| Abstract [eng] |
Relevance of the topic. The changes brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic have led to a more in-depth scientific debate on the importance of corporate social responsibility and its impact on the organisation's reputation. The above-mentioned crisis period has led to increased consumer attention to the social activities of organizations and increased emotions about the corporate responsibility decisions of organizations that are unacceptable or insincere to them. In other words, there is a growing trend in consumer expectations for corporate social responsibility in the hope of greater transparency and fairness in organizations. The problem of the research. Despite the active debate on corporate social responsibility and its benefits to the organization and its reputation at a theoretical level, there is a lack of research on the links between social responsibility and reputation assessment from a consumer perspective during the pandemic. The paper formulates a problematic question - what are the links between the organization's social responsibility and reputation assessment from the consumer' s point of view during the pandemic? The object of the research. The object of this study is the links between the evaluation of corporate social responsibility and reputation from a consumer perspective during the pandemic. The aim of the research. The aim of this study is to theoretically and empirically determine the links between the evaluation of corporate social responsibility and reputation from a consumer perspective during the pandemic. The objectives of the research. In order to achieve the goal of the work, the following tasks are used: 1. To substantiate the relevance and problematic aspects of the links between the corporate social responsibility and reputation during the pandemic. 2. Carry out a theoretical study of the organization's social responsibility, reputation and stakeholder expectations, revealing the conceptual essence of social responsibility and reputation and consumer expectations of the organization regarding its social responsibility in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. 3. To develop a conceptual model and research methodology that conveys the links between the corporate social responsibility and reputation assessment from the consumer's point of view during the pandemic. 4. Empirically examine the links between the corporate social responsibility and reputation assessment from the consumer's point of view during the pandemic in the case of the Rimi retail chain and provide recommendations to marketers based on the obtained results. 5. To define and summarize the possibilities of applying the model based on the results of theoretical and empirical studies, the limitations of the research and other research directions. Research methods. In this work, the analysis of the problem, the analysis of the scientific literature is performed and it is used for further research. The survey was chosen as the quantitative data collection method for the empirical research. Results. Based on the insights and results of the discussed theoretical and empirical research, a conceptual research model is developed, which is based on the links between the assessment of the corporate social responsibility and reputation from the consumer's point of view during the pandemic. The case of the Rimi retail chain is chosen to showcase the empirical study. Empirical research includes quantitative research - survey. The results of the study are based on the answers of 446 respondents. The study found that there are positive statistically significant links between the evaluation of corporate social responsibility and reputation from a consumer perspective during the pandemic. For more in-depth analysis, both variables are divided into levels and dimensions. Corporate responsibility is divided into ethical, philanthropic, legal and economic responsibility, and reputation is divided into familiarity, favorability, trust, and advocacy. The research showed that ethical responsibility during a pandemic affects most levels of reputation - favoritism, trust and advocacy. This gives the idea that the pursuit of ethical responsibility has become a priority for consumers with a stronger connection to the organization during the pandemic, as they expect transparency and fairness from the organizations. Legal and economic responsibility, meanwhile, has a statistically significant impact at weaker levels of reputation when a relationship with an organization is still in its infancy. This distribution suggests that, in order to improve reputation in a time of crisis such as a pandemic, organizations should focus their economic and legal responsibility efforts on those consumers whose reputation is even weaker and ethical responsibility efforts on those consumers who are already vulnerable. having reached the highest levels of reputation. The empirical study found no statistically significant moderation of the links between social responsibility and reputation evaluation from consumer expectations during the COVID-19 pandemic. The only statistically significant moderation is found in the study of how consumer expectations during COVID-19 moderate the impact of ethical responsibility on an organization’s reputation. Ethical responsibility stands out in this empirical study, and it shows that the implementation of ethical responsibility becomes a priority for consumers during a pandemic. The responses from survey respondents also indicated that a large proportion of consumers would agree to pay more after a pandemic and would like to buy more from an organization if it was socially responsible during the pandemic. The main observations are that in times of crisis, organizations should focus the most on ethical, economic and philanthropic responsibilities for those consumers who already feel a stronger connection with the organization if they want to achieve better results. All dimensions of social responsibility can be beneficial for an organization and its reputation, so it is important to think about the relationship you have with your customers and decide which dimension is currently the most relevant to them. |
