This paper offers a preliminary examination of the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

commitments and agendas being addressed and reported by the UKs leading retailers. The
paper begins with a short discussion of the characteristics and origins of CSR and of the
current structure of retailing in the UK. This is followed by an illustrative examination of the
CSR issues publicly reported by the UKs top ten country of origin retailers and the paper
draws its empirical material from the CSR reports posted on the World Wide Web by these
retailers. The findings reveal that the UKs top ten retailers are addressing and reporting on
four sets of CSR themes namely those relating to the environment; the marketplace; the
workplace and the community.
The paper concludes with a discussion of a number of general issues relating to these themes.
Corporate social responsibility(CSR) is the pledge to improve community
wellbeing through discretionary business practice and contribution of corporate
resources. Business today have realised that in order to continue prosperous
they have to adopt more holistic and inclusive business model which has direct
relationship with business performance. This is possible when they incorporate
the concept of corporate social responsibility that will help them to focus on
transparency and accountability. In context with the organised retailers that hold
enormous promises and opportunities as a sunrise sector have realised the
growing importance of corporate social responsibility in order to ensure
sustainable development. Companies like Tata Trent ltd, RPG retail, Raheja retail,
Big Bazaar etc have taken initiatives to achieve eco- efficiency and profit
maximisation. Some of the major areas where corporate social responsibility is
practised are green consumerism, use of bio fuels, investment is sustainable
technologies etc. Corporate social responsibility is growing phenomenon but
issues like funds allocation, standard reporting are some of the barriers
identified towards implementation. This research paper attempts to highlight
corporate social responsibility of the Indian organised retailers and the
challenges that they face toward the implementation. This paper would be of
great importance to the retail practitioners who plan to enter the organised retail
market. It shows that corporate social responsibility can be used as a strategic
tool to create a differential advantage over competitors.
This study contributes to the knowledge on the impact of corporate social
responsibility activities
on retailers market success by analyzing its impact on consumers purchasing
behavior. Using a
comprehensive conceptualization of CSR, we show from the consumers
perspectives that CSR has
positive implications for consumers loyalty and purchasing behavior and which
CSR dimensions
are important to focus on. We contrast the impact of retailers CSR activities with
the role of other
retailers marketing mix activities. Additionally, we show the importance of
credibility of retailers

CSR activities and analyze what role consumers CSR orientation plays in store
patronage decision
making.
INTRODUCTION
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is of high topicality in business practice
across all industries. Even though CSR is not a new idea and there are several
retailers that have always cared for socially responsible behavior, CSR activities
such as ethical sourcing, corporate philanthropy, cause-related marketing or
socially responsible employment have been introduced or intensified by retail
companies mainly in the past several years: What was once embraced by a
small elite group of companies (names like Timberland, Patagonia, Aveda and REI
[in the USA] or dm- Drogeriemarkt, The Body Shop, and Coop [in Europe] come
to mind), has gone mainstream ... (Wilson 2008). The reasons why retailers
engage in CSR initiatives are not only routed in legal rules or accounting
regulations. Retailers are also aware that their customers more and more
evaluate them according to their socially responsible behavior. Thus, the
question of whether acting socially responsible or not is not only an ideological
one but an economic one (Smith 2003). Retail companies have learned that not
only is doing good the right thing to do, but it also leads to doing better
through its positive effects on key stakeholder groups (Bhattacharya and Sen
2004:9). The leading US retail practice magazine Chain Store Age, thus, labeled
corporate social responsibility
as the definining issue of our time. Also in the academic discussion corporate
social responsibility is by no means a new idea but the concept itself and the
debate about CSR date back to the 1930s. For example, Dodd (1932: 1149)
argues that managers are not only responsible to their shareholders but are
responsible to the public as a whole because a company is permitted and
encouraged by the law primarily because it is a service to the community rather
than because it is a source of profit to its owners. Since then, the concept has
developed and many more facets of responsiveness have been added to the
understanding of CSR. The issue of CSR has been addressed in numerous
academic studies. One of the most important questions in this context is whether
CSR activities of companies lead to competitive advantage (Wu 2006).
Regarding both its topicality in retail practice and the amount of academic work
that has addressed CSR in the past, somewhat astonishingly, only few studies
have analyzed the role of CSR in retailing in a comprehensive manner. In our
study we therefore investigate the effects of CSR initiatives on consumers
purchasing behavior.
In presenting its 2006 Global Powers of Retailing report Deloitte (2006) suggests
that heightened concern about the growing risks facing retailers is changing the
management agenda from one of managing for profitable growth to one of
managing and mitigating risk. The report argues that the uncertainties of the
global economy, the complexities of a global supply chain, stakeholder demands for greater corporate social and environmental esponsibility,
technological innovation, the growth of proprietary brands, the increasing
difficulties in finding and retaining talent, and the threat of terrorism have all
combined
to significantly change the landscape of risk management. In identifying nonfinancial risks as one of seven key risks the report argues that being a good
corporate citizen is becoming increasingly important to the risk management
agenda and that the goal is to bring together economic viability, environmental

sustainability and social responsibility, integrating these concepts into the

companys strategy, operations and culture. Retailers are very much at
the leading edge of the service economy within the UK and this paper offers a
preliminary examination of the extent to which the UK leading retailers are
reporting Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) commitments and agendas on
their company websites as part of their
corporate efforts to build trust with shareholders, consumers and other
stakeholders.
Corporate Social Responsibility

Even though the concept of corporate social responsibility has been

discussed largely in the
literature, no single definition has been established as a dominant
approach of conceptualizing CSR
up to now (Maignan and Ferrell 2004). While there seems to be general
agreement that corporate
social responsibility relates to a companys commitment to minimizing or
eliminating any harmful
effects and maximizing its long-run beneficial impact on society (Mohr,
Webb, and Harris 2001:
47), the main discussion centers around what activities or what domains
are to include as components
of CSR. A concept that has widely been used is the pyramid of corporate
social responsibility
developed by Carroll (1979, 1991). He conceptualizes CSR as
encompassing four expectations
that society has of organizations, the economic domain (being
profitable), the legal domain
(obeying the law), the ethical domain (being ethical) and the
philanthropic domain (being a
good citizen). Many conceptual discussions and empirical studies have
drawn on this conceptualization
(e.g. Wood 1991; Swanson 1999; de los Salmones, Crespo, and del Bosque
2005).
Several attempts exist to classify CSR practices of corporations (e.g.
Wagner, Bicen, and
Hall 2008; Maignan, Ferrell, and Ferrell 2005). In our study, we will mainly
refer to Sen and Bhattacharya
(2001). They have categorized CSR activities of 600 companies into six
broad domains:
community support (e.g. health programs, educational initiatives),
diversity (e.g. family-, sex-, disabilitybased initiatives), employee support (e.g. job security, safety-concerns),
environment (e.g.
waste management, pollution control, animal testing), non-domestic
operations (e.g. overseas labor4
practice, operations in countries with human rights violations), and
product (e.g. product safety,
antitrust disputes).
There are numerous studies that have addressed the impact of CSR
activities on companies

performance, for example with focus on companies market value or on

corporate financial performance
(see Margolis and Walsh 2003; Orlitzky, Schmidt, and Rynes 2003; Wu
2006). From the
consumers perspective, also many studies exist that investigate the
impact of consumers CSR perceptions
on their behavior. Previous research suggests that, generally, consumers
reward companies
CSR activities in terms of positive attitudes towards the company or
purchasing behavior
(Murray and Vogel 1997; Folkes and Kamins 1999; Brown and Dacin 1997),
but they do not seem
to do so without challenging companies intentions to engage in CSR. Also,
it seems to be necessary
that companys CSR initiatives exceed consumers expectations (Creyer
and Ross 1997) and
that the relationship between perceived CSR activities and consumer
behavior is an indirect one (Luo and Bhattacharya 2006; David, Kline, and
Yang 2005). For example, Barone, Miyazaki, and Taylor (2000) and Ellen,
Webb, and Mohr (2006) show in their studies that perceived motivations of
companies CSR initiatives are relevant for consumers purchase
intentions. Also, the fit between companies social marketing activities on
the one hand and the companys products (or services) as well as the
consumers own motivations on the other hand is of high importance (e.g.
Barone, Norman, and Miyazaki 2007; Simmons and Becker-Olsen 2006).
Aggressive or insincere CSR practices or activities that are perceived as
deleterious or as not legitimate seem to foster negative attitudes or
negative consumer reactions in terms of their purchasing behavior (Sen
and Bhattacharya 2001; Creyer and Ross 1997; Webb and Mohr 1998).
In addition, there seems to be evidence that perceived CSR activities are
evaluated with regard to other elements of the companys marketing mix
such as price or product quality (Folkes and Kamins 1999; Barone,
Miyazaki, and Taylor 2000; Mohr and Webb 2005). For example,
Handelman and Arnold (1999) show for retail stores that there is an
interaction between perceived CSR activities and traditional store
attributes such as merchandise assortment, price, or location convenience
in terms of the influence on purchase intentions.
Summarizing, previous research implies that CSR seems to have a positive
impact on consumer behavior, but the underlying processes that lead to
such positive effects still remain somewhat open. As in previous research
in the area of retailing usually only several aspects of socially responsible
behavior have been included in the analyses (e.g. only philanthropic or
ecological oriented activities), we will extend previous findings with our
study by following the comprehensive conceptualization of Sen and
Bhattacharya (2001) and include these different dimensions in our study.
CSR is concerned with the integration of environmental, social, economic and
ethical considerations into business strategies and practices. While Werner and
Chandler (2005) have argued that consistent, definitions, labels and vocabulary
have yet to be solidly established in the field of CSR numerous definitions have
been framed. Wood (1991), for example suggests that the basic idea of CSR is

that business and society are interwoven rather than distinct entities while for
Brown and Dacin (1997) Corporate social responsibility associations reflect the
organisations status and activities with respect to its perceived societal
obligations. Although CSR has gained increasing momentum and prominence
across the business community during the past decade the underlying concept
has a long history. Hopkins and Crowe (2003), for example, suggest that there
has always been a tension between business goals and social goals and they cite
the power of the craft guilds in the Middle Ages, the slave trade and the
struggles to improve living and working conditions in Britains rapidly growing
towns and cities during the nineteenth century, as
graphic evidence of such tensions. Sadler (2004) has argued that the definition
of the functions of the corporation with relation to wider social and moral
obligations began to take place in the centres of capitalist development in the
19th century. More generally Mbare
(2006) has suggested that the concept of CSR is not new, as some would want
us to believe and that the debate about business as a moral institution goes
back to the days of philosophers like Plato, Aristotle, Kant, Marx.
Various factors are cited as being important in building the current momentum
behind CSR, which is evidenced by the fact that the number of companies
publishing CSR reports has increased almost tenfold in the period 19962006
(Saunders 1997). (Figure 1). Ernst and
Young (2002) suggest that five key drivers have influenced the increasing
business focus on CSR namely greater stakeholder awareness of corporate
ethical, social and environmental behaviour; direct stakeholder pressures;
investor pressure; peer pressure and an increased
sense of social responsibility. Porter and Kramer (2006) argue that there are four
prevailing justifications for CSR namely moral obligation, sustainability, license
to operate and reputation. National and supranational governments have been
active in promoting CSR. The European Union, for example, promoted CSR in all
member states and the Commission
for the European Communities (2002) argues that CSR has gained increasing
recognition amongst companies as an important element in new and emerging
forms of governance because it helps them to respond to fundamental changes
in the overall business environment.
These changes include globalisation and the responsibilities companies find the
need to address as they increasingly source products and services from
developing countries; the issues of image and reputation, which have become
increasingly important elements in corporate success; and the need for
companies to recruit and retain highly skilled personnel. Girod and Michael
(2003) adopt a strategic marketing perspective arguing that CSR is a key tool to
create, develop and sustain differentiated brand names.
The three dominant theories that have been used to analyse and explain CSR
have been succinctly summarised by Moir (2001). Stakeholder theory suggests
that it makes sound business sense for companies to understand the needs and
aspirations of all their stakeholders be they investors, governments, employees,
communities, customers or suppliers and that these needs and aspirations
should be reflected in corporate strategy.

Social Contracts theory asserts that companies may pursue CSR not because it is
in their commercial interests but because it is how society expects companies to
operate. Legitimacy theory stresses that
society grants power to businesses and it expects them to use that power in a
responsible manner.
The business case for CSR is seen to focus on a wide range of potential benefits
(Bevan et. al 2004). These include improved financial performance and
profitability; reduced operating costs; long-term sustainability for companies and
their employees; increased staff commitment and involvement; enhanced
capacity to innovate; good relations with government and communities; better
risk
and crisis management; enhanced reputation and brand value; and the
development of closer links with customers and greater awareness of their
needs. However Porter and Kramer (2006) have argued that the prevailing
approaches to CSR are so fragmented and so disconnected
from business and strategy as to obscure many of the greatest opportunities for
companies to benefit society. They propose a new framework to explore the
interdependence between business
and society and argue that when looked at strategically corporate social
responsibility can become a source of tremendous social progress, as the
business applies its considerable resources, expertise, and insights to activities
that benefit society.
At the same time there are those who would champion the case against
companies integrating CSR into their core business. Such arguments might follow
Friedmann (1982) in affirming that there is one and only one social responsibility
of business-to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its
profits so long as it stays within the rules of the game, which is to say engages in
open and free competition without deception or fraud. Henderson (2001) has

argued that seemingly growing business commitment to CSR is deeply flawed

in that it rests on a mistaken
view of issues and events and its general adoption by business would reduce
welfare and undermine the market economy. Corporate Watch (2006) takes a
more overtly political position arguing that CSR enables businesses to promote
ineffective voluntary, market based solutions to social and environmental crises
under the guise of being responsible. More generally Kitchin (2003) argues that
CSR is too narrow to engage management attention, too broad and
unquantifiable to be taken seriously by the financial community and just woolly
enough to be exploited by charlatans and opportunists.

The UK Governments (2004) CSR report indicates that:Corporate Social Responsibility

has moved from the margins to the mainstream, from the arena of charity to the arena of
corporate strategy: the emphasis is no longer just on external giving but now on internal
business processes, the focus is less on how companies give money away, to focussing on how
companies make money. Thus the concept has moved from the realm of philanthropy
(America being its origin) to becoming a business strategy. Friedmans statement: the social
responsibility of business is to increase its profit as far back as 1970, which has been heavily
criticised, is very relevant after 40 years. Indeed, not all business operations are geared at
making profit but if the word profit could be understood as fulfilling corporate goals then
Friedmans 1970 assertion should be applauded rather than condemned in the 21st century,
for no organisation lives outside the global economy. Organisations exist in constellation of
relationships with market and non-market forces impacting on their success or failure.
Definitions of CSR would define the concept as: the strategic decision of an organisation to
voluntary act upon the social factors that have the potential of militating against the
fulfillment of corporate goals. Over the last few years there has been rising expectation from
the business toward society. No longer can the firm consider itself as the independent entity
regardless of the interest of general public. Business today have realised that in order to
continue thriving they have to adopt more holistic and inclusive business model which has
direct correlation with business performance. This can be possible when they incorporate the
concept of corporate social responsibility. Corporate social responsibility is a commitment to
improve community wellbeing through discretionary business practice and contribution of
corporate revenue. Across the globe companies are expected to discharge their stake holders
responsibilities and social obligation along with shareholders wealth maximisation goal.
India was already aware of corporate social responsibility (CSR) due to the effort of the organisation
such as Tata group, Unilever group, ITC etc. who have already adopted the inclusive model for
upliftment of the economy.
Times foundation with the aim of understanding corporate CSR initiatives conducted the survey and
found that 90 percent of the Indian organisations surveyed were involved in CSR initiatives. The
leading areas that organisation were involved are livelihood promotion, education, health environment
and women empowerment. In a survey carried out by the Asian Governance Association, which ranks
the top 10 Asian countries on corporate governance parameters, India has consistently ranked among
the top three along with Singapore and Hong Kong for the last eight years.
In context with the organised retailers that holds 5% share of the total retail market and is one of the
fastest growing sector toward generation of employment opportunities have realised the growing
importance of corporate social responsibility in order to ensure sustainable development. Organised
retail outlets are allocating some proportion of their funds towards corporate social responsibility.
Retail outlets like shopper stop, Spencer, Reliance fresh and other had invested their funds towards
community welfare projects. Thus corporate social responsibility is considered as one of the latest
mantra for success and to have an edge over their competitors
Historically, the concept of CSR is alien in many developing countries and remains so in some
countries even today. Many a times, donations are made en passant in the name of CSR without
understanding what it means. Some organisations make donations either because they see their

competitors doing it or because an official within the organisation wants to show off. CSR has not
been part of the corporate agenda of many companies in the developing world. Admittedly, over the
past ten years some countries in Africa have seen significant progress in the area of human rights and
CSR- South Africa (Visser, 2005) and Kenya (Mwaura, 2004) can be singled out as two cases in point.
However, the spread is not as encouraging as it is expected considering the abuse and neglect that
characterise most regions that harbor natural resources and being exploited by many companies. The
focus has always been more on environmental issues and philanthropy than on legal and ethical
business practices. This view is supported by a survey of South Africas top companies, in which only
10% cited abiding by laws and regulations as their one principal motivation for pursuing corporate
citizenship (Trialogue, 2004) A ten year review of CSR research focused on Africa and published in
key CSR journals over the period 1995- 2005 revealed that : the volume of published research is still
extremely low, most papers focused on business ethics, and most papers were on South Africa. Hence
there is a great scope for expanding the amount of research on CSR in Africa, as well as improving
the diversity of its content and its geographic coverage.
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
To study the growth of Corporate Social Responsibility in India.
To study the contribution of Indian organised retailers toward Corporate Social Responsibility.
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Marcello Palazzi and George Starcher in the research article on corporate social
responsibility and business success had discussed the forces that have brought
awareness towards CSR. The authors had also mentioned about corporate
governance as the starting point for putting environmental and social
responsibility into practice. Through the research work the author has focussed
on the transition of business from an economic engine to a social system, i.e. the
purpose of a business is still to produce wealth, but it does so as a social
organisation, having to meet and respond to the pressures and responsibilities of
society and its citizens.
Gunjan in her thesis on corporate social responsibility - a study of selected
companies in India had covered the perceptions of various stakeholders, i.e.
academicians, professionals, businessmen, executives, government officials etc.
with regards to corporate social responsibility and to know the status of Indian
corporate sector in the area of Corporate social responsibility(CSR). The study
revealed that stakeholders demand corporate social responsibility programmes
and projects from the corporate world. Indirectly, the respondents feel that
companies should work towards reducing the gap between the rich and the poor,
stop violating human rights, involve their customers into product development,
work to solve social problems, and endeavour to increase the economic stability.
The study also revealed that only five companies out of eighty-five which were
found engaged in twenty-one or more CSR activities. The analysis brings out that
there is a significant variation in companies' CSR performance. Companies with
relatively small funds have low CSR scores, and their CSR performance has been
unsatisfactory. On the contrary, companies with higher funds have shown good
CSR scores.
Dr V.V. Prasad through the research paper examines the nature and extent of
corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives under taken by Indian companies
and to study its relevance in business. According to the authors only few
companies like ITC, TATA and SAIL had actively participated towards CSR

initiatives. There are much opposition towards CSR stating that CSR distracts
from the fundamental economic role of businesses; others argue that it is
nothing more than superficial window-dressing; still others argue that it is an
attempt to pre-empt the role of governments as a watchdog over powerful
multinational corporations. Also one of the hurdles toward CSR is different
models to earmark its social expenditure, making it difficult to measure the
overall impact.
HISTORICAL PROSPECTIVE

THE CONCEPT OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

In order to identify types of CSR activities and examine their impact, a clear definition of
the CSR concept is needed. In a BSR White Paper, CSR is defined as operating a
business in a manner that meets or exceeds the ethical, legal, commercial and public
expectations that society has of business (Business for Social Responsibility,
www.bsr.org). This definition seems in harmony with the triple P concept of People, Planet
and Profit, which is conceived by many people in business as the basis of CSR. A large
number of diverse definitions of CSR have also been proposed in the literature. Table 1
provides an overview of recent definitions, which articulate diverse aspects of CSR.
As indicated in Table 1 under main process elements of CSR, Carroll's (1979)
definition emphasizes expectations of society, the definition of Mohr, Webb and Harris
(2001) is attitude oriented, others focus on activities (actions to further social good, seeking
the well-being of stakeholders, respectively meeting public expectations), while the
definitions of Sen and Bhattachaya (2001) and of Brown and Dacin (1997) are outcome
oriented (status and character of company). These definitions stress different elements of
CSR as a way of operating a business. Rather than choosing one of these definitions as a
guideline for our investigation we approach CSR as a process, in which company attitudes,
activities and outcomes are elements.

CSR as a process
A process approach to CSR is helpful in understanding the differences and similarities
between the definitions reviewed in Table 1. All definitions explicitly or implicitly
recognize process elements, but they differ in emphasizing specific elements of the process.
Companies internalize the expectations of society with respect to socially responsible
behavior, leading to an attitude towards CSR. This attitude can be enhanced by autonomous
forces in the retail company itself. The CSR attitude is supposed to influence socially
responsible activities, both reactive and proactive. The outcome of these CSR activities will
generate feedback: a positive outcome of socially responsible behavior of a company, such
as a better store image, will reinforce a company's attitude with respect to CSR.
The concept of CSR in India is not new, as the term may be. The process though
acclaimed recently, has been followed since ancient times albeit informally.
Philosophers like Kautilya from India and pre-Christian era philosophers in the
west preached and promoted ethical principles while doing business. The
concept of helping the poor and disadvantaged was cited in much of the ancient
literature.
The idea was also supported by several religions where it has been intertwined
with religious laws. Focussed on Zakaat, followed by Muslims, is donation from
ones earnings which is specifically given to the poor and disadvantaged.
Similarly Hindus follow the principle of Dhramada and Sikhs the Daashaant.

In the global context, the recent history goes back to the seventeenth century
when in 1790s, England witnessed the first large scale consumer boycott over
the issue of slave harvested sugar which finally forced importer to have freelabour sourcing. In` India, in the pre independence era, the businesses which
pioneered industrialisation along with fighting for independence also followed the
idea. They put the idea into action by setting up charitable foundations,
educational and healthcare institutions, and trusts for community development.
The donations either monetary or otherwise were sporadic activities of charity or
philanthropy that were taken out of personal savings which neither belonged to
the shareholders nor did it constitute an integral part of business.
The term CSR itself came into common use in the early 1970s although it was
seldom abbreviated. By late 1990s people and institutions across all sections of
society started supporting it.
Need For Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
The majority of the top ten retailers claim to be integrating CSR into their
business. Marks and Spencer (2007) for example, claims a strong tradition of
CSR which it sees as being central to the way the company is managed. More
specifically the company reports its launch of Plan A, a long term strategy for
CSR, centred on climate change, waste, sustainable raw materials, health and
being a fair trading partner, which the company claims will only succeed if it is
fully integrated into the way we do business. In a similar vein Wm. Morrison
(2007) claims that it views sustainable development as integral to the way we
do business and as such, it is our licence to operate and Boots (2006)
emphasises its understanding that its commercial success and our CSR
performance are mutually dependent has begun to permeate every level of our
business.Firstly while some of the top ten retailers look to measure and
benchmark their CSR achievements this is not universal
practice. Tesco and Kingfisher, for example, report using Key Performance
Indicators and independent verification and assurance to help to measure their
CSR performance; and J.Sainsbury report participating in the Business in the
Community Corporate Responsibility
Index. Some of the top ten retailers report on CSR in a more limited and selective
manner and on a number of occa sions case studies were used as a means of
illustrating broader CSR commitments. Such an approach might be seen to be
user friendly and to offer some
simple examples to illustrate what might be perceived to be dry statements of
commitments and achievements, but it does not provide a comprehensive
review or any systematic measurement of these achievements. The selected
retailers report on CSR issues under a variety of headings.
J.Sainsbury (2007), for example, employ the following five headings The best for
food and health, Sourcing with integrity, Respect for our environment,
Making a positive difference to our community, and A great place to work.
Wm. Morrison (2007) use Environment, Society and Business while Kesa
Electricals (2007) list Supply Chain, Environment, People and Communities.
This paper follows Whooley (2004) in using four principal headings namely
Environment; Marketplace; Workplace; and Community in an attempt to capture
and provide some illustrative examples of CSR agendas as reported by the UKs
top ten retailers.
Environment

Environmental issues were the earliest and are now the most commonly reported
set of issues amongst the top ten retailers, and a review of these companies
websites indicates that all highlight the environment as a key driver of their CSR
agendas (Table 2). These environmental issues include climate change, energy
consumption and emissions, raw material usage, water consumption, waste, the
volume of packaging and recycling.
Tesco (2007), for example, claims to be helping to deliver a revolution in green
consumption to be putting the fight against climate change at the very
heart,of this revolution and to be setting an example by reducing CO2
emissions in our businesses throughout the world. To this end the company
reports its commitment to changing
our business model so that the reduction of our carbon footprint becomes an
important
business driver. The company claims to be committed to reducing carbon
dioxide emissions from all its stores and distribution centres by at least 50% by
2020 and here the emphasis will be on investing in energy efficient technologies
including low energy fans, cold air retrieval systems and timers on lights.
Packaging, waste management and recycling are important issues for all the top
ten retailers. John Lewis (2007), for example, argues that packaging is essential
for the integrity and safety of many of its products but recognises that
overpackaging has environmental and financial costs. In 2006/2007 the company
reports saving some 23,000 tonnes of
waste going to landfill and where space permits it provides recycling points in
store car parks for clothing, glass, paper and plastics. The company also reports
its commitment to recycling 75% of its food business waste by 2012 and 50% of
its non-food waste by 2010. Wm. Morrison seeks to prevent waste through a
sustainable waste management strategy that focuses upon optimisation,
reduction, re-use and recycling and reports recovering some 72% of all the waste
generated in its stores for recycling.
Transport is a vital component of all large retail operations and the majority of
the top ten retailers report their commitment to and/or their achievements in
reducing vehicle emissions. J.Sainsbury, for example, transports all its products
in cases and the company has set itself the target of reducing carbon emissions
per case transported by 5% (against a
2005/2006 baseline) by 2009. At the same time the company also claims to be
seeking to reduce the distance travelled by its own and its supplier transport
fleets by 2010 and here the focus is to be on trying to ensure that vehicles never
travel empty on return journeys. In
March 2007 the company also announced plans to convert 20% of its online
delivery fleet to green electric vehicles.
The Marketplace
The term marketplace is seen to embrace both the sourcing of goods and
services and their sale to the customer and as such embraces a wide range of
issues. Sourcing has become an increasingly topical and increasingly
controversial issue for large retailers, and the majority of retailers highlight this
as part of their CSR strategy (Table 2). Four sets of issues
receive widespread, but not universal, attention namely ethical trading,
sustainable sourcing, sourcing local and regional foodstuffs and animal welfare.
Marks and Spencer emphasises its commitment to ensuring that raw materials
are sourced in a way that allows them to be naturally replenished. The company
reports working with the Scottish fishing industry, for example, to promote
sustainability and extending its use of Forest Stewardship Council certified
materials into food packaging, leaflets, and store dcor.

Sourcing foodstuffs within the global marketplace now offers considerable variety
and competitive supply prices but it has also led to growing pressure group and
public concerns about working conditions, rates of remuneration, child labour
and health and safety issues.
At the same time the majority of the leading food retailers recognise that the
issue of ethical trading is made complex by both the distances involved and by
the existence of different political and regulatory regimes. More specifically a
number of the top ten retailers report
their commitment to Fair Trade initiatives.
J.Sainsbury, for example, claims that its share of the entire Fair Trade market is
larger than that of any other major supermarket in the UK. While global sourcing
continues to
grow, some of the leading food retailers have also been keen to affirm their
commitment
to working with local and regional suppliers and to working in partnership with
suppliers. J.Sainsbury (2007), for example reports its commitment to supporting
British farmers and
more specifically to ensuring that customers have access to fresh, tasty and
healthy food that is sourced in their local region. The company also reports the
establishment of its Supply Chain Finance scheme which is designed to help
suppliers manage their financial
flows more efficiently and which enables them to leverage J.Sainsburys
borrowing power if they opt for early payment.
A minority of the top ten retailers report on their commitment to animal welfare.
Somerfield, part of Wm Morrison, for example, reports that it continues to
promote animal welfare by supporting farm assurance schemes and to offer
free range and organic meat products in
those stores where there is sufficient demand. (Somerfield, 2007)At the same
time the company continues to ban the testing of own label lines on animals and
to operate a fixed cut off from January 1st 2000 for the animal testing of
ingredients used in these products. John Lewis argues that quality, traceability
and animal welfare are intimately interlinked
and it reports a strict no fur policy, a total ban on animal testing for own label
cosmetics, toiletries, baby care and personal products and its support for the
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.
A strong commitment to customers is widely reported by the top ten retailers
and this commitment generally includes listening to customers; services for
disabled customers and promoting healthy living. J.Sainsbury (2007), for
example, reports We work hard to make sure that we are meeting customer
expectations and continually ask our customers what
they think. In looking to meet these expectations the company specifically
emphasises that it offers its customers quality, healthy and affordable products
and an informed choice so that they are able to eat as healthily as possible.
In a similar vein Tesco operates a series of Customer Question Time meetings in
an attempt to identify and respond to changing customer needs. In 2006-2007,
for example, the company held over 250 events involving some 6,000
customers.
The issues raised inform an annual customer plan which targets improving
performance in areas identified by customers and enhancing customer loyalty.
Access and services for disabled customers is reported by a number of the top
ten retailers. Boots, for example reports working to ensure that all its stores
comply with the 2004 Disability Discrimination Act thus offering disabled
customers easy access and an enjoyable

shopping experience. In addition all the companys store employees have

undertaken
disability awareness training designed to help them to learn how to modify their
normal behaviour where necessary when dealing with disabled customers. The
company also reports working with the Royal National Institute for the Blind to
find ways of making
its stores more welcoming and accessible to visually impaired customers.
Workplace
The majority of the top ten retailers report their commitment to their employees,
arguing that caring for their staff is essential to their success, and they evidence
this commitment in a variety of ways. Such evidence covers a range of themes
including remuneration and
benefits; training and development; equality and diversity; health and safety;
recruitment; retirement; and work-life balance. All the large food retailers
indicate a commitment to attracting and retaining a culturally and socially
diverse workforce and here the emphasis is on recruiting and retaining the best
people and meeting the needs of the communities in which they trade. These
commitments are usually strengthened by the provision of a mix of flexible
working arrangements and by respecting the balance between life and work.
Tesco, for example, argues that the ability to attract and retain staff is the
biggest challenge
for any business and in order to achieve this goal they look to provide a variety
of career paths and patterns of working, a good work life balance and
comprehensive employee benefits. In a similar vein DSG International (2007)
emphasises that the satisfaction and engagement of our people is critical to the
success of our business and it claims to apply a cradle to grave approach to
corporate responsibility best practice from recruitment to post retirement.
Training and development is also a major theme. Boots, for example, admits
under-investing in training and development in the past but reports the
establishment of 30 new Academy Stores throughout the UK. These flagship
stores are to serve as a beacon for other stores in their region and the focus will
be on providing training for employees
in all aspects of modern retailing. At the same time the company also reports
working in partnership with the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers
trade union in running two lifelong learning centres one in the companys
Headquarters in Nottingham and the
other in its warehouse in Heywood, Lancashire, to help employees who need to
develop their numeracy, language and literacy skills.
Overall, however, the workplace is perhaps less evident in corporate websites
and literature than the other factors considered in this account (Table 2).
Community
The top ten retailers all have a range of impacts on the communities within
which they operate and, in at least some measure, they all report on these issues
within their CSR reports, with a few companies positioning this higher on their
CSR agendas (Table 2). Kingfisher (2007), for example, argues that its aim is to
make each one of its stores a good
neighbour in the community it serves. In 2006-2007 the company reports
making 476,000 in cash donations, 651,000 worth of gifts in kind and
168,000 of employee time as part of its community investment. Wm. Morrison
reports that the development planning for many of its stores has included
facilities for the benefit of the local community and that the company also often
commissions public works of art that reflect local heritage.
A minority of the top ten retailers report on their role in urban regeneration.
Tesco, for example, reports that in the period 1999-2007 it co-operated on 17

Regeneration Partnerships. These partnerships are based around the

development of new stores designed to serve local communities and the focus is
on working with public services, local employers and community groups to yield
social, economic and environmental benefits in deprived urban areas and on
recruiting a significant number of people who have been away from work for a
long period of time. Boots reports supporting schemes designed to improve
and regenerate town centres by addressing issues such as crime and
environmental
decline. In 2005-2006 the company invested 370,000, for example, in town
centre management programmes.
Over the years business has taken many benefits from the society. Society
accepts new concepts, products that are being showcased by the businessmen.
Therefore it becomes obligation for the enterprise to return society as well. A
business cannot succeed if society fails. This, therefore, clearly establishes the
stake of a business organization in the good health and well being of a society of
which it is a part .Not only this many potential clients who themselves operate
CSR activities expects their suppliers to do similar kinds of programmes.
Globalisation and universal expansion of the economies enhances the
consideration of image and reputation among organisations. An organisations
image and reputation can be ruined in days through unregulated and unethical
practices. So, imbibing CSR practices becomes the strong foundation in image
building. Organizations in India have been quite sensible in taking up CSR
initiatives and integrating them in their business processes. It has been
progressively projected in the Indian corporate setting because organizations
have recognized that besides growing their businesses, it is also important to
shape responsible and supportable relationships with the community at large.
Companies now have specific departments and teams that develop specific
policies, strategies and goals for their CSR programs and set separate budgets to
support them. Most of the time, these programs are based on well-defined social
beliefs or are carefully aligned with the companies business domain.
Role of Organised Retailers toward CSR Initiatives in India

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has become a strategic issue for retail companies,
often involving huge amounts of money and considerable investment of resources and time.
Although the idea that companies have social responsibilities has already long ago been
advocated, e.g. in the area of macro-marketing (Zif 1980), there has recently been a strong
rise in its popularity. The importance of corporate social responsibility (CSR) is enhanced
among others by an increasing consumer demand for integrity of companies (Osborn 2001).
As a result, companies that act in socially responsible ways are generally evaluated more
positively by consumers than companies that do not (Brown & Dacin 1997). Many retail
companies have consequently embraced CSR. For these companies, the question is not if
they should be involved in socially responsible activities, but how they should be involved.
CSR activities can take different shapes, such as a used bookstore staffed entirely by
disabled people (Rosen 1999), donations of money or products to communities or charitable
institutions, careful selection of the products that are sold (e.g. the Body Shop), and
consumerism programs. These activities often require huge contributions from retailers,
both monetary and non-monetary. For example, the retailer Target attempts to express
philanthropy by donating $1 million weekly to the communities in which it operates, as

well as by funding additional charities and organizations (Gallanis 2000).

Despite these high costs, little is known about consumers evaluations of different CSR
activities. Brown and Dacin (1997) quote a manager of a major US retail company saying:
We do all these good things we build buildings, give money away but we dont know
if we get anything out of it. Although CSR activities probably tend to increase store
evaluations in general, there is no evidence on whether each specific CSR activity has the
same effect.
Different stakeholders in society may have different social expectations from retail
companies and may attach different importance to different CSR activities, such as human
resource policy and sustainability. Nevertheless, there is a tendency in society to use CSR
as an overall concept encompassing diverse aspects of running a business. For effective
company policies, however, specific elements of the total CSR concept will have to be
investigated: which activities make a company socially responsible in the eyes of a public,
say the consumers. In this study, the CSR concept is fine-tuned to CSR of a specific type of
industry, retailing, and its perception by a specific type of public, the consumer. More
specifically, it identifies which CSR activities of a retail company are distinguished by
consumers and what are the underlying dimensions of CSR of a retail company. In addition,
we investigate how these underlying CSR dimensions drive consumers' store evaluation
and trust. In particular the differential effect of CSR versus other characteristics of the
company (economic activities, related to assortment, price, and location) on store
evaluation and trust is analyzed.
The remainder of this paper is organized as follows. The next section will explore the
concept corporate social responsibility. Subsequently, two dimensions of CSR activities
are derived. Next, we define hypotheses regarding the impact of the types of CSR activities
on consumer trust and overall store evaluation. Study 1 (823 consumers) examines the
concept of CSR from a consumer perspective, while Study 2, which deals with 486
consumers, illustrates our model of CSR. Finally, guidelines are given for managers on how
to create consumer goodwill through CSR activities.
The Retail bazaar in India is booming beyond everyones expectation. The Indian
Retail sector has caught the worlds imagination in the last few years. The Indian
retail market has been estimated at $400-450 billion, is dominated by the highly
decentralized unorganized sector. Over the last few years this sector has seen
emergence of the organised retail. The organized retail industry is one of the
sunrise sectors with huge growth potential. Organised retail industry accounts for
only 5% of total retail industry but is expected to reach more 10% by 2013. Many
Indian corporate has taken initiatives to invest in the retail sector some of the
key players are:
Retail Store
Name of the company

Future Group
RPG group
Raheja Group
Reliance Industries
TATA Trends Ltd.

Big Bazar
Spencer
Shopper stop
Reliance Fresh
Wetside, Star Bazaar

Indias retail growth is largely driven by increasing disposable incomes,

favourable demographics, changing lifestyles, growth of the middle
class segment and a high potential for penetration into urban and rural
markets. The Indian organized retail industry holds immense promises
and opportunities as a sunrise sector. Organised retail provides huge
employment opportunities and is considered one of the fastest growing
sectors in India. In order to be successful the retailers need to focus on
various issues like customer satisfaction and updated technology for
competitive advantage. The rising awareness levels of the consumers
through education and media have begun to make the corporate
retailers more accountable in their CSR practices. The primary role of
CSR in retail industry is to ensure sustainable development taking into
consideration three areas ecological, social and economical as ecoefficiency combined with social and economic interest is the basis of
sustainability. Some of the organised retailers who had been
implementing sustainable business development are:
Shopper Stop the leading organised outlet in apparel retail has
undertaken many CSR initiatives. In 2007 the company has formulated
energy management policy by the use of advanced energy monitoring
and control tool to avoid wastage. Apart from these they had invested
in water conservation project. Under this they had initiated two
programs ie rainwater harvesting project in Delhi and Begumpet stores
and usage of orifice. Orifice is a small device that control flow of water
from the tap there by reducing wastage of water. This has been
installed in 20 stores of shopper stop. Shopper stop has also launched
back to earth and exclusive e-brand that offer eco-friendly collection
like recycled wood, recycled paper, natural fibre. Not only this they
have initiated the interactive page on the intranet site as spandhan
that encourages employees to suggest and initiate activities toward
environment. To promote education they had participated in teach India
movement in association with times foundation. In 2010 they had
organised blood donation drive to support Thalassemia.
Big Bazaar Indias biggest value retailer controlled by future group has
been taking lot of initiatives to support cause. It has tied up with
Mumbai traffic police in the drive to promote the use of helmets. They
also are actively involved in the distribution of the food packets during
the floods. Toward women empowerment initiatives had been taken to
build the platform for distribution and marketing of women led
organisation engaged in producing food products, textiles and
handicraft. An immensely successful initiative of this nature was
Yatra, a joint effort between Big Bazaar and Yashaswini, a self help
group platform. The purpose was to encourage the efforts of
underprivileged women traders through establishing a channel for them
to sell their produce in a profitable manner. More than 300 women from
these groups were offered a chance to sell their produce during special
promotions in front of Big Bazaar stores. The idea was to serve our

customers, in an authentic manner, the rich, diverse traditional cuisine

of Maharashtra. These items were specialty items from each
geographical region within the state. Similar initiatives with self help
groups and local indigenous communities have been initiated in the
states of Assam, Karnataka, Kerala and Delhi and have met with very
encouraging response from customers and the communities.
RPG Group. The RPG Foundation has been set up to undertake activities
in the field of social welfare and reform, across a wide range of areas
including Education Employability and Environment. In order to ensure
employability Saksham- making them able was conceived and
launched in Oct 2011. This is about promoting technical education right
from Secondary School level. RPG group being one of the pioneers to
implement the Self management team (SMT) program and have
successfully done so in four green field factories of the Group across
India. Towards education RPG Akshar Program works with children
studying in public schools to enhance their spoken and reading English
skills. It employs the natural curiosity of children and excites them
about the process of learning and also encourages them to learn new
concepts & ways of thinking. Akshar is a six year program, and children
undergoing the program for six years would be 100% English Proficient.
Towards environment protection the company has converted all over 20
plants into green facilities. Apart from this rain water harvesting
system, save water, paper waste recycling, e-waste collection are some
of the social initiatives of RPG Group.
Reliance Retail Limited, countrys leading retailer successfully
conducted a nationwide Blood Donation Drive with the aim of raising
awareness on the importance of blood donation. The campaign received
an overwhelming response and support from consumers and
employees. Reliance Retail has associated with organizations like Red
Cross, Rotary Club (Delhi) and Swasthya Kalyan among others to ensure
that the collected blood reaches the beneficiaries.
The Blood Donation Drive was conducted through various formats of
Reliance Retail across more than 50 stores in 35 cities including
Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore and Kolkata among others as part of
Reliance Retails community initiative. The drive attracted a large
number of donors throughout the country and also managed to spread
awareness about the need for blood donation. They also recruit people
from underprivileged community and also provide training to the
farmer and provide loan up to Rs 15000.
Tata Trent ltd, corporate sustainability at Tata Trent integrates
economic progress, environmental concerns and social commitment. As
retail organization, having a trained talent pool with a strong
orientation for customer service is very important to business. Trent
decided to address this challenge by tapping into the huge pool of

talent available from the underprivileged sections of society. This

initiative called Saksham (Sanskrit for capable) was pioneered, that
aims to enhance the employability skills and provide gainful
employment to these sections of society. Since its inception in 2009,
this initiative has yielded 474 employable aspirants out of which, 370
have gained employment so far. This programme encourages and
recognizes equal employment opportunity to underprivileged sections
of society. These programmes enrich the quality of life and
opportunities for all. Also every year a special fund is created from the
sale of Diyas and Stars from the stores during Diwali and Christmas
respectively. Trent has initiated 23 projects that are aligned with areas
of Child, Education and Nutrition.
Challenges towards Implementation of Corporate Social Responsibility
The most important challenge to adopt CSR on a wider scale is first of
all availability of finance as there is a lack of linkage between CSR and
financial success. Since no direct relationship is evident, companies find
it difficult to assess how much to invest in CSR, where to stop and how
to achieve the right balance between financial performance and CSR.
The other fact that CSR investments have a long gestation period and
lack visible results, prevents assessment of the effectiveness of their
investment which is the important hurdle to adopt CSR by companies in
India. Also there is lack of mechanisms to measure, monitor, evaluate
and report the impact of CSR initiatives as a major barrier.
CONCLUSION
The concept of corporate social responsibility has gained prominence
from all avenues. Organizations must realize that government alone will
not be able to get success in its endeavour to uplift the downtrodden of
society. The present societal marketing concept of companies is
constantly evolving and has given rise to a new concept-Corporate
Social Responsibility. Many of the leading corporations across the world
had realized the importance of being associated with socially relevant
causes as a means of promoting their brands. It embraces the triple
bottom line and requires attention to be paid not only to economic
performance, but to environmental and social impacts as well. It is
essentially about business contribution to sustainable development and
how best to maximize that contribution. The case for demonstrating
corporate responsibility is getting stronger as expectations among key
opinion formers, customers and the public are increasing. Being a good
corporate citizen is increasingly crucial for commercial success and the
key lies in matching public expectations and priorities, and in
communicating involvement and achievements widely and effectively.
Discussion
While the majority of the UKs top ten retailers have been keen to recognise, and
report on, some of the impacts that their businesses have on the environment,

the economy and society and are pursuing a range of CSR agendas, and three
sets of issues merit discussion.
Firstly retailers are aware that it is not always easy to reconcile their often wideranging CSR goals. In looking to assess whether the environmental costs of
importing fresh flowers from Kenya are outweighed by the social benefits of
trading with less developed economies, for example, retailers may have to make
difficult trade offs between competing and often conflicting goals. That said they
report little awareness of the problems emerging, for example, along the River
Ngiro where the large scale extraction of water all year round by the companies
producing flowers for export is causing the river to peter out in its lower reaches
thereby dramatically reducing water supplies to subsistence farmers and
threatening the livelihoods and lives of nomadic pastoralists.
Secondly there is a sense in which a number of the commitments and agendas
contained in the retailers CSR reports are aspirational and it is not always easy
to achieve all aspirations in the fiercely competitive UK retail business
environment. While all retailers are pursuing
environmental goals and many emphasise their commitment to the local
communities in which their stores are located, this is rarely at the expense of
commercial priorities. In a similar vein when individual store managers are facing
problems in staff scheduling, for example, they may pressure employees into
working outside the hours that suit their work-life balance or refuse to release
employees for training and management development. This emphasis is
reflected in the indicators identified in a trawl of company websites and related
publications (Table 2).
A third set of issues revolves around the extent to which retailers are harnessing
CSR to retain and enhance reputation, to differentiate and sustain their retail
brands and to pursue competitive advantage within the retail marketplace. On
the one hand a number of the top ten retailers are increasingly seeking to
incorporate their CSR commitments and the values that lie behind these values
into their retail brands. The past two years have seen the development and
adoption of new concepts and a more central role for CSR within corporate
culture. Reeves (2007) notes that CSR is being mainstreamed in some
businesses;
rather than being a bolt-on, it is now being embedded in the business model of
some firms. In the UK, Marks and Spencers, have been one of the leaders on
this, implementing a 100 point Plan A to make the company carbon neutral,
move towards fairly traded
products, reduce waste going to landfill to zero, and use organic cotton in its
clothing products. The focus on carbon neutrality reflects a renewed emphasis on
environmental issues within the CSR corporate agenda, often led by the
companies themselves, as much as by consumers (Table 2). Tesco, for example,
are investing 600m in carbon labelling
its products and making its operations more sustainable (Reeves, 2007), and
other retailers will undoubtedly undertake similar initiatives.
Tescos commitment to a revolution in green consumption and to the fight
against climate change and the launch of Plan A by Marks and Spencer are high
profile examples of such a strategy. That said retailers may face challenges in
trying to ensure that consumers include
CSR considerations when evaluating the brand and they may increasingly be
looking to test the strength of CSR brand associations at the point of sale within
live retail contexts. On the other hand it is important to recognise that some of
the CSR commitments reported by top
ten retailers can clearly be interpreted as being driven by business imperatives.

Thus while many of the environmental initiatives addressed in the CSR reports
are designed to reduce energy and water consumption and waste emissions, for
example, they also reduce costs. In a similar vein the retailers CSR workplace
commitments focusing, for example, upon good working conditions and
remuneration, health and safety at work and training and management
development all help to promote stability, security, loyalty and efficiency within
the workforce.
At the same time growing concerns have been expressed in the UK about the
increasing
concentration of retail power in the hands of a relatively small number of
retailers and about the impact this concentration is said to be having on a wide
range of businesses and on communities and the large retailers claimed
commitments to CSR are increasingly contested.
As investors, trade unions and labour organisations, pressure groups,
governments
and non-governmental organisations become increasingly informed and
demanding, so retailers may need to be able to demonstrate, and evidence, their
CSR commitments and achievements to enhance and retain reputation. A
number of pressure groups, for example, have been critical of large retailers
arguing that their activities are having damaging
effects on the environment, on communities and on the economy and disputing
their credentials as good corporate citizens.
Friends of the Earth, (2005) for example, have argued that one of the UKs
largest retailers is abusing its power by forcing small traders out of business,
destroying the vitality of the high street, bullying suppliers and damaging the
environment. In a similar vein the Tescopoly website, launched early in2006, is
supported by a range of organisations concerned about what they perceive to be
the market distorting powers of the major supermarkets and about the
consequences that their trading practices are having for suppliers, farmers,
overseas
workers, local retailers and the environment. The large retailers vigorously refute
the vast majority of the accusations made against them and they consistently
argue that their continuing growth reflects their success in responding effectively
and efficiently to customer
needs. More specifically many of the top ten retailers are looking to frame their
CSR reporting to communicate their environmental, social and economic policies,
achievements and contributions and to emphasise the transparency and
accountability of their activities.
Conclusion
All of the UKs top ten retailers publicly report on their commitment to CSR on
the Internet though there are marked variations in the character, the content and
the extent of that reporting. Impacts on the environment are again at the fore of
the CSR agenda, followed by marketplace and community issues, with concerns
about the workplace being mentioned
by all, but lacking equal priority and focus. While some of these retailers provide
relatively limited CSR information others offer comprehensive reports and make
a case for locating CSR as an integral element of their core business.
At a strategic level these retailers essentially argue that by integrating CSR into
their businesses they will not only be better placed to provide long term growth
and financial security for all stakeholders but also to maintain or enhance their
market position and reputation, and Curran (2003), for example, has explored
the link between corporate
social responsibility and financial performance and competitiveness. Finally it
should be stressed that in some ways CSR reports and information emphasise

the retailers aspirations which may not always be fully reflected in everyday
operations within a fiercely competitive
business environment. The tensions between the aspirations and the realities of
CSR will provide fertile, though probably contested, ground for future enquiry and
research.

CONCLUSION, IMPLICATIONS AND LIMITATIONS

With our study we contribute to the knowledge on the impact of CSR in
the retailing industry
on consumer behavior, which has only seldom been addressed in previous
research and to the
best of our knowledge has not been analyzed in such a comprehensive
manner, covering all six domains of CSR activities. Our study on CSRs
impact on consumers purchasing behavior is in line with the research that
generally suggests that the influence on companies market performance
is positive in terms of affecting customer loyalty and purchasing behavior.
We could reconfirm this for the retailing industry. Even though we showed
in this study that CSR is more important as a direct factor of influence on
consumers purchasing behavior while customer loyalty is less affected, all
in all, the positive impact on consumer behavior is affirmed. On the other
hand, our results show that perceived retailer attributes are more
important for consumers loyalty intentions while retailers CSR activities
are more important in terms of their impact on purchasing behavior. This
can be an indication that CSR activities while they with no doubt are of
high importance for consumer behavior have
a more short-term effect on consumer behavior and thus, are less
sustainable and have to be kept up to date by the retailers to retain
the impact on consumers purchasing behavior.
Generally, our study of CSRs impact on consumer behavior also reveals
that consumers do
not seem to be fully aware of all facets and all CSR activities companies
are engaged in. This is reflected in the mean values of the CSR perception
scales. Additionally, not all domains of CSR are of equal importance. Most
important seem to be (non-) domestic sourcing (e.g. not selling products
that originate from manufacturers that violate human rights), employee
support and product and assortment aspects (e.g. product safety issues).
The results indicate that (permanent) communication of CSR activities,
highlighting the
most important CSR domains, both at the point of sale and in general
marketing communications is important to keep consumers informed
about the companies activities. Our study reveals that while retailers
engage highly in communicating their CSR activities, these CSR activities,
however, in some cases are not perceived by the consumers. Also, our
study indicates that CSR communication activities are of high importance
for company success with the results from our survey accentuating that
honesty, sincerity and credibility of communication activities are of key
importance. As with all research, our study is constrained by certain
limitations, thus implying areas for further research. The limitations
mainly refer to the focus of our analysis on the impact of positive CSR
activities on company performance and consumer behavior. Even though
in the society, usually negative aspects of retailers behavior are

discussed in public and favorable behavior is less present in the media

and negative behavior of companies which violates social norms is
believed to exert higher influence on consumer behavior (e.g. Yoon,
Grhan-Canli, and Schwarz 2006), we did
not include aspects of violation of social norms in our study. Also, we only
included a limited set of retailer attributes in our study and only analyzed
them in summary. We therefore could not derive detailed information on
trade-offs between perceived CSR activities and specific retail marketing
mix instruments such as price or convenience in terms of their influence
on consumer behavior.
This clearly indicates an area for future research.
Also, other factors of influence such as situational variables, additional
personal characteristics, etc. should be analyzed. This is important
because especially in the area of CSR, specific incidents such as the
violation of employee rights or food scandals are believed to exert high
(situational) influences on consumer behavior, sometimes showing longterm after-effects. Other limitations relate to the fact that we conducted
our empirical study across retail sectors and did not analyze differences
between these sectors in detail (mainly because of the limited sample
size). Future research also should analyze if our results are of general
relevance and what differences exist relating to the specific categories in
the consumer goods industry. A possible limitation of our study also could
result from the retail context (retailing in Germany) in which our study was
conducted. Thus, in future research, the relationships should be tested in
other countries.

Bilography
Dr. Rita Khatri, INSIGHT INTO SOME CSR INITIATVES OF INDIAN
ORGANISED RETAILERS Abhinav international Monthly Refereed
Journal of Research In Management & Technology Volume II, August13
ISSN 2320-0073
Dartey Kwasi, Amponsah Kwesi Corporate Social Responsibility in Ghana
International Journal of Business and Social Science Vol. 2 No. 17 www.ijbssnet.com
Jones Peter, Wynn martin,Comfort Daphne,Corporate Social
Responsibility and UK retailers Issues in Social and Environmental Accounting
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Hanna Schramm-Klein Corporate Social Responsibility of Retail Companies:

Is it relevant for Consumers Purchasing Behavior?
Erica van Herpen, Joost M.E. Pennings, Matthew Meulenberg Consumers evaluations of
socially responsible activities in retailing