Corporate social responsibility and customer loyalty: Does guanxi serve as a mediator?

Abstract

This study proposed and tested a model of the direct and indirect impacts of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on customer loyalty through the mediator of guanxi (social connections) of organizations and employees. Participants were 452 life insurance customers in China, who completed measures of CSR, guanxi, and customer loyalty. Results of structural equation modeling indicated that CSR was positively associated with customer loyalty and that guanxi partially mediated this relationship. The study findings provide new insight into the complex relationship between CSR and customer loyalty, and may be of use to insurance service providers for increasing customer loyalty.