The effects of corporate social responsibility as market signals on consumer purchase intention and advertising skepticism in the fast fashion industry

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Volume Title

School of Business | Bachelor's thesis

Date

2020

Department

Major/Subject

Mcode

Degree programme

(Mikkeli) Bachelor’s Program in International Business

Language

en

Pages

44 + 9

Series

Abstract

Objectives Consumers who are becoming increasingly aware of a firm’s general practices tend to buy products that are environmentally friendly. Thus, the main objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of CSR perception on purchase intention and skepticism in relation to the market signals in the fast-fashion industry. In addition, the conceptualization of the signaling theory and belief in a just-world theory was presented through the creation of an advertisement that allowed the respondents to contribute to local producers through a charitable donation. Summary A quantitative survey was conducted where two sets of H&M advertisements were presented to the respondents (N= 233); one pertaining to verbal information related to the product and the other with numerical information either 67% or 70% recycled content and 20% or 50% contribution amount attempting to engage the consumer in the firm’s CSR activities. The participants’ purchase intention and advertising skepticism were measured both after the first and second advertisements. Conclusions Results indicated that CSR perception is a significant predictor of purchase intention and skepticism towards advertising (p<0.05). In addition, while there is a significant impact of numerical market signals on the purchase intention and skepticism of a consumer (p<0.05), the interaction between the recycled content and contribution towards the donation factor is nonsignificant (p>0.05).

Description

Thesis advisor

Shukla, Paurav

Keywords

CSR, fast fashion, market signals, purchase intention, skepticism, signalling theory, belief in a just world theory

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