Millennials’ Purchasing Response to CSR Behavior

This work explores millennials’ attitudes toward corporate social responsibility (CSR) behaviors relative to other product/firm attributes. More specifically, this research tests millennials’ willingness to pay a premium for positive CSR products, and it investigates if CSR typology influences that buying decision. A shopping simulation survey employing choice-based conjoint analysis and maximum difference scaling was developed and administered to university business students. Results indicate that certain millennials regard a firm’s CSR behavior to be substantially more important than six other product attributes (including price and quality) when making a purchase decision. Further, analysis demonstrates that for an article of clothing, millennials can show a preference for higher priced positive CSR options over lower priced negative CSR combinations, and may be willing to pay 25% more than the least expensive options. Specifically, it appears that the philanthropic typology of CSR behavior may be most favored by millennials.