The impact of corporate social responsibility on organizational buying decision-making – The case of the Finnish pension insurance industry

Abstract

This thesis aims to provide an understanding of how corporate social responsibility impacts the buying decision-making process in a business-to-business market. The importance of corporate social responsibility has been growing in the past years (Heyward, 2020). Marketers must understand how corporate social responsibility impacts the organizations’ buying decision-making process to be able to design suitable marketing strategies.

The thesis defines corporate social responsibility and organizational buying decision-making process as well as gives an understanding of what influences the decision-making process and how corporate social responsibility activities should be communicated. The context of this thesis is the Finnish pension insurance industry. The data was conducted through qualitative interviews with organizations’ decision-makers.

The findings of the thesis show that corporate social responsibility activities are important for customer companies. B2B firms should carefully plan their corporate social responsibility practices and make sure those are communicated correctly. That ensures that those practices could also bring financial benefits to the firm.