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The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of adopted corporate social responsibility (CSR) constructs, which include economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic responsibilities, on the intended buying behaviour of Malaysian consumers. The study also aims to investigate the perceived value of whether the consumers considered an organisation’s CSR initiatives before deciding any purchase of products or services.

An online Google form survey successfully obtained 295 usable responses through a snowballing and networking approach. Statistical analyses such as Pearson correlation, ANOVA and standard multiple regression were used to examine the correlation and the strength of relationship, as well as the prediction between the CSR attributes and their impact on consumer buying behaviour.

The results represented a significant positive association between all the four constructs (social, ethical, legal and philanthropic) and consumer intended buying behaviour. These constructs also significantly contributed to the prediction of consumer behaviour towards the CSR initiatives. Conversely, the demographic profile of consumers had no effect on the relationship between CSR and consumer buying behaviour.

Examining basic concepts of CSR awareness and understanding might add to the flavour and rigour of this study, which future research should consider. The positivist approach of the current research could be supplemented with a more interactive qualitative in-depth study investigating why and how consumers behave.

The implication for Malaysian companies is that it is imperative for their long-term survival that a strategic view, rather than just a tactical, reactive or operational view, is taken of their CSR activities. Furthermore, it will help organisations to confidently predict positive intentions towards the sales of goods and services.

The outcome of this study has filled the CSR lacuna in the context of a developing country, as well as adding new insights into the influence and perceived value of CSR on intended consumer buying behaviour. Consumers, irrespective of their age and background, are getting wiser and cautious in purchasing products from companies which are CSR-oriented, in particular, in relation to social, legal, ethical and philanthropic perspectives.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationships among corporate social responsibility (CSR) beliefs, support intentions and purchase behaviour of consumers. Although there is a rich stream of research reporting the relationship between CSR beliefs and support intentions, there is scant reporting on the mediating role of support intentions between CSR beliefs and purchase behaviour of consumers, hence presenting an opportunity to contribute to the marketing knowledge-base.

This study employs a quantitative research design to test the relationships among CSR beliefs, support intentions and purchase behaviour. The associations among these three constructs are tested using Hayes Process tool which is a versatile computational tool for observed variable – mediation, moderation and conditional process modelling.

The results provide support for the relationships among CSR beliefs, consumer support intentions and purchase behaviour. Of the four measured CSR beliefs, philanthropic ethical and legal aspects of CSR beliefs demonstrated the association with support intentions. The results also showed that only ethical beliefs have direct relationship with purchase behaviour. Additionally, support intention provided full mediation for the relationship between philanthropic beliefs and purchase behaviour as well as for legal beliefs and purchase behaviour.

This study is carried out in a unique context of New Zealand which is a melting pot of cultures from around the globe. This study presents empirical support to show that ethical, philanthropic and legal beliefs influence support intention and purchase behaviour for the sample of consumers in the context of New Zealand. Hence, communicating ethical, philanthropic and legal-related CSR beliefs provides the means to create consumer perceptions of competitive advantage when adopting a CSR activities for marketing product and service offerings.

The appraisal of corporate reputation based on third-party corporate social responsibility (CSR) indices appears to have been institutionalized. The endorsement of such an approach by sustainability custodians and influencers undermines the uptake of the morality and legitimacy of CSR. This study takes a social realist perspective, which suggests that social phenomena such as CSR and corporate reputation are shaped by social structures and power relations. This study aims to contribute to a deeper understanding of the complex relationship between CSR and corporate reputation and understand ways in which the constructs are influenced by cognitive factors.

This study surveyed 411 respondents across five shopping malls and analyzed the data using path analysis of the structural equation modeling (SEM) technique. The mall-intercept survey sought to critically assess expectations of CSR vis-à-vis evaluation of corporate reputation. Based on a case study of three Johannesburg Stock Exchange listed companies, CSR expectations were measured along the philanthropic, economic, ethical and legal dimensions, while evaluation of corporate reputation was based on product quality, financial performance and social responsibility. SEM path analysis was used to extrapolate the predictive outcomes of CSR on corporate reputation.

Reputation for product quality and social responsibility is underpinned by the fulfillment of ethical CSR expectations, while philanthropic gestures enhance the evaluation of financial performance. Legal CSR significantly influences the reputation for social responsibility and product quality. Fulfillment of economic CSR expectations influences the reputation for product quality. However, no relationship was established between economic performance and social responsibility. Involvement in economic, philanthropic and particularly, legal CSR, are not indicative of the reputation for financial performance. Conversely, companies’ involvement in economic CSR does not suggest a higher propensity for social responsibility.

The predictive outcomes of CSR expectations on corporate reputation can reveal situated understanding of actual perceptions of corporate behavior.

Ethical business conduct is synonymously associated with social responsibility while espoused corporate philanthropy signals strong financial performance. The awareness of consumers’ cognitive evaluation of corporate reputation can offer a pathway to corporate communication professionals, policy makers and agencies to rethink and reposition CSR efforts.

Insensitivity to taken-for-granted cultural prescriptions and reliance on market-based reputational rankings undermine mutually beneficial stakeholder relationships and the social license to operate.

This study brings to the fore, cognitively dominated indicators of consumers’ perceptions of the reputation for CSR, to foster nuanced and halo-removed approaches to social responsibility. The authors show for the first time how companies’ skewed focus on corporate philanthropic giving paradoxically signals a capitalistic notion of social responsibility and unethical business conduct. This study offers a halo-removed orientation to the appraisal of CSR and corporate reputation.

This paper aims to examine the factors affecting the implementation of corporate social responsibility (CSR) sustainably in mobile operators in the kingdom of Bahrain.

The research relies on the existing literature as a secondary data source. The primary data was collected through questionnaires distributed to three leading mobile operators in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The research's population numbered 1,689, and the sample size was 313; the simple random sampling method was used for data collection with a response rate of 87.2% out of a total sample size of 273 respondents. In addition, the responses were analyzed using statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS) software version 24.0; specifically, Spearman's rank correlation was used to test the hypotheses. The research design was quantitative, so a nonparametric procedure was applied to test the hypotheses.

The research produced positive relationships between the independent variables (economic, legal, ethical, philanthropic and environmental responsibilities) and the dependent variable: CSR implementation by Bahrain mobile operators; therefore, the five proposed hypotheses were accepted; furthermore, the highest positive correlation coefficient was 0.735 for environmental responsibility, and the lowest correlation coefficient was 0.533 for economic responsibility.

The research produced positive relationships between the independent variables (economic responsibility, legal responsibility, ethical responsibility, philanthropic responsibility and environmental responsibility) and the dependent variable: CSR implementation by Bahrain mobile operators; therefore, the five proposed hypotheses were accepted; furthermore, the highest positive correlation coefficient was 0.735 for environmental responsibility, and the lowest correlation coefficient was 0.533 for economic responsibility.

The outcomes of the research mainly suggest that mobile operators assign employees who have been working with the company for more than 7 years to implement CSR; due to their engagement to implement CSR as a sustainable practice more than others with less than 3 years or 3-6 years in Bahrain mobile operators. Besides, the research provides a starting point by which other researchers could investigate CSR in other sectors in the Kingdom of Bahrain.

The research provided a framework for Bahrain mobile operators to assist them in enhancing the implementation of CSR in a sustainable manner, which are economic, legal, ethical, philanthropic and environmental responsibilities.

The study aims to examine the effect of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on corporate branding (CB) and brand loyalty (BL) in the Indian Banking industry. The study further intends to examine the direct and indirect effect of CSR on BL when CSR becomes an integral part of CB.

A structured questionnaire using seven-point Likert’s scale is the instrument for data collection. Stratified random sampling is used to collect the cross-sectional data from 430 savings bank customers in India. A new scale is developed and used to measure the CB as a single construct. A multi-model path using structural equation modelling is used to test the hypotheses. Direct and indirect model path analysis is used to examine the integrated effect of CSR and CB on BL.

The results of the study show that there is a significant impact of CSR components (economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic) on CB to enhance customer BL. The study offers new insight into the relationship between CSR and BL by introducing CB as the mediating factor. However, the relationship between “legal responsibility to CB” and “philanthropy responsibility to BL” demonstrate a negative coefficient in the path analysis. Further, the result of the direct and indirect model path analysis confirms that customers’ BL can be enhanced more efficiently when CSR becomes an integral part of CB.

The strategic incorporation of CSR tools as an integral part of CB strategy can help the managers in the banking industry to enhance their customers’ BL. Besides economic and legal responsibilities, managers need to give more emphasis on the ethical and philanthropic responsibilities as critical positioning tools to develop firm’s corporate brand followed by enhancing BL.

Scale development and validation of CB as a single construct is an original move in this study. Additionally, the study is a pioneer to examine the direct and indirect effect of CSR on customers’ BL using CB as a key mediating factor.

The purpose of this study is to investigate cross-cultural perspectives of corporate social responsibility (CSR) based on Carroll’s (1979, 1991) hierarchical CSR model. The present study examines the role of government and business trust in shaping publics’ expectations of business responsibility.

The primary data were derived from a cross-sectional survey in the USA, UAE and South Korea (N = 1,121). This paper compares publics’ prioritizations of business responsibilities across countries and examines how public trust in the government and business is related to CSR perceptions.

The paper presents evidence that publics’ perception of CSR differs significantly across the countries. Moreover, in a trusting society like the UAE, publics tend to put more emphasis on economic and philanthropic duties for business, whereas in a distrusting society like South Korea, publics consider legal and ethical responsibility to be important.

This study adds to the current understanding of diverse publics’ perception of CSR across culture and societies by highlighting the role of public trust in government in defining CSR.

The purpose of this paper is twofold: First, to provide an overview of the COVID-19 pandemic and its holistic impacts and implications for organizations and management. Second, to report what organizations have been doing via their corporate social responsibilities about the pandemic. Research implications for academics are offered.

The approach taken in this article was to survey the literature and news reports about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and to summarize results. Further, the approach was to analyze these findings using my four-part CSR construct examining economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic impacts, implications, and responsibilities.

It was found that the COVID-19 pandemic has had important impacts and implications for most spheres or sectors of the business world. Employees, consumers and communities have been the most significantly affected, but other stakeholder groups in societies are being impacted as well. The global pandemic is putting CSR to the test, and the emerging evidence supports the idea that many companies are striving to reset their CSR thinking and initiatives to accommodate this crisis and to meet what the public expects of them.

Much of this paper involved reporting findings that have appeared in the literature and news. The originality involved interpreting and analyzing stakeholders affected, and how managers have been responding to these challenges. Strategic recommendations are offered.

Revisiting Carroll’s classic corporate social responsibility (CSR) pyramid framework, this paper aims to evolve a novel synthesis of ethics and economics. This yielded an “integrative CSR economics”.

This theory paper examined how to conceptually set up CSR theory, argue its ethical nature and establish its practical, social and empirical relevance. Economic analysis reached out from contemporary institutional economics to Smith’s classic studies.

The paper reconstructed all of Carroll’s four dimensions of CSR – economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic responsibilities – through economics. The paper discounted a core assumption of much CSR research that economic approach to CSR, including the instrumental, strategic “business case” approach to CSR, were unethical and lacked any foundations in ethics theory. Integrative CSR economics reframes research on viability and capability requirements for CSR practice; redirecting empirical research on links between CSP (corporate social performance) and CFP (corporate financial performance).

The paper focused on Carroll as the leading champion of CSR research. Future research needs to align other writers with integrative CSR economics. Friedman or Freeman, or the historic contributions of Dodd, Mayo, Bowen or Drucker, are especially interesting.

The paper set out how integrative CSR economics satisfies the “business case” approach to CSR and develops practical implications along: a systemic dimension of the market economy; a legal-constitutional dimension; and the dimension of market exchanges.

Integrative CSR economics creates ethical benefits for society along: a systemic dimension of the market (mutual gains); a legal-constitutional dimension (law-following); and the dimension of market exchange (ethical capital creation). Social benefits are not only aspired to but also are achievable as a business case approach to CSR is followed.

The paper’s main contribution is a new synthesis of economics and ethics that yields an “integrative CSR economics”.

The paper aims to extend deliberation on legal and political aspects of debate over globalisation versus cosmopolitanism into the field of jurisprudence – philosophy of law. It gives particular attention to questions of the legitimacy of international law and emerging forms of economic governance for business enterprises, soft law, rule of law, accountability and human rights.

In terms of research method, the paper proceeds from normative, as opposed to empirical studies. The paper develops arguments connected with cosmopolitan jurisprudence, a value-based frame of reference for corporate social responsibility. In legal and moral philosophy, normative statements derive from arguments concerning what states of affairs ought to be, how they are to be valued, which things and actions are good or bad. Normative claims contrast with positive (descriptive or explanatory) claims with respect to types of theories, beliefs or propositions. Value is both independent of fact and, at the same time, of an objective nature.

A cosmopolitan jurisprudence frame of reference for economic governance treats human communities as interdependent and takes seriously the human rights obligations and ethical and legal responsibilities of international business enterprises presupposed by international rule of law. In contrast to globalisation jurisprudence, the cosmopolitan philosophy of international law seeks justificatory ground, not only exclusively for traditional forms of centralised governmental authority but also for decentralised, polycentric, private and hybrid public–private forms of authority.

The paper demonstrates the insufficiency of just describing, as political science and economics does, the emergence of new arrangements for global economic governance. As well, it is insufficient for management theory to propose instrumental strategies for managing various stakeholder interests at play in emerging forms of governance. Efforts of empirical researchers in documenting, classifying and providing empirical analysis of power shifts do not provide moral justifications or groundings of legitimacy from human rights and rule of law. The paper shows how a cosmopolitan jurisprudence standpoint is a fertile theoretical source for addressing such justificatory issues.

In the context of a rapidly globalising economy, the justification of responsible business conduct across borders and cultures is more and more becoming a pressing practical concern. Increasingly, private actors are operating in authoritative positions, fulfilling governing functions once perceived to be the exclusive domain of nation-states.

The paper suggests that more important than focusing exclusively on descriptive, coercive and instrumental features of law, and seeking some overarching sanctions system that would necessitate pledging allegiance to a global super-sovereign, is cultivating social awareness of the importance of non-instrumental internal dispositions of actors to respect the normative obligatory nature of norms. The intrinsic value of rule of law and human rights provides a vital intellectual pathway for surmounting legitimacy gaps in global economic governance.

The paper breaks new ground by developing a cosmopolitan jurisprudence as an alternative to globalisation jurisprudence. This new articulation of cosmopolitan jurisprudence serves to provide analysis of philosophical justifications for emerging soft law syndicates that purport to establish obligations for business enterprises and other participants towards soft law regimes touching upon sustainability and human rights responsibilities.

The purpose of this research is to understand the attitudes of individuals towards corporate social responsibility (CSR) in Kazakhstan and identify the benefits that CSR activities may bring to business and its stakeholders.

Theoretical underpinnings for the research are drawn from existent literature on CSR. A total of 120 questionnaires were collected, 68 percent of which were filled in online, the rest were answered manually by the respondents.

The results suggest that environmental friendliness, legal responsibility and stewardship principle are considered to be very important in Kazakhstan. The attitudes towards economic responsibility are significantly affected by age and working experience. The application of Carroll's Pyramid of CSR identified that the hierarchy of responsibilities in Kazakhstan exists in the following order: legal, ethical, economic, and philanthropic. The primary payback of CSR is improved company image and reputation.

As the concept of CSR is relatively new in Kazakhstan misunderstanding of CSR principles might have led to wrong perceptions and attitudes and distortion of the research results. The sample is not representative of the population as a whole and cannot be generalized.

The paper is a valuable contribution to the development and promotion of CSR principles in Kazakhstan which provides an insight into the current situation in the country. Managers and policy makers may revise their strategies and policies with the expectations of the general public.

The paper contributes to the limited scope of literature on the attitudes towards CSR in Kazakhstan.