Embracing CSR in pro-social relationship marketing program: understanding driving forces of positive consumer responses

Purpose – This purpose of this article is to identify important factors that influence consumers’ responses to pro-social loyalty programs (pro-social LPs). These positive marketing programs reflect represent an emerging phenomenon in relationship marketing associated with companies’ corporate social responsibility (CSR). Design/methodology/approach – The test of the proposed model relied on data from 350 US consumers, obtained through web-based experiments. Data analysis was performed using structural equation modeling. Findings – The results showed that consumers’ CSR-driven cognition (CSR beliefs) and reciprocal emotion (feeling of gratitude) enhance their attitudes toward pro-social LPs and increased participation intentions. The perceived value of pro-social LPs also improved consumer attitudes and participation intentions. Practical implications – Pro-social LPs offer a noteworthy approach to relationship marketing that benefits both service providers that engage in CSR and society overall. Originality/value – This study contributes to the literature on LP and CSR by investigating the roles of CSR-driven cognition, reciprocal emotion and value perception in explaining consumers’ responses to an innovative approach of LPs and pro-social LPs.