CSR in the Digital Age: A Study of Influencer Marketing in CSR and Brand Image Relationship

Abstrakt

In the recent years corporate social responsibility has grown in importance because consumers look at brand’s activities when they make purchase decisions to see whether a business is done responsibly. Many companies care about the environment and do many activities that help society and environment; however, these initiatives are sometimes lost in the brand’s CSR communication. The lack of communication can have a real impact on consumers’ perception on a brand, from brand awareness to brand attitude to purchase making decision. Many authors found that communicating CSR activities enhances brand image that otherwise would not change. But how can this be achieved in the digital age? One way of doing it is utilizing influencers who have proved themselves that they are able to influence their audience because they are perceived as credible, reliable, trustworthy, and honest. Their impact results in changes in followers’ perception. All of these factors lead to the improvement of a brand in many ways. Therefore, this thesis would like to investigate CSR communication of a brand and its effect on brand image, when they use influencers to help them execute the communication. Since other researchers have examined these effects in pairs not as a triadic relationship this thesis contributes to the research fields of CSR, brand image and influencer marketing