مزایای مسئولیت اجتماعی شرکت ها Benefits of corporate social responsibility

Benefits of Corporate Social Responsibility Marketers have emphasized how their product benefits consumers beyond its functionality. One method of doing this is through corporate social responsibility (CSR), which is acts that benefit society beyond the legal requirement (McWilliams and Siegel, 2001). This strategy has led companies to fully integrate their positioning strategy around CSR, as evident in the claim by Blake Mycoskie of TOMS Shoes that he is not a CEO of a company but CEO of a movement to improve the lives of children (Mustafa, 2007). Marketing around a brand’s societal benefits has paid off, with 55% of consumers willing to pay more for products and services from socially responsible companies (Nielsen, 2014). What consumers gain from their purchases has been examined in several contexts, such as pet ownership, online shopping, and catalogs (Mathwick et al., 2001, Holbrook and Woodside, 2008). However, it is unclear what consumers gain from CSR. There is strong conceptual and qualitative evidence, but no clear quantitative proof (Gallarza et al., 2011). CSR’s success depends strongly on its spiritual benefits, which are not apparent in other marketing contexts, such as pet ownership, online shopping, and catalogs (Gallarza et al., 2011). Thus, there is a clear need to examine the benefits derived from CSR and to understand how those benefits compare to spiritual benefits. Spiritual benefit refers to the feeling of ecstasy and sacredness that a consumer can derive from a particular purchase (Holbrook, 1994). Understanding how CSR relates to spiritual benefits is critical because consumers are willing to pay a higher price when the benefits of the purchase are substantial (Monroe, 2003). Without empirical evidence of the benefits derived from CSR and the impact of these benefits on consumers’ outcomes, however, researchers and managers lack the information they need to understand why consumers are willing (or not willing) to pay a higher price in the context of CSR. This research looks into how spiritual benefits compare to other types of benefits. CSR influences spiritual, aesthetic, efficiency, and status benefits. However, spiritual benefits are more valuable in predicting consumer attitude and personal satisfaction than other benefits. Furthermore, unlike spiritual benefits and aesthetic perception, benefits such as perception of efficiency and status are not significant predictors of all the dependent variables tested. Status derived from CSR does not influence attitude, and perceived efficiency of a CSR product does not influence personal satisfaction.