Abstract

Over the last few decades, consumers’ enhanced ethical sensitivity, intensified competition and an intrusive media have led to an increased concern for corporate social responsibility (CSR) in business. To date, the majority of literature addressing this issue has considered CSR from the firm’s point of view. Thus, there is an incomplete understanding of consumers’ engagement in CSR and the means by which they generate information about a company’s CSR practice. This study integrates three different theoretical perspectives that have previously been examined separately, and it argues that consumers’ increased awareness of CSR has lent strong support for companies’ engaging CSR, but relying on marketing alone is not an effective way of conveying a company’s practice of CSR to its consumers.