This study is about the impact of corporate social responsibility activities regarding CI(corporate image) and CR(corporate reputation). The purpose of this study is, first, to understand how consumers view corporate social responsibility activities. ...
This study is about the impact of corporate social responsibility activities regarding CI(corporate image) and CR(corporate reputation). The purpose of this study is, first, to understand how consumers view corporate social responsibility activities. Secondly, it is to understand how corporate social responsibility activities impact CI. Thirdly, it is to understand how corporations' social responsibility activities impact CR.
The study model in this study is divided into two parts: the corporate social responsibility activities and the performance of these activities.
Corporate social responsibility activities consist of three categories; they are social cultural resource-based activities, social indirect resource-based activities, and economic activities. Social cultural resource-based activities includeculture, art, sports, education, supporting scholarship, donation, charities, environmental activities, and social welfare, etc. Social indirect resource-based activities include supporting programs, supporting operation expenses, professional service, counseling and consulting activities, community development. Economic social responsibility activities include economic development, protecting consumers' rights, advertisement, and marketing activities.
The performance of social responsibility activities is comprised of CI & CR. CI includes social responsibility, willingness of consumers to purchase products, credibility of corporations, and external reputation. CR includes corporate identity, management strategy, and corporate communication.
The results of this study can be summarized as follows:
First, a statistically significant difference exists among different com- panies. Regarding corporate social responsibility activities, Samsung, SK, and Posco have shown better results among ten companies including LG, Hyundai Motor, KT, Kyobo, Eland, GS Caltex, Yoohan Kimberly.
Secondly, we verified the correlation between corporate social responsibilities from CI and the all three categories of corporate social responsibility activities. According to the results, economic activities have positive impact on corporate social responsibilities, while social cultural resource- based activities and social indirect resource-based activities do not. Another verification of the correlation between the willingness of consumers to purchase products and the corporate social responsibility activities shows that economic activities positively impact the willingness to purchase, while social cultural resource-based activities and social indirect resource-based activities do not. The correlation between the credibility of corporations and the corporate social responsibility activities shows that social cultural resource-based activities and economic activities have a positive impact, while social indirect resource-based activities do not. The correlation between external reputation and the three categories of corporate social responsibility activities shows that economic activities have positive impact, while social cultural resource-based activities and social indirect resource-based activities do not.
Thirdly, we verified the correlation between corporate identity from CR and the three categories of corporate social responsibility activities. Accor- ding to the results, economic activities show positive impact on corporate identity, while social cultural resource-based activities and social indirect resource-based activities do not. The correlation between management strategy and the corporate social responsibility activities shows thateconomical activities have positive impacts, while social cultural resource-based activities and social indirect resource-based activities do not. The correlation between corporate communication and the corporate social responsibility activities shows that economic activities have positive impact, while social cultural resource-based activities and social indirect resource-based activities do not.
Nowadays, the expectation that corporations must fulfill social responsibilities is widespread among consumers, posing a new challenge for our corporations. Many companies are conducting their social responsibility activities dynamically, but most consumers are not aware of it. Therefore, aggressive PR is as crucial as conducting activities itself. This is in the same line with the fact that many corporations increase their investments in culture and arts to build their positive Corporate Images. However, based on the results of this study, we could conclude that the most priority should be placed on economic social responsibility activities which are the very basic category of social responsibility activities.
Although this study mainly focused on the social responsibility activities of conglomerates, it is very necessary for medium and small-sized corporations to conduct systematically the active and dynamic social responsibility activities with the highlight of their unique strengths in the long term.