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Corporate social responsibility: attributions, loyalty, and the mediating role of trust

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Abstract

This study investigates whether consumers’ perceptions of motives influence their evaluation of corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts. The study reveals the mediating role of consumer trust in CSR evaluation frameworks; managers should monitor consumer trust, which seems to be an important subprocess regulating the effect of consumer attributions on patronage and recommendation intentions. Further, managers may allay the negative effects of profit-motivated giving by doing well on service quality perceptions. On the other hand, appropriately motivated giving continues to positively affect trust regardless of the performance of the firm on service quality provision.

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Acknowledgment

The authors are grateful to Editor David W. Stewart and four anonymous JAMS reviewers for comments on earlier versions of the article. This research is supported by the European Social Fund (ESF), Operational Program for Educational and Vocational Training II: Program PYTHAGORAS II.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Athens University of Economics and Business, Athens, Greece

    Pavlos A. Vlachos, Argiris Tsamakos & Adam P. Vrechopoulos

  2. American College of Greece, Athens, Greece

    Panagiotis K. Avramidis

  3. ELTRUN-IMES (Interactive Marketing and Electronic Services), Department of Management Science and Technology, Athens University of Economics and Business, 76 Patission Street, 104-34, Athens, Greece

    Pavlos A. Vlachos

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  1. Pavlos A. Vlachos
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  2. Argiris Tsamakos
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  3. Adam P. Vrechopoulos
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  4. Panagiotis K. Avramidis
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Correspondence to Pavlos A. Vlachos.

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Table 2 Measurement model results (standardized estimates)
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Vlachos, P.A., Tsamakos, A., Vrechopoulos, A.P. et al. Corporate social responsibility: attributions, loyalty, and the mediating role of trust. J. of the Acad. Mark. Sci. 37, 170–180 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-008-0117-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-008-0117-x

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