Developing corporate social responsibility in financial services

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to contribute to the theory and practice of financial services marketing in sub-Saharan Africa (sSA) by investigating how financial service providers are developing corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices, in particular, seeking to uncover the involvement of stakeholders.

Design/methodology/approach

Following an interpretivist approach, the study uncovers fresh and context-rich insights through an analysis of a multiple case study consisting of retail banks in Ghana. Data consist of semi-structured interviews with senior managers and analysis of documents and archives.

Findings

The study uncovers three key CSR practices practised by the retail banks: giving, community and corporate reputation/brand with which their stakeholders are only to some extent involved. Banks not as yet drawing extensively on stakeholder resources for CSR practices.

Research limitations/implications

The study uses an inductive and in-depth approach to explore contextual insights into CSR, but with subsequent limitations on how far the findings can be extended.

Practical implications

The study offers outline for financial services marketing involving stakeholders in CSR.

Social implications

It discovers that banks acquire social capital through their CSR activities in the community.

Originality/value

The study contributes to financial services marketing theory and practice through an evidence-based framework uncovering the development of CSR through practices that as yet draw on stakeholder resources to a limited extent. Research suggests that CSR practices are dynamic and subject to a range of situational conditions.

Citation

Deigh, L. and Farquhar, J.D. (2021), "Developing corporate social responsibility in financial services", International Journal of Bank Marketing, Vol. 39 No. 3, pp. 478-496. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJBM-07-2020-0410