Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility on Brand Image

This study investigates the impact of corporate social responsibility on the brand image of an organization. It explores the different methods that an organization can engage in to promote CSR, how organizations can engage in CSR, and the understanding of the public concerning organizational CSR.

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ORGANIZATION BRAND IMAGE AND CSR
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ORGANIZATION BRAND IMAGE AND CSR
Introduction
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a primary topic in the organizational success and
creating brand image. According to Feng et al. (2016), CSR is no longer an option in the
corporate world but a fundamental aspect of the central approaches of the organization (61). The
critical issue of an organizational leader is to construct the image of the company outside to
engender productivity in the end. In the word of Arslan et al. (2014), CSR engagements are a
useful tool to raise firms’ reputation from the consumer (84). Indeed, firms do not operate in an
isolated environment and winning consumer appeal through improving the brand image is
imperative in boosting the customer base of the company. The activity of engaging in corporate
social responsibility implies that organizations embark on evaluating the most appropriate
methods that will influence their possible and current client’s perception of the organization.
Naqvi (2013) argues that the presence of competitors in the market makes it difficult for both
new and emerging organizations to exert their influence in the market (82). The use of CSR in
influencing the brand image of an organization cannot be underestimated in the modern business
world. CSR has a significant impact on the brand image of a company as it boosts the confidence
of customers and the public confidence towards the organization helping it build a strong base.
Project Objective
This study seeks to investigate the effect of the corporate social responsibility on the brand
image of an organization. However, other minor goals will serve to strengthen the main objective
of the research. They include:
i. How can organization engage in CSR?
ii. What is the understanding of the public concerning organizational CSR?

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iii. What are the different methods that an organization can engage in to promote CSR?
iv. Do CSR influence the consumer perception of an organization?
The scope of the Project
The current competitive market necessitates organization to grow their business by taking
consideration of the needs of the people around them and the environment. In the words of
Madhusanka and Lakmali (2015), there is pressure from the society against organizations to
ensure that they compensate for the effects they make on the people and their surroundings (10).
The twentieth century makes CSR an essential area of scrutiny among companies as it
determines the engagement level of an organization with the society. The creation of social
awareness through CSR makes it possible for an organization to improve positive publicity and
set pressure on their competitors augmenting their performance. The effect of CSR on customer
loyalty is fascinating. Therefore, it is impossible to alienate CSR with the brand image of an
organization.
Literature Review
CSR is a factor in the development of technology and globalization. The effects of the competing
cooperate world demand that all organizations engage in CSR to ensure that they maintain
relevance in the market. According to a study conducted by Dapi and Phiri (2015) at Vodacom,
consumers tend to be more inclined to use the services of the company because of its promotion
of sporting events in the community (13). Therefore, the sponsoring of community events makes
the company develop a positive brand image among the consumers and the society. In the light
of the research, CSR activities such as supporting sporting activities in the community have the
far-reaching implication of the image of the organization. According to another study conducted
by Naqvi (2013) in Pakistan on the effects of CSR on the brand image of Unilever Company, the

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production of high-quality products and its involvement in corporate social obligations makes the
company attract high preference from consumers (90). The company helps improve the health
and living standards of the society in Pakistan. Moreover, Unilever delivers clean water to
residents and provides travel programs. Wu and Wang (2014), the study found that consumers
prefer to buy from organizations they deem to be more ethical and they demand to buy similar
products at reduced prices from firms without CSR programs (72). Thus, CSR activities appear
to build confidence among consumers towards the products of organizations and firms.
Consumers are inclined to generate a positive perception of the organization with good CSR
record. The awareness of CSR activities provided by an organization plays a crucial role in
improving the attitude of consumers towards organizational brand image (He and Lai 2014,
p.258). This necessitates that companies make it known to the society the variety of CSR
preferences they offer. According to Lii et al. (2013), the effects of CSR are contingent to the
consumer traits (25). It becomes essential for an organization to understand the needs of the
society and the customers to make effective CSR projects that will have the required influence
the brand image of their products. Hur et al. (2014) argue that social matters associated with
social obligations are critical in promoting a brand image and enhancing the buying preference of
consumers (81). The granting of CSR to various stakeholders enables the organization to attain
global brand equity. Among all activities of CSR, those involving environmental strategies lead
to enhancing the brand image of organizations leading to widened market. The perfect indicator
of a firms CSR initiative appears in its efforts to disclose them to their stakeholders. Therefore,
CSR activities despite how small they may behave crucial role to play in influencing brand
image for organizations.

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The reviewed literature in this section offers some of the ways through which organization may
initiate CSR projects. According to Tingchi et al. (2014), CSR initiatives are not limited to the
satisfaction of consumers, but they are engagements that bring the significant responsibility of
the organization towards improving the welfare of the society (191). Most of the research done
on the effect of social corporate obligations on organization brand image fails to address the
question. The focus on consumer satisfaction does imply that the society will be contented with
the activities of the organization. CSR activities must address the needs of all stakeholders.
Therefore, it is essential to conduct research that delves into the broad effects of organizational
CSR projects outside the perception of a consumer on a particular brand image. Moreover, the
literature reviewed under this section shows only positive implication of CSR making it
appropriate to determine whether there may be negative impacts associated with CSR projects on
organizations brand image.
Research Questions/Hypothesis
As brand image can be categorized into 3 groups: symbolic image, experiential image and
functional image (Lichtenstein, Drumwright, and Braig, 2004, p.231), this study, consequently,
put across 3 hypotheses as outlined below:
H1a: An organization promoting corporate social obligations for clients can have a positive
impression on its symbolic brand image.
H1c: An organization promoting corporate social obligations for clients can have a positive
effect on its experiential brand image.
H1b: An organization promoting the corporate social obligations for clients can have a positive
effect on its functional brand image.

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Research Design and Methodology
This research will adopt the explanatory research design to examine the impact of CSR on brand
awareness. The survey will make use of both qualitative and quantitative research methods.
Within management and business research, it is widely recommended to differentiate between
qualitative and quantitative research techniques. A qualitative technique is often used when a
researcher needs to evaluate the complexity of an occurrence (Neuman, 2013, p.103).
Experiments, interviews and observations are usual practices to respond to the inquiry “why?”
On the other hand, the quantitative technique, answers the inquiry “how?” through the
quantification of observations to discover a relationship between variables of study (Taylor,
Bogdan, and DeVault 2015, p. 86). To assess such relationships, a statistical breakdown will be
piloted on the gathered data.
For sampling, the research will use a sample random sampling technique to select 80 potential
participants who buy from the selected company (xxx), fifteen (15) sales representatives and
seven (7) managers from Public Relations and Marketing Department. The total sample size of
the study will be one hundred and twelve (102). A self- administered questionnaire will be
utilized to collect data in the form of open –ended and closed- ended questions from the
respondents. For analysis of the collected empirical data, IBM SPSS Statistics software version
22 will be used. This tool will help the researcher to analyze and translate data into appropriate
information for reporting. In addition, this analytical tool has been acknowledged within the
fields of science and statistics (Neuman, 2013, p.303) which will increase the validity of the
study.
Research Limitations

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Researchers deem it vital to observe the recognized research ethics when piloting a business
investigation. Ethical concerns are classified into four different types: harm to respondents,
nonexistence of informed consent, deception and invasion of discretion (Taylor, Bogdan, and
DeVault, 2015). The risk of hurting a respondent speak of to both participants and the business is
surveyed (Neuman, 2013, p.304). The peril of harming the participants in this survey will be
reduced by making the data collection tool anonymous and by keeping the investigations
confidential. For the proposed study, there will be descriptive questions about the gender and age
of the respondent even though this information will not be considered enough to recognize the
person. Additionally, to protect the selected organization participation in the proposed research,
the name will be kept unidentified. Another ethical principle of reseach that the researcher will
consider is the absence of an informed consent (Taylor, Bogdan, and DeVault 2015, p. 87). The
potential respondent ought to get as much info required to decide whether to be involved in the
exercise or not (Neuman, 2013, p.306). For the proposed study, the survey will have info about
the investigation and contact particulars of the researcher for further questions. Notably, the
researcher will pay attention to invasion of privacy principle of research ethics (Neuman, 2013,
p.307). It is expected that the participant might feel that some inquiries are so sensitive and thus
prefers not to make the answers public. For the imminent study the participant will be allowed to
avoid some questions if they deem them too sensitive. In addition, this investigation will be not
of sensitive kind which is expected to increase the readiness of the respondent to answer. Lastly,
is the deception principle of research ethics and which happens if the participants are steered to
accept that a study something else than what is (Creswell, and Clark, 2017, p.26). In this study,
the survey will contain a clear explanation of the aim of this study and the researcher will be
readily available to answer the questions of the respondents if needed. After putting these ethical

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values into deliberations and fully living up to the necessities of the research ethics, the
researcher will deem the proposed study as ethical.
Time Schedule (Research plan)
The proposed study follow particular schedule as outlined below.
MONTHS/ EVENTS JAN-MAR
2018
APR-MAY
2018
JUNE-AUG
2018
Choice of the research topic
Development of the Research Proposal
Amendment of the submitted Research
Proposal
Data Collection
Data analysis
Report writing and Submission
Conclusion
Nowadays, as customs are getting extra fretful about tolerance associated matters, the importance
of corporate social responsibilities is growing as well. More organizations than ever are involved
in various corporate social obligations undertakings to cater for the increased clients’ demand.
By making noise of this commitment to consumers, corporate social obligations has turn out to
be a strategic promotion apparatus to boost the brand appearance of a company. Obviously, the

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corporate social obligations rivalry between businesses has developed sturdier and it is thus vital
to form an operative corporate social obligations strategy in to outshine other businesses. This is
habitually achieved by making it certain that the buyers develop a positive brand image of the
firm. To enrich an organization’s brand image, it is vital to deliberate on the client’s way of
being identified with the brand. Since the investigations in this space are few, this particular
study topic was selected by the researcher. The proposed study will be aiming to investigate
corporate social responsibilities and its several dimension’s consequence on brand image within
the service sector to enhance the knowledge of CSR as a marketing tool. Research questions will
be fashioned to attain the objective of this study: To reach applicable conclusions, the researcher
will conduct a regression analysis and a Spearman’s rho correlation test to see if there exist any
significant relationships between corporate social responsibility and the brand image.

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Reference List
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Brunk, K.H., 2010. Exploring origins of ethical company/brand perceptions—A consumer
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Feng, Y., Yoon, Y. and He, Y., 2016. The Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility on Brand
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