4th Business & Management Conference, Istanbul

HOW DO CONSUMERS PERCEIVE THE SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE ACTIVITIES OF CORPORATIONS: AN EMERGING COUNTRY’S PERSPECTIVE

IPEK ALTINBASAK-FARINA, GOZDE GULERYUZ-TURKEL

Abstract:

This paper aims to understand (1) the perceptions of Turkish consumers towards the products /services of socially responsible corporations and (2) whether demographics- age, gender, education- are effective to profile the socially responsible consumers. The extant marketing literature has focused on the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) concept but less emphasis has given to understand the behavioral intentions and perceptions of consumers towards socially responsible products/services. Moreover, past research within the literature mostly are done in developed countries such as US and UK while limited analysis are done in emerging country context. In the study, the instrument developed by Maignan (2001) is used to measure the readiness of consumers to support socially responsible products. Data collected from 463 respondents indicate that Turkish consumers have favorable intention to support socially responsible products. Another valuable finding is that although gender has significant influence over socially responsible behavior, age and education are not significant indicators. The findings support the results of recent studies that the demographics are not strong enough alone to profile the socially responsible consumers and segment the market for CSR initiatives.

Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility, Socially responsible consumers, Demographics, Segmentation, Marketing strategy

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