The Evolution of CSR Research in Consumer Behavior: Insights from Bibliometric Analysis and Systematic Literature Review

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.22399/ijcesen.1226

Keywords:

Corporate Social Responsibility, Consumer Behavior, Bibliometric Analysis, Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has emerged as a critical factor in shaping consumer behavior, influencing actions ranging from purchase decisions and brand advocacy to sustainable consumption and crisis response. Despite extensive research, a structured quantitative and qualitative assessment of its scholarly evolution and influence on consumer behavior remains limited. This study addresses this gap through a dual-method investigation: a bibliometric analysis of 456 Scopus-indexed publications (2003–2024) and a systematic literature review (SLR) of the 10 most cited studies within this corpus. The bibliometric analysis maps research trends, identifies leading contributors, and uncovers key thematic areas, while highlighting the global and interdisciplinary nature of CSR research on consumer behavior. The SLR provides deeper insights into how CSR initiatives influence consumer decision-making and behavioral engagement across different industries and contexts. Findings indicate that CSR-driven consumer behaviors are shaped by industry-specific, economic, and cultural factors, with price sensitivity, product quality, and CSR authenticity playing crucial roles. The study also highlights a methodological preference for experimental and regression-based approaches, emphasizing the need for longitudinal and real-world behavioral studies to better capture CSR’s long-term effects. By integrating bibliometric and systematic review approaches, this study provides a comprehensive evaluation of CSR’s impact on consumer behavior. The findings offer valuable insights for businesses, underscoring the importance of strategic, transparent, and context-driven CSR initiatives.

Author Biographies

Angad Anand, Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore

Angad Anand is a full-time PhD research scholar under the supervision of Professor N. Sundaram at Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT), Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India. He was awarded a Gold Medal for his M.Com (Business Management) degree in 2021 from Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi. In 2019, he was appointed as a delegate for the World Governance Expedition - Young Leaders Program, organized by the Embassy of Israel, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Israel), and Vision India Foundation, New Delhi. Additionally, in 2017, he was selected as a sponsored exchange student to represent Shyam Lal College, University of Delhi at Turku University of Applied Sciences, Finland under the Finnish Government’s fully funded Student Research Exchange Program, Responsible Business Professionals between India and Finland Trade. He has been invited as a speaker at nine national and international events, and his research experience includes supervising two industrial research projects. 

N. Sundaram, Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore

N. Sundaram is a Professor in the Department of Commerce, School of Social Sciences and Languages, Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT), Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India. With 42 Scopus-indexed publications to his credit, he has successfully secured research grants for four projects from esteemed organizations such as the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR), New Delhi and the Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA), New Delhi. He has guided nine scholars to complete their PhDs, with five more currently pursuing their doctoral studies under his supervision. His expertise has earned him invitations to serve as a speaker at six national and international events. He has an h-index of 4 and consistently receives cash awards from VIT in recognition of his contributions to research in the Scopus and Web of Science databases.

References

Latapí Agudelo, M. A., Jóhannsdóttir, L., & Davídsdóttir, B. (2019). A literature review of the history and evolution of corporate social responsibility. International Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility, 4(1), 1. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40991-018-0039-y

Carroll, A. B. (2021). Corporate Social Responsibility: Perspectives on the CSR Construct’s Development and Future. Business & Society, 60(6), 1258–1278. https://doi.org/10.1177/00076503211001765

Carroll, A. B. (1999). Corporate Social Responsibility: Evolution of a Definitional Construct. Business & Society, 38(3), 268–295. https://doi.org/10.1177/000765039903800303

Lantos, G. P. (2001). The boundaries of strategic corporate social responsibility. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 18(7), 595–632. https://doi.org/10.1108/07363760110410281

Garriga, E., & Melé, D. (2004). Corporate Social Responsibility Theories: Mapping the Territory. Journal of Business Ethics, 53(1), 51–71. https://doi.org/10.1023/B:BUSI.0000039399.90587.34

Werther, W. B., & Chandler, D. (2005). Strategic corporate social responsibility as global brand insurance. Business Horizons, 48(4), 317–324. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2004.11.009

Porter, M. E., & Kramer, M. R. (2006, December). Strategy and Society: The Link Between Competitive Advantage and Corporate Social Responsibility. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2006/12/strategy-and-society-the-link-between-competitive-advantage-and-corporate-social-responsibility

Martínez, P., Pérez, A., & Rodríguez del Bosque, I. (2014). Exploring the Role of CSR in the Organizational Identity of Hospitality Companies: A Case from the Spanish Tourism Industry. Journal of Business Ethics, 124(1), 47–66. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-013-1857-1

Martínez-Ferrero, J., Banerjee, S., & García-Sánchez, I. M. (2016). Corporate Social Responsibility as a Strategic Shield Against Costs of Earnings Management Practices. Journal of Business Ethics, 133(2), 305–324.

Kim, J., & Park, T. (2020). How corporate social responsibility (CSR) saves a company: The role of gratitude in buffering vindictive consumer behavior from product failures. Journal of Business Research, 117, 461–472. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.06.024

Contini, M., Annunziata, E., Rizzi, F., & Frey, M. (2020). Exploring the influence of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) domains on consumers’ loyalty: An experiment in BRICS countries. Journal of Cleaner Production, 247, 119158. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.119158

Deng, X., & Xu, Y. (2017). Consumers’ Responses to Corporate Social Responsibility Initiatives: The Mediating Role of Consumer–Company Identification. Journal of Business Ethics, 142(3), 515–526. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-015-2742-x

Ahmad, N., Ahmad, A., & Siddique, I. (2023). Responsible Tourism and Hospitality: The Intersection of Altruistic Values, Human Emotions, and Corporate Social Responsibility. Administrative Sciences, 13(4). https://doi.org/10.3390/admsci13040105

Liu, Y., Naveed, R. T., Kanwal, S., Tahir Khan, M., Dalain, A. F., & Lan, W. (2023). Psychology in action: Social media communication, CSR, and consumer behavior management in banking. PLOS ONE, 18(8), e0289281. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0289281

Mou, W., Rasoolimanesh, S. M., & Chuah, S. H.-W. (2024). Beyond taste: examining sustainable value, perceived CSR and consumer behaviour in the restaurant industry. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Insights, 7(2), 844–867. https://doi.org/10.1108/JHTI-07-2023-0446

Anand, A., & Sundaram, N. (2025). The Impact of CSR-Induced Happiness on Sustainable Consumption Behavior (SDG 12): Exploring the Mediating Role of Customer-Company Identification. Journal of Lifestyle and SDGs Review, 5(1), e04209–e04209. https://doi.org/10.47172/2965-730X.SDGsReview.v5.n01.pe04209

Nugroho, D. P. D., Hsu, Y., Hartauer, C., & Hartauer, A. (2024). Investigating the Interconnection between Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG), and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Strategies: An Examination of the Influence on Consumer Behavior. Sustainability, 16(2). https://doi.org/10.3390/su16020614

Rathore, P., Saha, E., Chakraborty, S., & Tiwari, A. K. (2023). Assessing impact of consumer perceived CSR on consumer attitude and purchase behaviour in retail segment: a stakeholder theory perspective. Society and Business Review, 18(2), 264–295. https://doi.org/10.1108/SBR-10-2021-0207

Singh, A., Gundala, R. R., & Singh, S. (2023). An empirical examination of the link between CSR and consumer purchase behaviour. International Journal of Services Technology and Management, 28(5–6), 316–334. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJSTM.2023.135061

Tahssili, N., & Shahhoseini, M. A. (2023). The effect of consumers’ perception of CSR activities on their purchasing behavior: the case of the Iranian automotive market. International Journal of Ethics and Systems, 39(2), 361–378. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOES-01-2022-0011

White, C. L., Nielsen, A. E., & Valentini, C. (2017). CSR research in the apparel industry: A quantitative and qualitative review of existing literature. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 24(5), 382–394. https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.1413

Alatawi, I. A., Ntim, C. G., Zras, A., & Elmagrhi, M. H. (2023). CSR, financial and non-financial performance in the tourism sector: A systematic literature review and future research agenda. International Review of Financial Analysis, 89, 102734. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.irfa.2023.102734

Iyer, G. R., & Jarvis, L. (2019). CSR adoption in the multinational hospitality context. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 31(6), 2376–2393. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-06-2018-0451

Nguyen, N., Priporas, C.-V., McPherson, M., & Manyiwa, S. (2023). CSR-related consumer scepticism: A review of the literature and future research directions. Journal of Business Research, 169, 114294. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2023.114294

Song, B., & Dong, C. (2023). What do we know about CSR authenticity? A systematic review from 2007 to 2021. Social Responsibility Journal, 19(3), 525–548. https://doi.org/10.1108/SRJ-07-2021-0276

Yassin, Y., & Beckmann, M. (2024). CSR and employee outcomes: a systematic literature review. Management Review Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11301-023-00389-7

Akhouri, A., & Chaudhary, R. (2019). Employee perspective on CSR: a review of the literature and research agenda. Journal of Global Responsibility, 10(4), 355–381. https://doi.org/10.1108/JGR-11-2018-0057

Onkila, T., & Sarna, B. (2022). A systematic literature review on employee relations with CSR: State of art and future research agenda. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 29(2), 435–447. https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.2210

Donthu, N., Kumar, S., Mukherjee, D., Pandey, N., & Lim, W. M. (2021). How to conduct a bibliometric analysis: An overview and guidelines. Journal of Business Research, 133, 285–296. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.04.070

Khan, M. A., Pattnaik, D., Ashraf, R., Ali, I., Kumar, S., & Donthu, N. (2021). Value of special issues in the journal of business research: A bibliometric analysis. Journal of Business Research, 125, 295–313. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.12.015

J. Reshma & G Velmurugan. (2024). Organisational and Job Satisfaction: A Decade of Research Trends, Systematic Mapping, and Bibliometric Analysis. International Journal of Computational and Experimental Science and Engineering, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.22399/ijcesen.741

M.K. Sarjas & G. Velmurugan. (2025). Bibliometric Insight into Artificial Intelligence Application in Investment. International Journal of Computational and Experimental Science and Engineering, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.22399/ijcesen.864

K. M. Mohammed Radeef & G. Velmurugan. (2025). Mapping the Landscape of Green Investment Research. International Journal of Computational and Experimental Science and Engineering, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.22399/ijcesen.863

Becker-Olsen, K. L., Cudmore, B. A., & Hill, R. P. (2006). The impact of perceived corporate social responsibility on consumer behavior. Journal of Business Research, 59(1), 46–53. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2005.01.001

Mohr, L. A., Webb, D. J., & Harris, K. E. (2001). Do Consumers Expect Companies to be Socially Responsible? The Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility on Buying Behavior. Journal of Consumer Affairs, 35(1), 45–72. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-6606.2001.tb00102.x

Klein, J., & Dawar, N. (2004). Corporate social responsibility and consumers’ attributions and brand evaluations in a product–harm crisis. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 21(3), 203–217. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijresmar.2003.12.003

Wagner, T., Lutz, R. J., & Weitz, B. A. (2009). Corporate Hypocrisy: Overcoming the Threat of Inconsistent Corporate Social Responsibility Perceptions. Journal of Marketing, 73(6), 77–91. https://doi.org/10.1509/jmkg.73.6.77

Chernev, A., & Blair, S. (2015). Doing Well by Doing Good: The Benevolent Halo of Corporate Social Responsibility. Journal of Consumer Research, 41(6), 1412–1425. https://doi.org/10.1086/680089

Grimmer, M., & Bingham, T. (2013). Company environmental performance and consumer purchase intentions. Strategic Thinking in Marketing, 66(10), 1945–1953. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2013.02.017

Singh, J., De Los Salmones Sanchez, M. D. M. G., & Del Bosque, I. R. (2008). Understanding Corporate Social Responsibility and Product Perceptions in Consumer Markets: A Cross-cultural Evaluation. Journal of Business Ethics, 80(3), 597–611. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-007-9457-6

Kim, M., Yin, X., & Lee, G. (2020). The effect of CSR on corporate image, customer citizenship behaviors, and customers’ long-term relationship orientation. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 88, 102520. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2020.102520

Xie, C., Bagozzi, R. P., & Grønhaug, K. (2019). The impact of corporate social responsibility on consumer brand advocacy: The role of moral emotions, attitudes, and individual differences. Journal of Business Research, 95, 514–530. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2018.07.043

Jermsittiparsert, K., Siam, M., Issa, M., Ahmed, U., & Pahi, M. (2019). Do consumers expect companies to be socially responsible? The impact of corporate social responsibility on buying behavior. Uncertain Supply Chain Management, 7(4), 741–752.

Downloads

Published

2025-03-01

How to Cite

Anand, A., & Sundaram, N. (2025). The Evolution of CSR Research in Consumer Behavior: Insights from Bibliometric Analysis and Systematic Literature Review. International Journal of Computational and Experimental Science and Engineering, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.22399/ijcesen.1226

Issue

Section

Research Article