Does corporate Social Responsibility influence consumers behaviors Essay

Does corporate Social Responsibility influence consumers behaviors - Essay ExampleAccording to Philip L. Cochran and Robert A, if CSR tend to be negatively correlated with financial performance of firms, managers should be paying more attention to this bea. On the other hand, a positive relationship indicates the CSR principles of the firm are good for company. In addition, the social responsibilities can serve companies improve the brand image and enhance the reputation, and attract more employees and potential business partner (Tsoutsoura, 2004). They are finally creating more value of the firm. Some recent article also exam CSR as having positive relationship with consumers behaviour. The study of Rahim, Jalaludin and Tajuddin (2011) indicates that all of the CSR components (economic, legal, ethical, philanthropic) have a significant relationship with consumers buying behaviour in Malaysia. Problem Statement The 2009 report, dubbed Green to the Core published by Consumer Focus (soon to be a dupe of the cuts), rated the UKs top nine supermarkets on how well they inform consumers about sustainability issues and help them to make more sustainable choices both through provision of products and information. In this report, Sainsburys and M&S were ranked A. (Ethical consumers 2011). Many studies have been done in CSR regarding consumer purchasing decisions in countries. However, not many studies have been conducted in organizations, much(prenominal) as food retailers. CSR activities should enhance a corporations image. According to Lafferty, Barbara and Ronald (1999), a positive corporate image is positively correlated to purchase intention and also helps consumers to speciate between companies and their product or service offerings. Therefore, loyalty and commitment from customers are likely to increase if companies act responsibly and accountably in terms of their social and environmental impact (Brown & Dacin, 1997 Pirsch, Gupta, & Grau, 2007). Ethical con sumers 2011 shows Corporate Social Responsibility Scores (see the table above) of the 8 chief(prenominal) food retailers in UK. The research was divided into seven main area animal welfare, climate change, health, toxics, waste, water and workers right. Co-op was the leading retailer on CSR with 56 %, and following is M&S (39%) and Sainsburys (29%) (Ethical consumers 2011). Aims and Objective The aim of the current study is to use M&S as a case to analyse the consumers behavior on CSR. tag and Spencer plc (also cognize as M&S) is a UK based retailer and it is mainly committed to the selling of high quality food products, stylish clothing and home products. It was come down up in 1884 by Michael Marks and Thomas Spencer in Leeds. Today, over 78,000 employees are hired by M&S PLC in the UK and abroad, and M&S has 731 branch UK stores and 387 stores across 43 areas around the world. According to the Annual Report of M&S (2012), there are 21 million people visit the indoor stores eve ry week. M&S is listed at the London STOCK Exchange and joined FTSE 100 index. Based on Interbrand 2012 Best Retail Brands Report, Marks & Spencer as the second most valuable retail brand in the UK and its brand value increased by 3% to. $6,256m (Perella, 2012). Significance of the Study M&S aims to become the worlds most sustainable retailer. Plan A is an environmental and ethical programme launched by M&S in January 2007 and set out 138 commitments in 2012. Plan B focus on climate change, reduce waste, use sustainable raw materials, trade ethically and help customers to