Journal of Services Marketing, Volume 29, Issue 1, February 2015.
Purpose The authors of this paper propose a cognitive-affective-conative sequential model to study how three dimensions of corporate social responsibility (CSR) image (society, customers and employees) impact customer affective (identification and satisfaction) and behavioural (recommendation and repurchase) responses in the banking industry. The authors also test how the type of company (savings banks vs. commercial banks) moderates customer responses to these three dimensions of CSR image. Design/methodology/approach A multi group structural equation model (SEM) is tested using information collected from 648 savings banks customers and 476 commercial banks customers in Spain. Findings The findings demonstrate that the perceptions of customer-centric CSR initiatives positively and consistently impact customer identification with the banking institution, satisfaction, recommendation and repurchase behaviours in the savings banks and commercial banks samples. The dimensions of CSR image that concern the activities oriented to society and employees only positively impact customer responses in the savings banks sample. Practical implications The findings of this study can assist scholars in creating more informative CSR-based loyalty models that take into consideration new variables (satisfaction and type of company) and better approaches to the conceptualization of CSR image (e.g., the formative approach). The findings can also assist savings banks and commercial banks in better designing their CSR and communication initiatives to benefit from customer affective and conative responses. Originality/value The contributions of the paper are threefold: (1) the authors include satisfaction as a new variable in the study of the CSR-based loyalty model; (2) CSR image is conceptualized as a formative construct and this provides new justifications for the mixed results reported by previous scholars who have analysed the effects of CSR image on customer loyalty and (3) the authors explore the moderating role of the type of company on the CSR-based loyalty model proposed in the paper.
Purpose The authors of this paper propose a cognitive-affective-conative sequential model to study how three dimensions of corporate social responsibility (CSR) image (society, customers and employees) impact customer affective (identification and satisfaction) and behavioural (recommendation and repurchase) responses in the banking industry. The authors also test how the type of company (savings banks vs. commercial banks) moderates customer responses to these three dimensions of CSR image. Design/methodology/approach A multi group structural equation model (SEM) is tested using information collected from 648 savings banks customers and 476 commercial banks customers in Spain. Findings The findings demonstrate that the perceptions of customer-centric CSR initiatives positively and consistently impact customer identification with the banking institution, satisfaction, recommendation and repurchase behaviours in the savings banks and commercial banks samples. The dimensions of CSR image that concern the activities oriented to society and employees only positively impact customer responses in the savings banks sample. Practical implications The findings of this study can assist scholars in creating more informative CSR-based loyalty models that take into consideration new variables (satisfaction and type of company) and better approaches to the conceptualization of CSR image (e.g., the formative approach). The findings can also assist savings banks and commercial banks in better designing their CSR and communication initiatives to benefit from customer affective and conative responses. Originality/value The contributions of the paper are threefold: (1) the authors include satisfaction as a new variable in the study of the CSR-based loyalty model; (2) CSR image is conceptualized as a formative construct and this provides new justifications for the mixed results reported by previous scholars who have analysed the effects of CSR image on customer loyalty and (3) the authors explore the moderating role of the type of company on the CSR-based loyalty model proposed in the paper.