This study intends to measure the variation of societalness of the different segments of the consumers and their perception towards the corporate activity towards social responsibility. The present study also aims to explore the attitude of the consumer towards the corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities of the company. This article is based on a survey to evaluate the societalness and the perception of the consumers. A structured questionnaire was developed and administered to the respondents in the Durgapur City, West Bengal. Independent sample t-test has been employed to compare the means of the different groups in relation to measuring the significant variation in the degree of societalness among the consumers. The study reveals that responsible activities of the company favourably affect the consumers’ thinking and do augment their attitude positively towards it. Also, the results suggest that the knowledge of the responsible activities influences the perception of the consumer while taking purchasing decision.
AguinisH.GlavasA. (2012). What we know and don’t know about corporate social responsibility: A review and research agenda. Journal of Management, 38(4), 932–968.
2.
AugerP.BurkeP.DevinneyT. M.LouviereJ. J. (2003). What will consumers pay for social product features?Journal of Business Ethics, 42(3), 281–304.
3.
BanerjeeS.MandalK. (2016). Understanding the responsible marketing vis-a-vis ad led marketing: An empirical analysis. IJABER, 14(12), 8581–8596.
4.
BaroneM. J.NormanA. T.MiyazakiA. D.(2007). Consumer response to retailer use of cause-related marketing: Is more fit better?Journal of Retailing, 83(4), 437–445. DOI: 10.1016/j.jretai.2007.03.006
5.
BarnettM. L. (2007). Stakeholder influence capacity and the variability of financial returns to corporate social responsibility. Academy of Management Review, 32(3), 794–816.
6.
BhattacharyaC. B.SenS. (2004). Doing better at doing good: When, why, and how consumers respond to corporate social initiatives. California Management Review, 47(1), 9–24.
7.
BowerA. B.GrauL. (2009). Explicit donations and inferred endorsements. Journal of Advertising, 38(3), 113–126.
8.
BrownT. J.DacinP. A. (1997). The company and the product: Corporate associations and consumer product responses. The Journal of Marketing, 61(1), 68–84.
9.
CastaldoS.PerriniF.MisaniN.TencatiA. (2009). The missing link between corporate social responsibility and consumer trust: The case of fair trade products. Journal of Business Ethics, 84(1), 1–15.
10.
CheronE.KohlbacherF.KusumaK. (2012). The effects of brand-cause fit and campaign duration on consumer perception of cause-related marketing in Japan. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 29(5), 357–368.
CreyerE. H. (1997). The influence of firm behavior on purchase intention: Do consumers really care about business ethics?Journal of Consumer Marketing, 14(6), 421–432.
13.
CreyerE. H.RossW. T. (1997). Tradeoffs between price and quality: How a value index affects. Journal of Consumer Affairs, 31(2), 280–302.
14.
DahlsrudA. (2008). How corporate social responsibility is defined: An analysis of 37 definitions. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 15(1), 1–13.
15.
EllenP. S.MohrL. A.WebbD. J. (2000). Charitable programs and the retailer: Do they mix?Journal of Retailing, 76(3), 393–406.
16.
FeldmanP. M.Vasquez-ParragaA. Z. (2013). Consumer social responses to CSR initiatives versus corporate abilities. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 30(2), 100–111.
17.
FieldA. (2009). Discovering statistics using SPSS. London: SAGE Publications.
18.
GuptaH.MandalK. (2016). In search of service quality gap in pharmaceutical education: An alternative approach. IJABER, 14(12), 8508–8583.
19.
GummessonE. (2002). Relationship marketing in the new economy. Journal of Relationship Marketing, 1(1), 37–57.
20.
HandelmanJ. M.ArnoldS. J. (1999). The role of marketing actions with a social dimension: Appeals to the institutional environment. The Journal of Marketing, 63(July), 33–48.
21.
HassanL.ShawD.ShiuE.WalshG.ParryS. (2013). Uncertainty in ethical consumer choice: A conceptual model. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 12(3), 182–193.
22.
IdowuS. O.TowlerB. A. (2004). A comparative study of the contents of corporate social responsibility reports of UK companies. Management of Environmental Quality: An International Journal, 15(4), 420–437.
23.
JahdiK. (2014). Cause-related marketing (CaRM) and corporate social responsibility (CSR). Social Responsibility Journal, 10(4), 674–684.
24.
MandalK.BanerjeeS. (2015). Is ‘societal expenditure’ an alternative route to business success? An empirical study. Journal of Advanced Management Science, 3(1), 31–37.
25.
MandalK.BanerjeeS. (2017). An empirical comparison between societal expenditure and marketing expenditure on bank’s performance. Global Business Review, 18(2), 509–523.
26.
PerezA.SalmonesM. M. G.Del BosqueI. R. (2013). The effect of corporate associations on consumer behaviour. European Journal of Marketing, 47(1/2), 218–238.
27.
PfauM.HaighM. M.SimsJ.WigleyS. (2008). The influence of corporate social responsibility campaigns on public opinion. Corporate Reputation Review, 11(2), 145–154.
28.
RahimR. A.JalaludinF. W.TajuddinK. (2011). The importance of corporate social responsibility on consumer behaviour in Malaysia. Asian Academy of Management Journal, 16(1), 119–139.
29.
SenS.BhattacharyaC. B. (2001). Does doing good always lead to doing better? Consumer reactions to corporate social responsibility. Journal of Marketing Research, 38(2), 225–243.
30.
SzykmanL. R.BloomP. N.LevyA. S. (1997). A proposed model of the use of package claims and nutrition labels. Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 16(12), 228–241.
31.
TianZ.WangR.YangW. (2011). Consumer responses to corporate social responsibility (CSR) in China. Journal of Business Ethics, 101(2), 197–212.
32.
TitusP. A.BradfordJ. L. (1996). Reflections on consumer sophistication and its impact on ethical business practice. Journal of Consumer Affairs, 30(1), 170–194.
