The Evolution of CSR Research in Consumer Behavior: Insights from Bibliometric Analysis and Systematic Literature Review
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.22399/ijcesen.1226Keywords:
Corporate Social Responsibility, Consumer Behavior, Bibliometric Analysis, Systematic Literature ReviewAbstract
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.
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
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 International Journal of Computational and Experimental Science and Engineering

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.