Measuring the impact of corporate social responsibility practices on brand equity in the banking industry in Bangladesh The mediating effect of corporate image and brand awareness

Purpose - The banking industry in Bangladesh is now conducting business under the growing pressure toconform to every aspect of corporate social responsibility (CSR) for the welfare of their clients and society. The value of CSR practices is attributed to the relationship between corporate image, brand awareness, brand equity (BE), competitive advantage and financial result. The purpose of this paper is to measure the impact of CSR on BE and to establish the moderating impact of corporate image and brand awareness. Design/methodology/approach-Structural equation modeling was used to test the proposed hypotheses using a sample of 200 public and private bank customers in Bangladesh. Findings-The results of this study demonstrated that CSR has a significant direct effect on the corporate image, brand awareness and BE. The results also confirm that corporate image and brand awareness partially mediate the relationship between CSR and BE. Practical implications-The findings indicate that successfully CSR practices will enhance a bank's image in the mind of customers. Customers will feel that they are contributing to social causes because they are receiving services from socially responsible organizations. CSR practices also create customer awareness regarding the financial services provided by a bank. Consequently, good reputation and brand awareness contribute to building strong BE for banks. Originality/value-This research shows the mediating role of brand awareness and corporate image with CSR and BE in the context of the banking industry in Bangladesh which is rarely studied. Therefore, the findings of this study will add value to the existing literature.