How do Retailers’ CSR Business Activities affect Customers in Korea?

Purpose - Compared with the past when customers regarded a price factor as one of the most important criteria when choosing a retailer as a shopping destination, they seem to show different attitudes toward retailers in recent. This research, therefore, aims to explore how Korean customers respond to the CSR business activities provided by retailers. Research design, data, and methodology - The authors have developed the 6 hypotheses based on the literature review and adopted the 4 hypotheses after removing the 2 hypotheses through discriminant validity analysis. Results - Amongst the 4 hypotheses selected, H1 (community support), H3 (environment protection) and H6 (trading with unethical suppliers) related to a retailer's CSR business practices are accepted, whilst H4 (product issues) is rejected. Surprisingly, Korean customers are not interested in a product safety issue, when deciding a shopping store. Conclusions - Rather than emphasizing cheaper prices to attract new customers or maintain existing ones, it is demonstrated through the research that retailers have to pay their attention to their CSR activities. For a retailer's CSR practices, the retailer's social role has become more important than ever before, from a customer's point of view.