Marketing perspectives on CSR initiatives: Conceptual foundations and an agenda for future research

Kendall Park (), Steve Hoeffler () and Kevin Lane Keller ()
Additional contact information
Kendall Park: Vanderbilt University
Steve Hoeffler: Vanderbilt University
Kevin Lane Keller: Dartmouth College

AMS Review, 2023, vol. 13, issue 3, No 9, 277-296

Abstract: Abstract Corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives are value-creating initiatives designed to enhance the social welfare of those whose lives are affected by a firm’s operations and to produce positive social outcomes. The ultimate goal of CSR initiatives is to satisfy unmet needs of people and society and provide vital benefits to those in need. While prior research has yielded many useful insights advancing our understanding of CSR initiatives, it has not always been holistic in its approach. We offer a comprehensive analysis of CSR initiatives that can be distinguished in two important ways. First, we expand the breadth of prior research by applying findings across a diverse set of literatures (economics, psychology, organizational behavior, and marketing) to four key constituents for a CSR initiative: 1) beneficiary organizations; 2) firms responsible for the CSR initiative; 3) customers of the responsible firms; and 4) employees of the responsible firms. Second, we expand the depth of prior research by examining the potential motivations and outcomes for each constituent type, as well as addressing interactions, tradeoffs, and synergies across all four constituent groups. Our analysis reviews published research, provides an organizing conceptual framework, identifies gaps in the literature, and provides specific future research propositions. The insights gained from our analysis can guide policy decision-making and inform research programs studying CSR initiatives.

Keywords: CSR Initiatives; Social Initiatives; Corporate Social Responsibility; Cause Marketing; Corporate Societal Marketing (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s13162-023-00263-5 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:amsrev:v:13:y:2023:i:3:d:10.1007_s13162-023-00263-5

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer. ... gement/journal/13162

DOI: 10.1007/s13162-023-00263-5

Access Statistics for this article

AMS Review is currently edited by Manjit S. Yadav

More articles in AMS Review from Springer, Academy of Marketing Science
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().