Effectiveness of Corporate Social Responsibility in Improving Customer Loyalty at International Level

This research investigates the effectiveness of corporate social responsibility in enhancing customer loyalty at international level, with a focus on Marks & Spencer. The study aims to identify the significance of CSR in enhancing customer loyalty and discern the methods that could be used by M&S for raising customer loyalty towards the brand.

RESEARCH PROPOSAL
(An investigation the effectiveness of corporate
social responsibility in improving customer
loyalty at international level)

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
LITERATURE REVIEW................................................................................................................5
What is the conceptual framework of corporate social responsibility in context of M&S?.......5
How corporate social responsibility helps M&S in enhancing customer loyalty at international
level?...........................................................................................................................................5
What are the impressive methods that could be used by Marks and Spencer for raising
customer loyalty towards brand?................................................................................................5
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.....................................................................................................7
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Overview of the topic
Corporate social responsibility is defined as self-moving organisational process that
assists an organisation to become societal accountable to its various stakeholders, itself and the
public. By considering corporate social responsibility, also regarded as corporate citizenship,
organisations could be conscious of the type of impact they have on every aspect such as society,
social, economic and environmental (May, 2016). Engagement with the corporate social
responsibility defines that an organisation operates in a manner that enhance the environment
and society, instead of creating any negative impact on them. In the present investigation,
researcher will gather information about the importance of corporate social responsibility with
the main motive of enhancing the customer loyalty at international level. The current research is
executed on the background of Marks & Spencer which is known as British multinational retailer
and specialised in selling home products, food products and clothing. The organisation is
headquartered in London, UK. The founder of the company is Michael Marks and Thomas
Spencer and founded company in 1884.
Research Aim and objectives
Research Aim:
To identify the importance of corporate social responsibility in enhancing customer
loyalty at international level: A study on M&S
Research Objectives:
 To develop basic understanding regarding corporate social responsibility
 To identify the significance of corporate social responsibility in enhancing customer
loyalty at international level
 To discern the methods that would be used by M&S for raising customer loyalty towards
brand
Research Questions:
 What is the conceptual framework of corporate social responsibility in context of M&S?
 How corporate social responsibility helps M&S in enhancing customer loyalty at
international level?
 What are the impressive methods that could be used by Marks and Spencer for raising
customer loyalty towards brand?

Rationale of the research:
The main purpose of conducting investigation is to carry out great piece of information
that could show the significance of corporate social responsibility in an organisation. The present
time requires attention on every aspect like society, environmental, social and economic because
they play major role in grabbing attention of the customers. This research will show that an
organisation could enhance the customer loyalty towards the brand by becoming leaders in CSR.
Marks & Spencer is known as one of the successful and visible corporations so it becomes their
responsibility to set certain standards of ethical behaviour for its competition, industry and peers.

LITERATURE REVIEW
What is the conceptual framework of corporate social responsibility in context of M&S?
According to Tran (2019), corporate social responsibility is known as business theory
that helps organisations to make concerted efforts for operating in a way that focusses on
enhancing the environment and society. Basically, CSR assists society and the brand image of
Marks & Spencer. Marks and Spencer has inhaled various responsibilities to employees,
partners, customers, local communities and suppliers quite seriously. Operating and working in
such responsible manner underpins its values- service, quality, trust and invention. Today the
brand is appropriately taking care of every sensitive issue of the society be it problem related to
climatic changes, charity for the society, sustainable raw material management, industrial waste
management and ethical trading. Local stores of M&S donate to charitable organisations as they
make certain and limited amount of budget to help local community. The company also focuses
on redistributing their surplus food to vulnerable people in the community. And the company
also donate all the returned clothes and surplus of the business to the charity Newlife.
How corporate social responsibility helps M&S in enhancing customer loyalty at international
level?
According to Gürlek, Düzgün and Uygur (2017), efforts in Corporate Social
Responsibility by Marks & Spencer make them more responsible towards environment, society
and economy. There are various evidence which shows that CSR is more effective in comparison
to advertising whenever it comes to grabbing attention and increasing interest from customers. It
also holds greater worth and major importance in enhancing the customer loyalty for Marks &
Spencer at international level. The international customers are very concerned and curious to
purchase products and services from those companies that work through CSR activities. This
impact emerges as a outcome of “generalised reciprocity” whereby consumers reward Marks &
Spencer for the indirect benefits offered to them when activities of CSR positively influence on
their social group. Loyal customers boost Marks & Spencer financially by spending more per
transaction, making frequent purchases, providing positive word-of-mouth etc.

What are the impressive methods that could be used by Marks and Spencer for raising customer
loyalty towards brand?
According to Islam and et. al., (2021), loyal customers help company to keep revenue
flowing. It is being recorded that loyal customers spend more than occasional customers and this
is the reason to focus on repeating business. There are certain effective ways that would be used
by Marks & Spencer to improve customer loyalty towards brand are:
 Offering rewards to customers: Offering rewards to customers is the best way to earn
and gain customer loyalty. Marks & Spencer could offer discounts on the different
purchases of the consumer.
 Asking for advice from customers: The other effective way to improve customer
loyalty is approaching customers for their advice related to the products and services of
Marks & Spencer. This assists in solving problems of the customers and attract more
potential customers.
 Customer Social Responsibility activities: Another best effective way that could be
considered by Marks & Spencer is activities of corporate social responsibility. It would
help Marks & Spencer to work without harming society, environment and economy. This
has great impact on increasing the customer loyalty towards the organisation.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research methodology is known as the procedure that assists in providing different
methods and techniques for collecting, examining, analysing and using apt piece of information.
The present research will also use different types of methodologies and these are explained
below with their apt justification.
Research Philosophy: Research Philosophy is referred as belief in respect to the
technique through that data and information about the topic is gathered, examined and used by
researcher. There are three main types of philosophy such as: ontology, epistemology and
axiology. Instigator is going to select epistemology philosophy because it is categorised into
three parts that are: positivism, interpretivism and realism. Investigator will choose positivism
philosophy as it assists in examining accumulated numerical information without facing any
delays in process.
Research Approach: Research approach is referred as the procedure of measuring data
through efficient and effective way. The approach is categorised into two major aspects that are:
inductive and deductive approach. Investigator is going to select deductive approach because it
facilitates in measuring and evaluating quantitative data without taking longer time duration. The
deductive approach is more practical in comparison to inductive approach because it
concentrates on statistical piece of information (Nayak and Singh, 2021).
Research Design: Research design is referred as framework, technique and method
chosen by researcher to process the collection and evaluation of data. The research design is
divided into three types that are: descriptive, exploratory and experimental. Researcher will
choose descriptive research design because the present research is based upon quantitative
information. It assists in describing population and problem in detailed manner so that apt piece
of information could be carried out.
Research Strategy: Research strategy is described as the procedure to collect information
relevant to the study. It is categorised in three main types that are: grounded theory, case study,
action research, survey, interview etc. In the current investigation, investigator will select survey
to collect numerical piece of information. This method is very effective in accumulating first
hand data in short time period.
Research Choice: Research choice is regarded as the type of research methodology
which is helpful in gathering apt data. The choice has three main dimensions that are: mono

method, mixed method and multi-mixed method. Investigator is going to choose mono method
research choice to gather appropriate piece of information because it also has two main types that
are: qualitative and quantitative. Investigator is going select quantitative research choice because
it assists in accumulating numerical and quantitative piece of information in short time period
(Babii, 2020).
Data Collection: Data collection is the method through which researcher collects
information. It is categorised into two dimensions that are: primary and secondary data
collection. Researcher is going to choose primary data collection because it helps in
accumulating first-hand data directly from the people who are selected for accumulation of data.
For this questionnaire will be formed in which close-ended questions are included. On the other
hand, secondary data collection will be used by investigator to use published piece of
information. For this the secondary sources are: books, articles, newspapers, journals etc.
Sampling: Sampling is referred as the procedure by which information is gathered from
sample. There are various sample options, but there are two significant categories of sampling
that are: probability and non-probability sampling. Researcher is going to choose probability
sampling because it assists in selecting group of people on a random basis. Basically this
provides the exact results if the whole population has been selected. 25 managers will be chosen
as respondents to collect data about the corporate social responsibility.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Babii, A., 2020. Important aspects of the experimental research methodology. Вісник
Тернопільського національного технічного університету, 97(1), pp.77-87.
Gürlek, M., Düzgün, E. and Uygur, S.M., 2017. How does corporate social responsibility create
customer loyalty? The role of corporate image. Social Responsibility Journal.
Islam and et. al., 2021. The impact of corporate social responsibility on customer loyalty: The
mediating role of corporate reputation, customer satisfaction, and trust. Sustainable
Production and Consumption, 25, pp.123-135.
May, S., 2016. Corporate Social Responsibility. The SAGE Encyclopedia of Corporate
Reputation, pp.218-221.
Nayak, J.K. and Singh, P., 2021. Fundamentals of Research Methodology Problems and
Prospects. SSDN Publishers & Distributors.
Nurre, S.G. and Weir, J.D., 2017. Interactive Excel-based Gantt chart schedule
builder. INFORMS Transactions on Education, 17(2), pp.49-57.
Tran, B., 2019. Corporate social responsibility. In Advanced Methodologies and Technologies in
Business Operations and Management (pp. 270-281). IGI Global.