Linking Corporate Social Responsibility to Customer Loyalty through Co-Creation and Customer Company Identification: Exploring Sequential Mediation Mechanism

Abstract

Promoting corporate social responsibility (CSR) and co-creation has become a crucial relationship marketing strategy for the banks. This research empirically investigates how banks’ CSR activities generate positive customer responses in the form of co-creation, customer–company identification (CCI), and loyalty. This research sheds light on the influence of CSR on customer behavior by analyzing the underlying psychological processes through the sequential mediation of co-creation and CCI. Working with a sample of 280 banking customers in Pakistan, partial least square based structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) is employed to test the conceptual model. CSR is a multidimensional formative construct that affects customer loyalty both directly and indirectly. Sequential partial mediations of co-creation and CCI are found between CSR activities and customer loyalty. Lastly, CCI has a direct and significant impact on co-creation and customer loyalty. Banks must include CSR in their long-term marketing plans to improve overall customer behavior because banks’ CSR activities result in customer identification and co-creation. Similarly, banks should welcome the customers’ participation in service design and use their knowledge and skills to improve overall service culture.