IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/corsem/v29y2022i1p223-232.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Corporate social responsibility in the retail business: A case study

Author

Listed:
  • Francesca Dal Mas
  • William Tucker
  • Maurizio Massaro
  • Carlo Bagnoli

Abstract

In an economic scenario that sees greater attention paid to sustainability issues, the retail sector features significant economic influence and resources to address sustainability challenges successfully. The retail industry is challenged to carry on corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives whilst aiming at competitive prices and communicating such CSR activities to its customers and employees. Employing a case study conducted within one of the major European retailers in clothing, the paper aims to provide a new perspective on CSR in the retail business. Results highlight the importance of clear and extensive communication and translation of CSR initiatives as a central element to raise awareness and engagement for both employees and customers, positively impacting retail organizations in boosting their business performance and sustainability outcomes at the same time. Practical implications include the need for retail firms to organize their CSR external and internal communication effectively.

Suggested Citation

  • Francesca Dal Mas & William Tucker & Maurizio Massaro & Carlo Bagnoli, 2022. "Corporate social responsibility in the retail business: A case study," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(1), pages 223-232, January.
  • Handle: RePEc:wly:corsem:v:29:y:2022:i:1:p:223-232
    DOI: 10.1002/csr.2198
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.2198
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/csr.2198?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Susanne Hartlieb & Bryn Jones, 2009. "Humanising Business Through Ethical Labelling: Progress and Paradoxes in the UK," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 88(3), pages 583-600, September.
    2. Sandro Castaldo & Francesco Perrini & Nicola Misani & Antonio Tencati, 2009. "The Missing Link Between Corporate Social Responsibility and Consumer Trust: The Case of Fair Trade Products," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 84(1), pages 1-15, January.
    3. Merita Mattila, 2009. "Corporate social responsibility and image in organizations: for the insiders or the outsiders?," Social Responsibility Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 5(4), pages 540-549, October.
    4. Faheem Gul Gilal & Nisar Ahmed Channa & Naeem Gul Gilal & Rukhsana Gul Gilal & Zhenxing Gong & Na Zhang, 2020. "Corporate social responsibility and brand passion among consumers: Theory and evidence," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(5), pages 2275-2285, September.
    5. Pamela Robinson, 2010. "Responsible Retailing: The Practice of CSR in Banana Plantations in Costa Rica," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 91(2), pages 279-289, February.
    6. Pilar Fernández‐Ferrín & Sandra Castro‐González & Belén Bande, 2021. "Corporate social responsibility, emotions, and consumer loyalty in the food retail context: Exploring the moderating effect of regional identity," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(2), pages 648-666, March.
    7. Maurizio Massaro & Carlo Bagnoli & Francesca Dal Mas, 2020. "The role of human sustainability in professional service firms. Evidence from Italy," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(6), pages 2668-2678, September.
    8. Francesco Perrini & Sandro Castaldo & Nicola Misani & Antonio Tencati, 2010. "The impact of corporate social responsibility associations on trust in organic products marketed by mainstream retailers: a study of Italian consumers," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 19(8), pages 512-526, December.
    9. Yoon Jin Ma & Hyun‐Hwa Lee & Kylie Goerlitz, 2016. "Transparency of Global Apparel Supply Chains: Quantitative Analysis of Corporate Disclosures," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 23(5), pages 308-318, September.
    10. Waris Ali & Jedrzej George Frynas & Zeeshan Mahmood, 2017. "Determinants of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Disclosure in Developed and Developing Countries: A Literature Review," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 24(4), pages 273-294, July.
    11. Sonali K. Shah & Kevin G. Corley, 2006. "Building Better Theory by Bridging the Quantitative–Qualitative Divide," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(8), pages 1821-1835, December.
    12. Yong Liu & Qian Xu & Zhi‐yang Liu, 2020. "A coordination mechanism through value‐added profit distribution in a supply chain considering corporate social responsibility," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 41(4), pages 586-598, June.
    13. Carlo Bagnoli & Francesca Dal Mas & Rosa Lombardi & Alberto Nucciarelli, 2021. "Translating knowledge through business model tensions: a case study," International Journal of Management and Decision Making, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 20(2), pages 182-197.
    14. Floritzel Moreno & Jiyun Kang, 2020. "How to alleviate consumer skepticism concerning corporate responsibility: The role of content and delivery in CSR communications," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(6), pages 2477-2490, November.
    15. Rory Sullivan & Andy Gouldson, 2016. "Comparing the Climate Change Actions, Targets and Performance of UK and US Retailers," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 23(3), pages 129-139, May.
    16. Janet Haddock‐Fraser & Iain Fraser, 2008. "Assessing corporate environmental reporting motivations: differences between ‘close‐to‐market’ and ‘business‐to‐business’ companies," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 15(3), pages 140-155, May.
    17. Maurizio Massaro & John Dumay & James Guthrie, 2016. "On the shoulders of giants: undertaking a structured literature review in accounting," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 29(5), pages 767-801, June.
    18. Pedro Cuesta‐Valiño & Pablo Gutiérrez Rodríguez & Estela Núñez‐Barriopedro, 2019. "The impact of corporate social responsibility on customer loyalty in hypermarkets: A new socially responsible strategy," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(4), pages 761-769, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Chaudhuri, Atanu & Naseraldin, Hussein & Narayanamurthy, Gopalakrishnan, 2023. "Healthcare 3D printing service innovation: Resources and capabilities for value Co-creation," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    2. Koppiahraj Karuppiah & Bathrinath Sankaranarayanan & Syed Mithun Ali, 2023. "Towards Sustainability: Mapping Interrelationships among Barriers to Circular Bio-Economy in the Indian Leather Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-26, March.
    3. Ali Sabbaghnia & Jafar Heydari & Jafar Razmi, 2023. "Participative pricing and donation programs in a socially concerned supply chain," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(1), pages 146-164, January.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kim, Yeonshin & Hur, Won-Moo & Lee, Luri, 2023. "Understanding customer participation in CSR activities: The impact of perceptions of CSR, affective commitment, brand equity, and corporate reputation," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    2. Francesco Perrini & Angeloantonio Russo & Antonio Tencati & Clodia Vurro, 2011. "Deconstructing the Relationship Between Corporate Social and Financial Performance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 102(1), pages 59-76, March.
    3. María Consuelo Pucheta‐Martínez & Isabel Gallego‐Álvarez, 2018. "Environmental reporting policy and corporate structures: An international analysis," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 25(5), pages 788-798, September.
    4. Percy Marquina & Vincent Charles, 2021. "A Bayesian resampling approach to estimate the difference in effect sizes in consumer social responses to CSR initiatives versus corporate abilities," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(6), pages 1680-1699, November.
    5. Konuk, Faruk Anıl, 2020. "Trust transfer from manufacturer to private label brand: The moderating role of grocery store format," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    6. Wei, Wei & Kim, Gaeul & Miao, Li & Behnke, Carl & Almanza, Barbara, 2018. "Consumer inferences of corporate social responsibility (CSR) claims on packaged foods," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 186-201.
    7. Meng, Jia & Zhang, ZhongXiang, 2022. "Corporate Environmental Information Disclosure and Investor Response: Empirical Evidence from China's Capital Market," FEEM Working Papers 317842, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM).
    8. Aurelio Tommasetti & Riccardo Mussari & Gennaro Maione & Daniela Sorrentino, 2020. "Sustainability Accounting and Reporting in the Public Sector: Towards Public Value Co-Creation?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-19, March.
    9. Andrea Cardoni & Evgeniia Kiseleva & Paolo Taticchi, 2020. "In Search of Sustainable Value: A Structured Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-18, January.
    10. Sojin Jung & Stacy H. Lee, 2022. "The buffering effect of continuous corporate social responsibilities engagement on negative consumer responses toward brand crises," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(5), pages 1636-1646, September.
    11. Roberta Sebastiani & Francesca Montagnini & Daniele Dalli, 2013. "Ethical Consumption and New Business Models in the Food Industry. Evidence from the Eataly Case," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 114(3), pages 473-488, May.
    12. Sveinung Jørgensen & Lars Jacob Tynes Pedersen & Siv Skard, 2022. "How going green builds trusting beliefs," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(1), pages 297-311, January.
    13. Jiangyuan Hou & Yanping Wang & Mingyue Du, 2023. "Friend or Foe: How Do Consumers and Producers Affect the ESG Rating Index? Evidence from China’s Market of Organic Milk," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-17, July.
    14. Salla Laasonen & Martin Fougère & Arno Kourula, 2012. "Dominant Articulations in Academic Business and Society Discourse on NGO–Business Relations: A Critical Assessment," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 109(4), pages 521-545, September.
    15. Matthew Johnson & Friederike Redlbacher & Stefan Schaltegger, 2018. "Stakeholder Engagement for Corporate Sustainability: A Comparative Analysis of B2C and B2B Companies," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 25(4), pages 659-673, July.
    16. Maurizio Massaro & Silvana Secinaro & Francesca Dal Mas & Valerio Brescia & Davide Calandra, 2021. "Industry 4.0 and circular economy: An exploratory analysis of academic and practitioners' perspectives," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(2), pages 1213-1231, February.
    17. Lombart, Cindy & Louis, Didier, 2016. "Sources of retailer personality: Private brand perceptions," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 117-125.
    18. Hartmann, Monika & Klink, Jeanette & Simons, Johannes, 2015. "Cause related marketing in the German retail sector: Exploring the role of consumers’ trust," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 108-114.
    19. Meng, Jia & Zhang, ZhongXiang, 2022. "Corporate environmental information disclosure and investor response: Evidence from China's capital market," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    20. Alwyn Lim & Shawn Pope, 2022. "What drives companies to do good? A “universal” ordering of corporate social responsibility motivations," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(1), pages 233-255, January.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wly:corsem:v:29:y:2022:i:1:p:223-232. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://doi.org/10.1002/(ISSN)1535-3966 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.