Effects of perceived corporate social responsibility practices on customers’ satisfaction and perceived value – A study in the food industry in Vietnam

Abstract

The main purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of perceived Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices on customers’ satisfaction and perceived value. According to the result of the literature review, the studied CSR practices include environmental protection, customer protection, community, HR policies, price, product quality, relationship selling, empathy, and fulfill expectations. To address the research objective, the present study proposed two following research questions: (1) What are factors of CSR practices impacting customers’ satisfaction?; and (2) How do these factors influence customer satisfaction and perceived value? The study approached 236 customers of the food industry to conduct a survey empirically and tested the proposed hypotheses using structural equation modeling. The research findings show that (1), in Vietnamese customers perceptions, Perceived price, Perceived quality and Empathy are three components of CSR practices; (2) these components have positive impacts on Customer satisfaction; and (3) Customer satisfaction has a positive relationship with customers’ perceived value. These findings help to enrich the CSR literature in developing countries like Vietnam, and to confirm the findings of previous studies. Moreover, from the research findings, the present study suggested some managerial implications for firms in the food industry relating to price, product quality and empathy.