
Research on socially conscious consumption or ethical consumerism goes back 40 years from Webster’s theory in 1975, but only recently gain popularity in consumer research and marketing practices. Consumers’ positive perception and attitudes for products deemed ethical or sustainable is expected to encourage firms to adopt CSR into their operations. There is evidence which indicates interest from companies in CSR is becoming a mainstream phenomenon and no longer preserved for niche market segments. Whether CSR companies are a common phenomenon, what do consumers really know about the social responsibilities of companies? How are their buying behaviour influenced by their limited information on companies’ CSR? Does consumers’ perception and attitude of CSR match with their purchasing behaviour? Despite countless research on the connection between CSR and consumer behaviour, it is still a relatively new concept. Increasing evidence reveal consumers are well aware that companies need to be more responsible towards society and the environment whilst seeking profits. Companies also use this to their benefit and see CSR as a marketing tool to help create competitive advantage. Major companies already realize that their socially responsible behaviour will have a direct impact on how consumers perceive them; whether this will affect actual purchase behaviour is debatable. This research paper seeks to investigate whether CSR affect consumers’ buying behaviour within the toy industry. It will go further to discover which CSR element is more important to consumers; for identifying CSR layers, economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic variables have been considered under Carroll's definition. Lastly the paper will research whether non-CSR element such as price and quality plays more of an important role than CSR.
| selected citations These citations are derived from selected sources. This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically). | 0 | |
| popularity This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network. | Average | |
| influence This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically). | Average | |
| impulse This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network. | Average |
