Investigate the relationship between CSR practices adopted by businesses and the perceived-values held by customers to the company
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Background info we need to know before writing:
Me and my teammate are working on a case study, which is about how company’s CSR (company social responsibility: ex. Protect environment, green material, do charity, etc.) behavior influence customer’s brand loyalty. And the main company we chosen is L’oreal, We already send out some questionnaires and get responses & data.
1.Introduction of our project:
Purpose:
- To investigate the relationship between CSR practices adopted by businesses and the perceived-values held by customers to the company
- To provide an in-depth analysis on the importance of CSR to encourage companies to invest more in CSR
Focus:
- The cosmetic industry
- Cosmetic – is defined as products intended to be applied to the human body for cleansing, beautifying, promoting attractiveness, or altering the appearance without affecting the body’s structure or functions (U.S. Food and Drug Administration)
- A key role in day-to-day life, as well as in the global consumer goods market
- Research Hypothesis （our study is to prove these 2 hypothesis）
- H1: The extent of CSR initiative demonstrates a positive impact to customer perceived value.
- H2: The more values perceived by customers, the higher the brand loyalty.
- Customer loyalty is one of the key factors of a cosmetic brand’s financial performance as it is a highly customer-oriented business
- Previous studies have revealed that CSR is a key factor of building customer loyalty but similar study focusing on the cosmetic industry is not found
And the essay we need to write here is part of our final report, and its function is to analyze the methodology we use in this project, and analyze each data (findings), and determine some relationship between each subjects, or to prove if the hypothesis are correct. Please see the sample essays I attached, which we can learn about their structures (any of them is fine).I will provide all the data &tables, and all the info about our project that you can build on it and make it a whole essay.
The things we need to cover in this essay:
- Analysis of the Methodology we use
- Analysis of the questionnaire’s results (important, I will tell you what specific parts we need to include in this part)
- Analysis of the different groups people’s attitudes towards the questions
- Analysis of the P-value & correlation coefficient (No professional knowledge needed, I will provide the definition of these terms, and the number, then you can start to analyze it)
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Now begin to write!
Guideline of the essay(structures)
We need to use bullet points to make each part separate clearly and well structured, I will talk about each part one by one, then you can just write follow my instructions step by step, no need to write other extra info or intro about this project (which are my teammates’ job), our parts are just exactly Methodology & results analysis
Structures(2 main parts: A & B):
- Methodology & Research Design
(can have a look at sample essay 4, similar to that is fine)
- Methodology
(methodology about the whole project)
We have two parts:
A.Quantitative:
- Distributing questionnaire
- Target: the general public with experience of using or buying L’Oréal’s cosmetic products
- To study how they perceive L’Oréal’s CSR initiatives and how loyal they are to the brand
- Using data to analyze our hypothesis and make conclusion
B.Qualitative
- Desktop research of three cosmetic companies (L’oreal, Lush, Kao)
- To support our findings from the questionnaire by means of case studies
- Do several interviews with different customers about the three cosmetic companies
- Research Design part(using subtitles & bullet points like sample 4, and remember to using related references online to make it more academic):
- method aspect: why using online questionnaire (convenient, easy to accept, data easy to analyze, etc…)
- Philosophy aspect: ex. The questionnaire survey can collect opinions widely, and the collected opinions have a more objective and true effect on the subject research…
- Limit and challenge:
-Limited number of respondents
-respondents may have different attitudes towards the questionnaire, and the authenticity and quality of the questionnaire data need to be controlled
- Questionnaire design: we have design many optional questions in our questionnaire, such as: Q1:if you answer”yes”, then you will go to Q4, something like that, which makes the questionnaire more effective. And such as “ how you bought products from l’oreal”, if answer“no”, the the respondents will quit the questionnaire.
And we have also set some questions and instructions to make sure the respondents take the questions seriously, ex. At first we introduce our project detailedly, and at the begin of the questionnaire we also set a questions like if you want to take this questionnare & take it seriously , and we abondon some responses which selected “no”, which makes the data more reliable.(can relate to the limit and challenge part) - Research approach: our respondents are mainly focus on the customers who have bought the L’oreal products, we selected some of our friends, our classmates, and we also went to the local stores to ask the customer’s there to answer these questions, which makes the data more targeted and effective.(can relate to the limit and challenge part)
- Sampling&data collection strategy
We are using the Qualtrics.com website to conduct our questionnaire link,which is a professional website, so the data is been effectively collected and calculated. And we are make the sample size large enought to reduce the inaccuracy.(can have some references) (we send out 213 questionnaires, get 182 valid respondents.)
- data analyze
We are using numbers to represent the attitude of the respondents’ attitude towards the questions (1-strongly disagree, 5-strongly agree), which is more accurate and easy to analyze, and we divide the respondents according to their ages, sex, occupation, income, etc. Categories, which makes our research more scientific and professional.
- other tools to analyze our hypothesis (make our research more professional and effective, and etc…) (can have some reference online, i can give you the definition here)
- Correlation coefficient:The correlation coefficient is a statistical measure of the strength of the relationship between the relative movements of two variables. The values range between -1 and 1. A correlation of -1 shows a perfect negative correlation, while a correlation of 1 shows a perfect positive correlation.
b.Pearson’s R:Test out level of relationship in between two variables → 0 to 1
c.P-value:Probability of obtaining collected results
An alternative to rejection points to provide the smallest level of significance that the null hypothesis will be rejected
Smaller p-value = stronger evidence
Most ideal p-value is <0.05
B.Data analyze (results)
(can have a look at sample essay 1,3,4)
213 questionnaires were sent 182 valid respondents, 148 respondents have purchased L’oreal products before(which are our main research group)
Our basic info table(no need to explain anything content, just show it there like the sample articles):
| Sex | Percentage | Age | Percentage |
| Male | 22.97% | <18 | 1.35% |
| 18 – 30 | 49.32% | ||
| Female | 77.03% | 31 – 40 | 18.92% |
| 41 – 50 | 14.19% | ||
| Total | 100% | > 51 | 16.22% |
| Total | 100% | ||
| Occupation | Percentage | Monthly Incomes | Percentage |
| Employed | 65.54% | <$15,000 | 8.10% |
| Self-employed | 14.19% | $15,000 – $25,000 | 34.46% |
| Unemployed | 4.73% | $25,001 – $40,000 | 35.81% |
| Student | 6.76% | $40,001 – $60,000 | 13.53% |
| Retired | 4.73% | >$60,001 | 8.10% |
| Others | 4.05% | Total | 100% |
| Total | 100% |
Some chosen tables we can analyze about(you can state your opinion about the table, i just want to give you some hints, and the whole report is attached too, which you can find more tables there):
Below table 1 is for the question: Please rate the below statement with 1 – Strongly Disagree, 2 – Disagree, 3 – Neutral, 4 – Agree, 5- Strongly Agree
| # | Field | Minimum | Maximum | Mean | Std Deviation | Variance | Count |
| 1 | CSR means conducting business while respecting people, communities and the natural environment | 1.00 | 5.00 | 4.01 | 0.74 | 0.55 | 148 |
| 2 | CSR is about achieving commercial success while honoring ethical values | 1.00 | 5.00 | 3.80 | 0.83 | 0.69 | 148 |
| 3 | CSR is about making packaging recyclable | 1.00 | 5.00 | 3.70 | 0.88 | 0.78 | 148 |
| 4 | CSR means making business decisions that fairly balance the claim of all key stakeholders | 1.00 | 5.00 | 3.69 | 0.78 | 0.60 | 148 |
| 5 | CSR means making business decisions that fairly balance the claim of all key stakeholders | 2.00 | 5.00 | 3.69 | 0.76 | 0.57 | 148 |
| 6 | CSR is the reflection of a company’s governance | 1.00 | 5.00 | 3.67 | 0.78 | 0.61 | 148 |
| 7 | CSR is about employees volunteering in the community | 2.00 | 5.00 | 3.54 | 0.80 | 0.63 | 148 |
| 8 | CSR is about charitable donations | 1.00 | 5.00 | 3.40 | 0.90 | 0.80 | 148 |
We can see the “mean” here, which means the average number, the higher the number is, the more agreement that respondents give to the statement.
And we can analyze the top3 (1-3)statement, why they might be the top 3, analyze why people’s recognition of the CSR is like that (important)
Table 2
| # | Field | Minimum | Maximum | Mean | Std Deviation | Variance | Count |
| 1 | e. I believe CSR should be important for companies | 2.00 | 5.00 | 4.09 | 0.69 | 0.47 | 148 |
| 2 | b. I value CSR effort in a company | 2.00 | 5.00 | 4.01 | 0.78 | 0.60 | 148 |
| 3 | d. I believe I have high social and environmental awareness | 2.00 | 5.00 | 3.90 | 0.63 | 0.40 | 148 |
| 4 | a. I fully understand what CSR means | 1.00 | 5.00 | 3.69 | 0.87 | 0.75 | 148 |
| 5 | c. Companies engagement in CSR is important to me when I buy from company | 2.00 | 5.00 | 3.68 | 0.67 | 0.45 | 148 |
For the table 2 above, we can analyze about people’s awareness of the CSR is increasing these days, we can see that most of them are agree CSR is important
Table 3
| # | Question | Strongly disagree | Disagree | Neutral | Agree | Strongly agree | Total | |||||
| 1 | I am aware that L’Oréal Group has committed to CSR issues | 0.00% | 0 | 18.24% | 27 | 49.32% | 73 | 28.39% | 42 | 4.05% | 6 | 148 |
| 2 | I think L’Oréal Group has been doing well in environmental aspects (e.g. reducing carbon emissions, water consumption, packaging) | 0.00% | 0 | 11.49% | 17 | 54.73% | 81 | 31.08% | 46 | 2.70% | 4 | 148 |
| 3 | I think L’Oréal Group has been doing well in social aspects (e.g. supply chain, employee benefits, anti-animal testing) | 0.00% | 0 | 12.84% | 19 | 54.73% | 81 | 29.73% | 44 | 2.70% | 4 | 148 |
| 4 | I believe L’Oréal Group is willing to listen to customer feedback to improve its CSR performance | 1.35% | 2 | 8.78% | 13 | 41.89% | 62 | 47.98% | 71 | 0.00% | 0 | 148 |
For this table3, we can analyze about we can see most of the people choose “Neutral” about the L’oreal’s purpose of doing CSR, thus L’oreal or other cosmetic companies may need to increase their CSR promotion, tell the customers what they think about CSR, maybe on their website or other social media, then the customer will know more about CSR and the brand.
Below table 4 is asking about:
Are you willing to pay higher prices for L’Oréal Group’s products as a results of CSR practices, e.g. anti-animal testing, organic and naturally made, ethical sourcing?
| # | Field | Minimum | Maximum | Mean | Std Deviation | Variance | Count |
| 1 | Are you willing to pay higher prices for L’Oréal Group’s products as a results of CSR practices, e.g. anti-animal testing, organic and naturally made, ethical sourcing? | 1.00 | 2.00 | 1.31 | 0.46 | 0.21 | 148 |
| # | Yes (frequency) | No (frequency) | Total (frequency) |
| All respondents | 68.92% (102) | 31.08% (48) | 100% (148) |
| High income group (monthly income above $25,001) | 76.47% (65) | 23.53% (20) | 100% (85) |
| Low income group (monthly income below $25,000) | 61.90% (39) | 38.10% (24) | 100% (63) |
We can analyze about consumers attitude towards the CSR practices and their buying power, which show positive attitude, you can using more references to support this.
And here i have generate the high income group & low income group’s differences.
There are more people in high income group (monthly income higher than $25,001 are more willing to pay for the products as a results of CSR practices, we can state this finding and analyze it.) (why this occur? Such as high income group may have higher CSR awareness, more money, higher education, etc… can relate to some online references)
Then table 5 , which asking about:
Please rate the importance of a company’s CSR practices to you when deciding to stay loyal to a brand/choose a new brand?
| # | Field | Minimum | Maximum | Mean | Std Deviation | Variance | Count |
| 1 | Please rate the importance of a company’s CSR practices to you when deciding to stay loyal to a brand/choose a new brand? | 1.00 | 5.00 | 3.73 | 0.65 | 0.42 | 148 |
| # | Answer | % | Count |
| 1 | 1 – Strongly Unimportant | 1.35% | 2 |
| 2 | 2 – Unimportant | 2.71% | 4 |
| 3 | 3 – Neutral | 22.97% | 34 |
| 4 | 4 – Important | 68.24% | 101 |
| 5 | 5 – Strongly Important | 4.73% | 7 |
| Total | 100% | 148 |
Then we can see their attitude towards the question we are researching, which shows positive attitude, then we can go back to our hypothesis and make some relation, talk about our findings.
Then table 7 (2 pics, shows the relationship of the variables of our 2 hypothesis)
- H1: The extent of CSR initiative demonstrates a positive impact to customer perceived value.
- H2: The more values perceived by customers, the higher the brand loyalty.
| Correlation Matrix | |||
| CSR Initiatives by company | Customers’ perceived value | ||
| CSR Initiatives by company | Pearson’s r p-value | — — | |
| Customers’ perceived value | Pearson’s r p-value | 0.447 < .001 | — — |
| Correlation Matrix | |||
| Customers’ perceived value | Customers’ loyalty | ||
| Customers’ perceived value | Pearson’s r p-value | — — | |
| Customers’ loyalty | Pearson’s r p-value | 0.661 < .001 | — — |
References （for these 2 tables, the numbers are direcly generated by the questionnaire website, can berifly mention that）
- The jamovi project (2019). jamovi. (Version 1.1) [Computer Software]. Retrieved from https://www.jamovi.org.
- R Core Team (2018). R: A Language and envionment for statistical computing. [Computer software]. Retrieved from https://cran.r-project.org/.
This is the final table we need to analyze, as i mentioned before,
- Correlation coefficient:The correlation coefficient is a statistical measure of the strength of the relationship between the relative movements of two variables. The values range between -1 and 1. A correlation of -1 shows a perfect negative correlation, while a correlation of 1 shows a perfect positive correlation.
b.Pearson’s R:Test out level of relationship in between two variables → 0 to 1
c.P-value:Probability of obtaining collected results
An alternative to rejection points to provide the smallest level of significance that the null hypothesis will be rejected
Smaller p-value = stronger evidence
Most ideal p-value is <0.05
We can analyze the correlation coefficient of the variables,
| CSR Initiatives by company |
| Customers’ perceived value |
For these 2 variables, we can see their Pearson’s R is 0.447, which means they have positive correlation coefficient, and they have positive relationship. And the p-value is < .001, which means the results is strong. Since
Smaller p-value = stronger evidence
Most ideal p-value is <0.05
| Customers’ perceived value |
| Customers’ loyalty |
And for these two variables as well, they have positive relationship, and the p-value shows the results is strong, can just state our findings.
Then we can say that we can prove our 2 hypothesis they are true.
You can add any other info or references to support this.
I think i have mentioned all the thoughts and structures of this paper, IF you have any questions please tell me, this paper is important for me, thanks for helping!!!! 🙂
