South African Bank Consumers’ Perception of Corporate Social Responsibility

Abstract

Aim The research addressed South African bank consumers’ perception of CSR, and the relationship between a bank’s CSR efforts and consumers’ bank choice. Method and Materials A survey was conducted among a convenience sample of bank customers. A link was posted on the researcher’s social media pages and emailed to peers at work and the university where the researcher was a student. The survey included questions which required respondents to rank on a scale of 1-5, statements related to each CSR category. Results It became evident that contrary to Carroll’s CSR framework/pyramid, South African consumers perceive CSR in the following order: Legal, Economic, Philanthropic and Ethical, which could be influenced by inter-alia, South African legislation such as Black Economic Empowerment, the King Code of Corporate Governance and because South African consumers perceive philanthropic responsibilities to be more important than ethical ones. The only CSR category which had a partial influence on consumer support, was philanthropic responsibilities, which is in line with the notion that philanthropy is more highly valued in developing countries. Conclusion South African banks can use the findings from this study to better allocate their CSR resources.