| Abstract: |
Corporate social responsibility has moved from a peripheral compliance activity to a central plank of brand strategy, and the accumulated research on how CSR shapes brand image and brand trust is now large enough to warrant systematic stocktaking. This review synthesizes empirical and conceptual work published over roughly the last fifteen years on the relationship between CSR initiatives, consumer perception, brand image, and brand trust. Drawing on stakeholder theory, signaling theory, and social identity theory, the review traces how CSR communications are decoded by consumers, when they translate into favorable brand associations, and under what conditions that favorability hardens into durable trust. The survey finds consistent, if modest, positive associations between perceived CSR and brand image across industries, with brand image frequently operating as a mediator between CSR perception and brand trust rather than trust forming directly. Attribution of motive, perceived authenticity, fit between the cause and the firm's core business, and cultural context repeatedly emerge as boundary conditions that either amplify or neutralize the CSR-brand link. Methodologically, the field remains dominated by cross-sectional survey designs and single-country samples, which limits causal inference and generalizability. The review closes by identifying gaps around longitudinal measurement, digital and social-media-mediated CSR communication, and the risk of CSR skepticism, and it proposes directions for future inquiry that integrate behavioral and experimental designs with the existing correlational base. |
