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The purpose of this paper is to apply a thoroughly tested model to the study of how corporate social responsibility (CSR) perceptions impact customers’ affective and behavioural responses in the banking industry. As a contribution to the previous literature, the moderating role of the type of company (savings banks vs. commercial banks) in the conceptual model is explored.

A structural equation model is tested with information collected from 648 customers of savings banks and 476 customers of commercial banks.

The findings demonstrate that CSR perceptions positively impact customer identification with the banking company, emotions, satisfaction, recommendation and repurchase behaviours in both samples. However, CSR is perceived differently by customers depending on the type of banking company that implements it. Thus, its effects on customers’ affective and behavioural responses are different.

Practitioners should not try to promote the best CSR approach for a standardised organisation, regardless of its special industry characteristics. They should be aware of the differences customers perceive in companies to adapt their CSR initiatives to the expectations of their targets.

The contributions of the paper are two-fold. On the one hand, the banking industry has been scarcely explored by previous scholars. On the other hand, the authors explain the role that the type of banking company plays in the conceptual model proposed in the paper because significant differences are observed among savings bank customers and commercial bank customers concerning their affective and behavioural responses to CSR perceptions.

The purpose of this paper is twofold: to empirically analyse how customer corporate social responsibility (CSR) perceptions impact on the perceived service quality (PSQ)-loyalty relationship in the banking industry of Pakistan; and to evaluate the mediating role of customer trust in that model.

Based on a field survey of 408 customers of five different banks of Pakistan, the hypothesized model is tested through partial least squares based structural equation modelling.

The findings demonstrate that banking customers in Pakistan recognise CSR as a multidimensional construct that serves as a direct determinant of PSQ, trust, repurchase and word of mouth (WOM) intentions. PSQ also influences customer trust directly and positively and trust has a direct and positive impact on repurchase and WOM intentions. On the contrary, PSQ does not influence repurchase and WOM intentions directly. Its effect is mediated by customer trust.

Contrary to the previous mixed findings reported in the literature, this research confirms the explicit contribution of CSR towards customer perceptions and intentions in the context of the banking industry. The findings suggest that banking companies should take great care over preparing their CSR initiatives and include them in their marketing plans in order to improve customer loyalty intentions. In this way, CSR can enhance PSQ and customer trust, which are two key constructs in the loyalty model proposed in this paper.

The originality of the paper lies in the context in which the research was developed. The banking industry of Pakistan had not previously been extensively researched. The proposal for a comprehensive model that evaluates the role of customer trust is another key contribution of the paper. Previous research has not extensively studied the role of trust in loyalty models that evaluate CSR perceptions along with PSQ.

The purpose of this paper is to first, propose a causal model to understand the process of corporate social responsibility (CSR) perception formation among customers; and second, identify differences among innovative and conservative customers in that process.

A structural equation model is tested in a sample of 1,124 banking services customers in Spain. Also, a multisampling analysis is implemented in order to determine how novelty seeking moderates the process of CSR perception formation among customers.

Results confirm that customer CSR perceptions are directly and positively influenced by: the congruence between CSR initiatives and corporate profile; customer attributions of corporate motivations to engage in CSR; and corporate credibility in developing CSR initiatives. Nonetheless, while innovative customers pay greater attention to corporate credibility than conservative customers when evaluating CSR initiatives, conservative customers evaluate the congruence of CSR initiatives and their attribution of altruistic motivations to a larger extent than innovative customers.

These findings suggest that companies should take into account customer novelty seeking when planning their CSR and communication strategies because highlighting different qualities of their CSR initiatives can have diverse effects for the success of corporate investments.

The greatest contribution of the paper is the study of the moderating role of novelty seeking in the process of customer CSR perception formation; previous scholars had long ignored this variable when evaluating customer perceptions.

In the present paper, the authors aim to study the relationship between corporate associations and loyalty by analyzing the role of identification with the company and satisfaction in this connection.

The effects of corporate associations on consumers' loyalty were tested through a structural equation model for a sample of 781 financial services users.

The results confirm the value of commercial expertise (CE) as one of the most important determinants of both consumer satisfaction and identification with their financial services provider. Besides, corporate social responsibility (CSR) contributes to building consumer identification with the company, which is positively correlated to satisfaction too. Satisfaction is thus presented as both an affective and cognitive consumer response in the financial industry, which, along with identification, finally determines the attitudinal loyalty a consumer shows towards their provider.

With this study, the authors try to contribute to a better knowledge of the consumer loyalty formation process as it begins with the perception of corporate associations for its commercial expertise and its social commitment. The researchers take into account the role of two variables – i.e. identification and satisfaction with the company – that had not been studied in depth in research analyzing the role of corporate associations in consumer loyalty. Moreover, CSR associations are also studied from a multidimensional point of view, as suggested in recent studies and in comparison to the vast majority of previous research, which has concentrated on specific and narrow dimensions of the concept, especially the social dimension.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on brand image and loyalty in the hotel industry.

A reflective structural equations model was developed to test the research hypothesis. The study was tested using data collected from a sample of Spanish consumers who assessed the top ten Spanish hotel chains operating in the Latin American context.

The role of CSR as a tool to generate both functional and affective brand image, and loyalty was confirmed. CSR has a greater influence on the affective dimension of brand image, whereas functional image has a greater influence on brand loyalty. Furthermore, CSR can be seen as having a direct positive effect on brand loyalty.

It is necessary to extend this study to other subsectors in the tourism industry and to other Latin American countries. Future research should measure CSR as a formative construct to provide a greater consensus regarding the measurement of this topic. Moreover, the inclusion of new variables in the model would increase its explanatory power.

The principal contribution of this paper is that it provides important insights into the development of efficient strategies to enhance brand image and loyalty through CSR. Findings from this study may be of importance for hotel managers and directors when developing more effective branding strategies.

The aim of this paper is to disentangle the interplay between nurturing interaction with external agents, innovation networks, and innovation capability. In particular, the paper argues that nurturing interaction with external agents (by means of participation in different events that allow face-to-face interaction, or via collaborative technology) positively affects the innovation capability of firms by allowing the development of innovation networks and making them run smoothly.

For this to be tested, an analysis has been carried out in Uruguayan software firms. A questionnaire was designed and addressed to the managers of the firms making up the target population. Structural equation modeling (SEM) based on partial least squares (PLS) was then applied to test the hypotheses put forward by the research.

The results obtained show that nurturing interaction with external agents has a positive and significant influence both on the formation of innovation networks and on their operational performance. This influence is much stronger when it comes to ensuring the smooth operation of the network than when it comes to facilitating its formation. Moreover, innovation networks and their functioning clearly mediate the relationship between interaction with external agents and innovation capability.

Traditional limitations of cross-sectional studies apply.

Although previous literature highlights the relevance of social interaction for the creation of new knowledge and subsequent innovation, the role of mediating variables has been hardly considered. This research helps to shed some light on this issue in the case of social interaction with external agents. In particular, the mediating role of innovation networks has been analyzed.

The present study aims to analyze the influence of ethical and philanthropic responsibility of a financial entity on consumer behaviour. Specifically, it aims to analyze relationships among these dimensions and diverse constructs, such as the relationship satisfaction, trust, identification with the firm, business performance, relational outcomes and loyalty.

The benefits of corporate social responsibility as a marketing tool are analyzed in a real context, directly asking the user for his/her perceptions about the financial entities. A personal survey for users was carried out, obtaining 789 valid responses. In order to comply with the aims of this research a model of structural equations was developed.

It is seen that the relationship satisfaction, trust and identification with the entity are the main determinants of loyalty, while the ethical and social dimensions have an indirect effect. The ethical behaviour influences the perceived commercial performance and it enhances trust, while corporate philanthropy improves the identification with the bank.

The findings of this study indicate that social responsibility influences consumer behaviour and loyalty, so financial entities must especially take care of these aspects. A firm with a correct ethical behaviour and a strong social commitment will be able to achieve better financial results.

This paper completes the loyalty model with the inclusion of variables of social responsibility. Specifically, it analyzes separately two dimensions of social responsibility in order to check the effect of each dimension on the consumer behaviour.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a literature review of the underdeveloped stream of research that analyses corporate reputation as an outcome of corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting.

The author systematically reviews the theoretical and empirical literature on the CSR reporting-reputation relationship, identify several gaps in the body of knowledge and provide new lines of study to develop this relevant stream of research.

The literature review demonstrates that CSR reporting is especially useful to generate corporate reputation. The justification for this idea is provided by as many as five theoretical approaches, while the management of corporate transparency, information quantity and information quality is shown to be crucial to the success of CSR reporting.

The value of the paper resides in making the rather underdeveloped, heterogeneous and inconclusive literature on the CSR reporting-reputation link more accessible to CSR reporting scholars and practitioners. At the same time, suggestions are provided for future research that would contribute to improving the knowledge on the relationship between CSR reporting and corporate reputation.