S. (2011). Evaluation of definitions: Ten dimensions of corporate social responsibility. World Review of Business Research, 1(1), 166–176.

    Google Scholar 

  29. Sen, S., Bhattacharya, C. B., & Korschun, D. (2006). The role of corporate social responsibility in strengthening multiple stakeholder relationships: A field experiment. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 34(2), 158–166.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Uddin, M. B., Hassan, M. R., & Tarique, K. M. (2008). Three dimensional aspects of corporate social responsibility. Daffodil International University Journal of Business and Economics, 3(1), 200–212.

    Google Scholar 

  31. Rahman, N., & Post, C. (2012). Measurement issues in environmental corporate social responsibility (ECSR): Toward a transparent, reliable and construct valid instrument. Journal of Business Ethic, 105, 307–319.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Pomering, A., & Dolnicar, S. (2009). Assessing the prerequisite of successful CSR implementation: Are consumers aware of CSR initiatives? University of Wollongong research online http://ro.uow.edu.au/commpapers/462. Accessed 15 March 2013.

  33. Nikbin, D., Ismail, I., Marimuthu, M., & Jalalkamali, M. (2010). Perceived justice in service recovery and recovery satisfaction: The moderating role of corporate image. International Journal of Marketing Studies, 2(2), 47–56.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Balmer, J. M. T., & Stotvig, S. (1997). Corporate Identity and private banking: A review and case study. International Journal of Bank Marketing, 15(5), 169–184.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Nguyen, N., & LeBlanc, G. (1998). The Mediating role of corporate image on customers’ retention decisions: An investigation in financial services. International Journal of Bank Marketing, 16(2), 52–65.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Vegholm, F. (2011). Relationship marketing and the management of corporate image in the bank-SME relationship. Management Research Review, 34(3), 325–336.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. Sekaran, U., & Bougie, R. (2010). Research methods for business: A skill-building. Great Britain: Wiley Ltd Publication.

    Google Scholar 

  38. Baron, R. M., & Kenny, D. A. (1986). The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51(6), 1173–1182.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nik Ramli Nik Abdul Rashid .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2015 Springer Science+Business Media Singapore

About this paper

Cite this paper

Abdul Rahman, N., Nik Abdul Rashid, N. (2015). CSR Practices and Customer Loyalty: The Mediating Role of Corporate Image. In: Hashim, R., Abdul Majeed, A. (eds) Proceedings of the Colloquium on Administrative Science and Technology. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-4585-45-3_36

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics