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CSR and Service Brand: The Mediating Effect of Brand Identification and Moderating Effect of Service Quality

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Abstract

This article examines the mediation effect of brand identification and the moderating effect of service quality (SQ) on the effects of corporate social responsibility (CSR) association on service brand performance. A survey of customers of mobile telecommunications services was conducted. The study finds, first, that both CSR and SQ have direct effects on brand identification and customer satisfaction and indirect effects on customer satisfaction (via brand identification) and on service brand loyalty (via customer satisfaction and via “brand identification/customer satisfaction”). Second, SQ enhances the effect of CSR on brand identification. This study contributes to the literature by incorporating three perspectives of service brand performance – CSR association, SQ, and brand identification – into one general framework that stresses (a) the mediating role of brand identification in predicting customer satisfaction and service brand loyalty; and (b) the interactive effect of CSR and SQ in predicting brand identification.

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  1. Warwick Business School, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, U.K.

    Hongwei He

  2. Oxford Brookes University Business School, Oxford Brookes University, Wheatley Campus, Oxford, OX33 1HX, U.K.

    Yan Li

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  1. Hongwei He
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Correspondence to Hongwei He.

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He, H., Li, Y. CSR and Service Brand: The Mediating Effect of Brand Identification and Moderating Effect of Service Quality. J Bus Ethics 100, 673–688 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-010-0703-y

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