A BEHAVIORAL SCHEMA TO THE IMPACT OF CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY ON CUSTOMER AND EMPLOYEE RELATIONSHIPS

This paper concerns the study of Corporate Responsibility and its role in building positive attitudes and intentions of customers and employees towards organisations. It adopts a stakeholder perspective to the study of Corporate Responsibility (Waddock 2002; Wood and Jones 1995; Freeman 1984) and conceptualises its impact by positioning it within Fishbein and Ajzen's (1975) generic framework of beliefs, attitudes and intentions (the theory of reasoned action). An empirical research model is developed in which Corporate Responsibility is established as a concept that is expressed in the experiences, observations and beliefs of customers and employees. The concept as defined is a key driver of customer and employee positive attitudes and intentions towards a business. The research model is tested empirically using a quantitative survey design in the context of a financial service organisation in the UK. Data is analysed through application of the Partial Least Squares (PLS) structural equation modelling technique. The findings indicate that the Corporate Responsibility-related experiences, observations and beliefs of customers and employees significantly impact the development of positive attitudes and intentions towards the organisation. The findings also indicate that beliefs about Corporate Responsibility partially mediate the relationships between experiences, observations and positive attitudes.