The impact of corporate social responsibility on consumer’s relationship intention: Evidence from MENA countries

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) raised the attention of the MENA market, given its capacity to influence consumers’ purchase intention and, particularly, consumers’ repurchase intention. Therefore, CSR helps to build a long-term relationship between the companies with its consumers. Following this new trend, our work contributes to the understanding of how CSR contributes to a long-term relationship with consumers. To achieve that, we considered the four dimensions of CSR (philanthropic, legal, organisation, and ethics) and used those constructs to evaluate the consumers’ relationship intention with companies. Our research was performed in MENA countries by interviewing 1632 consumers. Our findings showed that the philanthropic, legal, and ethical dimensions played a relevant role in determining a long-term relationship between the companies and consumers. This research results differ from the results gained by other researchers in previous studies. Therefore, to establish a long-term relationship with consumers, MENA countries’ companies should focus on philanthropy, legal, and ethics. This study extends, as well as contributes to the extant corporate social responsibility literature by offering new evidence on the impact of corporate social responsibility on consumer relationship intention. The findings will help regulators and policy-makers in evaluating the adequacy of the current corporate social responsibility reforms to prevent management misconduct and scandals.