Consumers’ Perceived Corporate Social Responsibility in Online Retailing: Scale Development and Validation
(A2024-119763)

AUTHORS

Patrick Klein, Saarland University, Department of Business Administration, in particular Retail Management

ABSTRACT

With the growing demand to shop at socially responsible retailers, these businesses face the challenge of meeting the needs of consumers. To effectively prioritize the key elements of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in business and select the appropriate competitive strategy, it is essential to analyse consumers’ perceptions of CSR in online retailing. This study aims to establish and to validate the construct of consumer perceived corporate social responsibility (CPCSR) in online retailing through a five-step scale development process. Using a mixed methods approach, we develop a measurement instrument which includes 11 dimensions and 44 items. The quantitative evaluation of the second-order reflective-formative construct is conducted using three data sets and demonstrates good results for the reliability and validity. The nomological validity check further shows that CPCSR increases dependent variables such as attitude, word-of-mouth behaviour and purchase intention.