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Corporate social responsibility and customer retention: evidence from the telecommunication industry in Ghana

Otto Afiuc (Business School, Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration, Accra, Ghana)
Samuel K. Bonsu (Business School, Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration, Accra, Ghana)
Franklyn Manu (Business School, Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration, Accra, Ghana)
Casey Brett Knight (Department of Marketing, Logistics and Operations Management, G. Brint Ryan College of Business, University of North Texas, Denton, Texas, USA)
Swati Panda (Department of Marketing and Professional Sales, Coles College of Business, Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, Georgia, USA)
Charles Blankson (Department of Marketing, Logistics, and Operations Management, G. Brint Ryan College of Business, University of North Texas, Denton, Texas, USA)

Journal of Consumer Marketing

ISSN: 0736-3761

Article publication date: 6 October 2020

Issue publication date: 12 January 2021

1504

Abstract

Purpose

Using social exchange theory as a contextual backdrop, this study aims to better understand how corporate social responsibility (CSR) can contribute to customer retention (CR). A conceptual framework is developed to illustrate the proposed relationship and the influence of mediating factors. The telecommunication industry in Ghana is used to operationalize the conceptual framework.

Design/methodology/approach

Qualitative and quantitative data were collected through face-to-face interviews with CSR managers and through a structured questionnaire. The data were analyzed using qualitative analysis and structural equation modeling.

Findings

Findings suggest that CSR, corporate image and service quality have significant relationships with both corporate image and CR. Corporate image also mediates the relationship between CSR, customer value and service quality with that of CR. The authors also find that CSR strengthens the relationship between customer value and service quality with that of corporate image, which subsequently leads to enhanced CR.

Originality/value

Thus far, the mediating variables that help explain and predict the relationship between CSR activities and CR have been overlooked in the extant literature. The results of this study will help fill a critical knowledge gap in marketing and CSR literature.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to Professor Patricia Norberg, Editor of Journal of Consumer Marketing for her guidelines and encouragement throughout the review process. The authors thank the anonymous reviewers for their close reading and constructive criticisms during the review process. The authors acknowledge the managers and the respondents for their time and assistance during our data collection stage. The first author is grateful to Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) for all the support – financial and moral in course of his study at GIMPA. Finally, the authors thank Dr Caitlin Cowan for the copy editing and editorial work on the final manuscript.

Citation

Afiuc, O., Bonsu, S.K., Manu, F., Knight, C.B., Panda, S. and Blankson, C. (2021), "Corporate social responsibility and customer retention: evidence from the telecommunication industry in Ghana", Journal of Consumer Marketing, Vol. 38 No. 1, pp. 15-26. https://doi.org/10.1108/JCM-10-2019-3459

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited

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