Corporate Social Responsibility and Its Impact on Consumer Trust and Brand Loyalty

The current study investigates the effect of CSR on the trust and brand loyalty of consumers, paying special attention to the mediating effect of trust. This qualitative research design involved an analytical and comparative approach, and a secondary data collection method. Two meta-analyses and six empirical studies were analysed using a thematic and comparative approach. The empirical studies comprised 2525 sample respondents in Indian and international context. The results indicate that consumer trust and brand loyalty are positively related with CSR, but the relationship is different from industry and consumer groups. The main means by which CSR influences repeat purchasing, brand advocacy and positive word of mouth is trust. Consumer reactions are stronger to ethical, authentic and transparent CSR initiatives than to legally required and promotional CSR activities. Satisfaction, perceived value, brand identification and service quality can also impact loyalty and can work in parallel to consumer trust. The study reveals that CSR can contribute to sustainable consumer-brand relationships as long as it is credible, strategically oriented and backed up by the performance of the organization. However, there is a lack of causal interpretation and generalisation due to the predominant use of cross-sectional and self-reports.