Evaluating the impact of corporate social responsibility programs

This paper critically reviews and analyses the empirical literature relating to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs and the impact they have on the attitudes and behaviours of consumers. Given the increasingly important and influential role that corporations are playing in society, this review considers the contrasting arguments as to whether a well designed and implemented CSR program has any impact. In doing so, this review improves our understanding of the importance of corporate socially responsible action and furthermore, identifies gaps in the field of CSR research that need to be addressed in order to help organisations more effectively adopt CSR programs.