Effects of perceptions of corporate social performance on individual purchasing behaviour in South African university students: A mixed-method approach

South African Journal of Business Management

 
 
Field Value
 
Title Effects of perceptions of corporate social performance on individual purchasing behaviour in South African university students: A mixed-method approach
 
Creator Koech, Roselyne Coldwell, David
 
Subject management; consumer behaviour Corporate social responsibility; corporate social performance; perceptions; purchasing behaviour; South African university students.
Description Background: Corporate social performance (CSP) has been widely researched in the past. However, few empirical studies, especially in the African context, have been conducted. In particular, a highly under-researched topic is the role that corporate social responsibility (CSR) plays in an individual’s actual purchasing behaviour.Objectives: This article examines whether the perception of CSR plays a role in purchasing decisions of South African university students. It adopts Carroll’s CSR definition that comprises economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic responsibilities.Methods: A mixed-method technique was used to analyse the data obtained from a sample survey (n = 145) and in-depth interviews (n = 30) of South African university students. An exploratory factor analysis was performed which revealed that legal, ethical and philanthropic factors influence individual purchasing behaviour.Results: The findings show that companies that fulfil consumer expectations of social responsibility tend to generate positive perceptions of CSP, which lead to actual purchases of goods and services from the company concerned. The findings also show that CSR plays a relatively minor role in individuals’ actual purchasing behaviour, and the other-than-CSP aspects influencing the outcome are explained.Conclusion: The study extends the theoretical understanding of CSR and its role in purchasing decisions of individuals in the African context.
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor n/a
Date 2019-04-11
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion —
Format text/html application/epub+zip application/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/sajbm.v50i1.353
 
Source South African Journal of Business Management; Vol 50, No 1 (2019); 10 pages 2078-5976 2078-5585
 
Language eng
 
Relation
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://sajbm.org/index.php/sajbm/article/view/353/1317 https://sajbm.org/index.php/sajbm/article/view/353/1316 https://sajbm.org/index.php/sajbm/article/view/353/1318 https://sajbm.org/index.php/sajbm/article/view/353/1314
 
Coverage South Africa — University students
Rights Copyright (c) 2019 Roselyne Koech, David Coldwell https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
ADVERTISEMENT