A study on corporate social responsibility and consumers’ purchase intention in the skin/body care industry.

Abstract

This study intends to investigate whether Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) would positively influence consumers’ tendency of purchase, in the context of the skin/body care industry. More specifically, it seeks to understand whether community and environmental initiatives, supported by the companies, would stimulate a greater purchase intention. The study also discusses consumers’ willingness to pay a higher price for products from socially responsible companies. The effect of various consumer demographics that could influence the impact of CSR on consumers’ purchase intention and willingness to pay a price premium will be further looked into.

The primary data for the study was collected through self-administered pen-and-paper and online questionnaires.

The research findings suggest that CSR initiatives have a positive effect on consumers’ attitudes and purchase intention, with environmental initiatives demonstrating the strongest positive influence. Consumers are generally willing to pay a price premium for products associated with CSR attributes. There are conflicting findings in the impact of gender differences on consumers’ purchase intention. The results also indicate that a higher income and environmental consciousness motivate consumers’ purchase behavior. Furthermore, females and consumers with better financials are more willing to pay a higher price.

The results attained enable marketing practitioners and corporate decision-makers to understand how CSR affects firm performance and use this knowledge to conduct further research into the interaction among these variables.