The Relationships Between Corporate Social Responsibility, Customer Intimacy and Customer Citizenship Behavior in the Restaurant Industry

Abstract

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has recently become a popular field of study in terms of customer-centric outcomes for contemporary researchers. The development of CSR activities is a strategic factor for improving customer intimacy (CI) and customer citizenship behavior (CCB) in the restaurant industry. The structure that will be formed because of the reflection of CSR activities on customer behaviors is valuable for both the restaurant and the customers. With this perspective, the purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships between the CSR, CI, and CCB in Izmir province. This study has obtained empirical evidence from 408 restaurant customers in Izmir province. The structural equation modelling was employed to verify the first three hypotheses using statistical software IBM AMOS 24. The mediating effect was examined by employing Model 4 of the PROCESS macro (Version 3.3). The findings reveal that CSR significantly contributes to CI and CI interacts significantly and positively with CCB. The study also extends the CSR and CCB literature through a novel mediation mechanism of CI.