Understanding Digital Social Responsibility in the Social Media Context: Evidence from Thailand
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.26668/businessreview/2022.v7i1.257Keywords:
Digital Social Responsibility, Customer Perception and Behaviors, Social Media, University studentsAbstract
Purpose: Organizations across the world consider social responsibility to be one of their most important strategic obligations. In the digital era like nowadays, firms have transformed social responsibility programs into digital platforms - digital social responsibility (DSR). The purpose of this study is to see how DSR affects online word of mouth (Online WOM) and purchasing intent (PI) in the setting of social media.
Methodology: Data were collected via an online survey among a sample of 157 students from higher education institutions in Thailand. The proposed hypotheses were analyzed and evaluated using structural equation modelling (SEM) in this study.
Findings: The findings revealed that customers' perceptions (CPN) and online WOM are highly influenced by perceived DSR. CPN slightly mediated the link between DSR and online WOM, and totally mediated the relationship between DSR and PI, according to the mediation analysis.
Research, Practical & Social implications: Our analysis verifies the influence of DSR on customers' perceptions and online WOM, despite the fact that few previous studies have looked into the impact of DSR on online WOM and PI. This empirical study can help managers better grasp the effects of DSR on consumer perceptions and online WOM via social media.
Originality: This study is a pioneering attempt to test the applicability of the DSR activities in social media context on customer’s perception and behavior. The findings should also motivate businesses to conduct DSR activities in order to improve favorable consumer perceptions and spread positive word of mouth about their businesses.
Downloads
References
Abzari, M., Ghassemi, R. A., & Vosta, L. N. (2014). Analysing the effect of social media on brand attitude and purchase intention: The case of Iran Khodro Company. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 143, 822-826. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.07.483
Anderson, J. C., & Gerbing, D. W. (1988). Structural equation modeling in practice: A review and recommended two-step approach. Psychological Bulletin, 103(3), 411. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.103.3.411
Awang, Z. (2015). SEM made simple: A gentle approach to learning Structural Equation Modeling. Selangor, Malaysia: MPWS Rich Publication.
Bhattacharya, C. B., & Sen, S. (2004). Doing better at doing good: When, why, and how consumers respond to corporate social initiatives. California Management Review, 47(1), 9-24. https://doi.org/10.2307/41166284
Bianchi, E., Bruno, J. M., & Sarabia-Sanchez, F. J. (2019). The impact of perceived CSR on corporate reputation and purchase intention. European Journal of Management and Business Economics. https://doi.org/10.1108/EJMBE-12-2017-0068
Boone, L. E., & Kurtz, D. L. (2004). Contemporary Marketing (15th/ed.). Mason, OH: Thomson South-Westem Publishing.
Butt, I. (2016). Corporate social responsibility and consumer buying behavior in emerging market: A mixed method study. International Journal of Business and Management, 11(7), 211. https://doi.org/10.5539/ijbm.v11n7p211
Camilleri, M. A. (2019). The SMEs’ technology acceptance of digital media for stakeholder engagement. Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development. https://doi.org/10.1108/JSBED-02-2018-0042
Carroll, A. B. (1979). A three-dimensional conceptual model of corporate performance. Academy of Management Review, 4(4), 497-505. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.1979.4498296
Chae, M. J. (2020). The effects of message tone and formats of CSR messages on engagement in social media. The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics, and Business, 7(10), 501-511. https://doi.org/10.13106/jafeb.2020.vol7.no10.501
Chu, S. C., & Chen, H. T. (2019). Impact of consumers' corporate social responsibility‐related activities in social media on brand attitude, electronic word‐of‐mouth intention, and purchase intention: A study of Chinese consumer behavior. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 18(6), 453-462. https://doi.org/10.1002/cb.1784
Creyer, E. H., & Ross Jr, W. T. (1997). Tradeoffs between price and quality: How a value index affects. Journal of Consumer Affairs, 31(2), 280-302. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-6606.1997.tb00392.x
Du, S., & Vieira, E. T. (2012). Striving for legitimacy through corporate social responsibility: Insights from oil companies. Journal of Business Ethics, 110(4), 413-427. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-012-1490-4
Eberle, D., Berens, G., & Li, T. (2013). The impact of interactive corporate social responsibility communication on corporate reputation. Journal of Business Ethics, 118(4), 731-746. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-013-1957-y
Farzin, M., & Fattahi, M. (2018). eWOM through social networking sites and impact on purchase intention and brand image in Iran. Journal of Advances in Management Research. https://doi.org/10.1108/JAMR-05-2017-0062
Fatma, M., Ruiz, A. P., Khan, I., & Rahman, Z. (2020). The effect of CSR engagement on eWOM on social media. International Journal of Organizational Analysis. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOA-10-2019-1895
Golob, U., Elving, W. J., Nielsen, A. E., Thomsen, C., Schultz, F., Podnar, K., & Colleoni, E. (2013). CSR communication strategies for organizational legitimacy in social media. Corporate Communications: An International Journal. https://doi.org/10.1108/13563281311319508
Green, T., & Peloza, J. (2014). Finding the right shade of green: The effect of advertising appeal type on environmentally friendly consumption. Journal of Advertising, 43(2), 128-141. https://doi.org/10.1080/00913367.2013.834805
Hennig-Thurau, T., Gwinner, K. P., Walsh, G., & Gremler, D. D. (2004). Electronic word-of-mouth via consumer-opinion platforms: what motivates consumers to articulate themselves on the internet?. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 18(1), 38-52. https://doi.org/10.1002/dir.10073
Herrero, A., & Martínez, P. (2020). Determinants of electronic word-of-mouth on social networking sites about negative news on CSR. Journal of Business Ethics, 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-020-04466-9
Kakirala, A. K., & Singh, D. P. (2020). The Mediating Role of Social Media in Tourism: An eWOM Approach. The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics, and Business, 7(11), 381-391. https://doi.org/10.13106/jafeb.2020.vol7.no11.381
Kline, R. B. (2016). Principles and Practice of Structural Equation Modeling (4th ed.). New York, NY: The Guilford Press.
Kucukemiroglu, S., & Kara, A. (2015). Online word-of-mouth communication on social networking sites: An empirical study of Facebook users. International Journal of Commerce and Management, 25(1), 2-20. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCoMA-11-2012-0070
Kwok, L., Mao, Z., & Huang, Y. K. (2019). Consumers’ electronic word-of-mouth behavioral intentions on Facebook: Does message type have an effect?. Tourism and Hospitality Research, 19(3), 296-307. https://doi.org/10.1177/1467358417742684
Lacey, R., & Kennett-Hensel, P. A. (2010). Longitudinal effects of corporate social responsibility on customer relationships. Journal of Business Ethics, 97(4), 581-597. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-010-0526-x
Lee, J. W., & Kwag, M. (2017). Corporate marketing strategy using social media: a case study of the Ritz-Carlton Seoul. Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business, 4(1), 79-86. https://doi.org/jafeb.2017.vol4.no1.79
Leesa-Nguansuk, S. (2019, February 19). Thailand Tops Global Digital Rankings. https://www.bangkokpost.com/tech/1631402/thailand-tops-global-digital-rankings
Lim, X. J., Radzol, A. M., Cheah, J., & Wong, M. W. (2017). The impact of social media influencers on purchase intention and the mediation effect of customer attitude. Asian Journal of Business Research, 7(2), 19-36. https://doi.org/10.14707/ajbr.170035
Litvin, S. W., Goldsmith, R. E., & Pan, B. (2008). Electronic word-of-mouth in hospitality and tourism management. Tourism Management, 29(3), 458-468. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2007.05.011
Öberseder, M., Schlegelmilch, B. B., & Murphy, P. E. (2013). CSR practices and consumer perceptions. Journal of Business Research, 66(10), 1839-1851. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2013.02.005
Phuong, N. N. D., & Dat, N. T. (2017). The effect of country-of-origin on customer purchase intention: A study of functional products in Vietnam. The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics, and Business, 4(3), 75-83. https://doi.org/10.13106/jafeb.2017.vol4.no3.75
Rovinelli, R. J., Hambleton, R. K. (1977). On the use of content specialists in the assessment of criterion-referenced test item validity. Dutch Journal for Educational Research, 2, 49–60
See-To, E. W., & Ho, K. K. (2014). Value co-creation and purchase intention in social network sites: The role of electronic Word-of-Mouth and trust–A theoretical analysis. Computers in Human Behavior, 31, 182-189. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2013.10.013
Tao, W., & Wilson, C. (2015). Fortune 1000 communication strategies on Facebook and Twitter. Journal of Communication Management, 19(3), 208-223. https://doi.org/10.1108/JCOM-01-2013-0004
Tien, D. H., Rivas, A. A. A., & Liao, Y. K. (2019). Examining the influence of customer-to-customer electronic word-of-mouth on purchase intention in social networking sites. Asia Pacific Management Review, 24(3), 238-249. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apmrv.2018.06.003
Turner, R. C., & Carlson, L. (2003). Indexes of item-objective congruence for multidimensional items. International journal of testing, 3(2), 163-171. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327574IJT0302_5
We are Social. (2020). Digital in 2020: Global digital overview. https://wearesocial.com/digital-2020
________________________________________
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2022 Wilert Puriwat , Suchart Tripopsakul
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish in this journal agree to the following terms: the author(s) authorize(s) the publication of the text in the journal;
The author(s) ensure(s) that the contribution is original and unpublished and that it is not in the process of evaluation by another journal;
The journal is not responsible for the views, ideas and concepts presented in articles, and these are the sole responsibility of the author(s);
The publishers reserve the right to make textual adjustments and adapt texts to meet with publication standards.
Authors retain copyright and grant the journal the right to first publication, with the work simultaneously licensed under the Creative Commons Atribuição NãoComercial 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which allows the work to be shared with recognized authorship and initial publication in this journal.
Authors are allowed to assume additional contracts separately, for non-exclusive distribution of the version of the work published in this journal (e.g. publish in institutional repository or as a book chapter), with recognition of authorship and initial publication in this journal.
Authors are allowed and are encouraged to publish and distribute their work online (e.g. in institutional repositories or on a personal web page) at any point before or during the editorial process, as this can generate positive effects, as well as increase the impact and citations of the published work (see the effect of Free Access) at http://opcit.eprints.org/oacitation-biblio.html
