Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility on Consumer Purchase Intention in Saudi Arabia: Moderating Role of Consumer Awareness

This study aimed to explore the moderating effect of consumer awareness of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on the relationship between perceived CSR and consumer purchase intention. An online self-administered survey questionnaire was distributed to Saudi Arabian general consumers, resulting in 734 responses. The results indicated that philanthropic responsibility was the most prioritized CSR dimension (M = 6.43; SD = 1.04), followed by ethical (6.34; 1.14), legal (6.30; 1.34) and economic (5.28; 1.37). Consumer purchase intention was significantly positively related to philanthropic ( = 0.258, p 0.001) and ethical CSR ( = 0.173, p 0.001) but not legal ( = -0.011, p = 0.814) and economic CSR ( = 0.064, p = 0.082). CSR awareness positively moderated the relationship between perceived CSR and consumer purchase intention though this moderating effect was non-significant ( = 0.034, p = 0.332). The results emphasize the value of philanthropic and ethical CSR to Saudi consumers. Practicing these CSR dimensions by companies in Saudi Arabia will attract more customers and improve performance.