The impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on consumer trust and purchase intention: a case study of condominium development in Bangkok area

Abstract

The primary purpose is to investigate whether CSR has an impact on consumer trust and whether consumer trust has an impact on purchase intention. The above relationships were analyzed through Multiple Linear Regressions. The CSR variables are based on informal interviews with representatives of the three key players (developers, customers, and sales representatives) in the condominium development industry in Bangkok Thailand. As a result, CSR in the context of condominium development comprises of environmental sustainability, local community involvement, and green building design. Consumer trust is composed of disposition- based trust, cognition-based trust, and affect-based trust. The quantitative data was collected from 600 Thai potential buyers of a condominium for their own living and interested in purchasing an environmentally friendly condominium. The implication of this study is that condominium developers should be concerned with environmental issues and motivated to build green buildings. This study found that CSR has a strong positive relationship with consumer trust and consumer trust has a strong positive relationship to purchase intention. As a result of this study, developers should be encouraged to design green buildings that include traditional Thai natural ventilation and offer the green building concept to the condominium market. Thus, the green building design should be part of the planning process for construction. The green building projects will not only lead to energy savings for individual households but also lead to an increase of the consumer’s affective and cognition based trust of the developer. Thus, the condominium developer which focuses on green building designs may have a competitive advantage in the condominium market. This research should be of particular interest to developers who are concerned with flooding in Bangkok and want to accept responsibility for the environmental impact of their buildings. However, this study is limited to the Bangkok area only.