Chinese Consumers' Perception of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

• Published in: Journal of business ethics Vol. 88; no. Suppl 1; pp. 119 - 132
• Main Authors: Ramasamy, Bala, Yeung, Mathew
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer 01-04-2009; Springer Netherlands; Springer Nature B.V
• Series: Journal of Business Ethics
• Subjects: Business; Business and Management; Business Ethics; Business structures; China; Chinese consumers; Consumer attitudes; Consumer behavior; Consumer economics; Consumer research; Consumers; Consumption; Corporate responsibility; Corporate social responsibility; Developing countries; Education; Ethical consumerism; Ethics; Hong Kong; Hong Kong, China; LDCs; Management; Perception; Philanthropy; Philosophy; Purchase intention; Quality of Life Research; Self; Shanghai, China; Social ethics; Social responsibility; Social responsibility of business; Society; Stakeholders; Stockholders; Studies; Surveys; Hong Kong China; China; corporate social responsibility; Chinese consumers; Hong Kong; China
• ISSN: 0167-4544; 1573-0697
• DOI: 10.1007/s10551-008-9825-x

The findings of this article increase our understanding of corporate social responsibility from the consumers' perspective in a Chinese setting. Based on primary data collected via a self-administered survey in Shanghai and Hong Kong and results of similar studies conducted in Europe and the United States, we provide evidence to show that Chinese consumers are more supportive of CSR. We also show that Carroll's pyramid of responsibilities can be applied in China. We evaluated the importance placed by Chinese consumers on the four responsibilities of firms - economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic - and find that economic responsibilities are most important while philanthropic responsibilities are of least importance. The nature of these differences is important for firms intending to use corporate social responsibility for strategic purposes.