Faculty of Business and Design
Master of Business Administration (International)
An Examination of Consumer Perceptions of CSR on Purchase Intention in the Malaysian Telecommunication Industry
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of different perceptions of a company’s CSR activities have on consumers’ intention to purchase products from that company using the Theory of Planned Behavior in the context of consumers in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia.
Design/Methodology/Approach – A theoretical model is proposed with consumer awareness of CSR activities, perceived CSR performance of the company and consumers’ degree of trust of the CSR work having a positive effect on purchase intention of the company’s products. These relationships were assessed using structural modelling. 112 consumers in Kuching were surveyed with an online questionnaire in order to obtain the data.
Findings – The findings do not support a relationship between consumer awareness and purchase intention. Similarly, there was no significant relationship observed between consumer trust of CSR and purchase intention. A positive relationship of moderate magnitude was however found between perceived CSR performance and consumer purchase intention.
Research Limitations/Implications – The chosen independent constructs aside from perceived CSR performance may not have been the correct variables to explain purchase intention in relation to CSR. Further research is recommended with variables such as consumer-company identification or a controlled study of specific demographic group(s).
Practical Implications – The company in focus needs to raise awareness of its CSR initiatives among its consumers. Furthermore, they might need to divest their range of CSR programs and weed out the unpopular or unsuccessful programs, and transfer the budget saved from the wasteful programs towards more successful ones. Additionally, the research was affected by a poor corporate image, which they need to remedy in order to maximize the positive impact of their CSR programs on goodwill, purchase intention and sales.
Originality/Value – This paper examines the effect that a telecommunication company’s CSR activities have on the perceptions of its consumers and subsequent purchase intention, studied in the context of Planned Behavior Theory.
Keywords: Corporate social responsibility, CSR Awareness, Perceived CSR, Trust of CSR, Purchase Intention, Theory of Planned Behavior
Author: Sakibul Haq
Publication year: 2018
