USR PUBLISHER

Purpose: This study examines how consumers’ perceptions of corporate social responsibility (CSR) shape consumer trust, brand loyalty, and purchase intention, and whether trust and loyalty transmit the effect of CSR to purchase intention. Design/methodology/approach: The study adopts a quantitative, cross-sectional survey design. Adult consumers who have purchased from a focal consumer brand within the previous 12 months will evaluate perceived CSR, consumer trust, brand loyalty, and purchase intention using multi-item seven-point Likert scales. A target sample of 400 usable responses is proposed. The measurement and structural models will be assessed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) with 5,000 bootstrap resamples. Reliability, convergent validity, discriminant validity, explanatory power, predictive relevance, direct effects, and specific indirect effects will be evaluated. Expected contribution: Rather than treating trust, loyalty, and purchase intention as isolated consumer outcomes, the study integrates them into a single sequential model. It tests whether CSR contributes to purchase intention directly and indirectly through consumer trust and brand loyalty, while recognizing that consumers respond to perceived rather than objectively measured CSR performance. Practical value: The framework can help managers determine whether CSR communication is associated primarily with immediate purchase intention or with relational assets—trust and loyalty—that may support longer-term consumer relationships.