Reinforcing purchase behaviors through CSR and ethical practices

PurposeThe study examines the relationship between consumers’ ethical sensitivity, corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices and impulse behaviors. Ethical behavior has been a subject of increasing research interest. However, there is an imperious need to inspect ethical decision-making through holistic attention to impulse purchasing.Design/methodology/approachThe study develops a set of hypotheses to understand the relationships. The online survey method was used to collect data, and 420 valid questionnaires, in total, were retrieved. In a two-step process, first, reliability and validity were initially measured. Second, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modeling (SEM) were used to test the hypotheses.FindingsThe analyses support the social marketing theory (SMT) and the general theory of marketing (GTM) ethics related to business strategy. Moreover, the study examines the mediating role of organizational trust, organizational identification and eco-branding in these relationships. The ethical and CSR practices for stakeholders positively affect organizational identification and trust that mediate the relationship between impulse buying and ethical attempts. Furthermore, from an ethical and climate change perspective, eco-branding positively mediates the relationship between impulse buying and environmental advertising. The moderating role of trust is significant in the relationship between impulse buying behavior (IBB) and repurchase behavior.Originality/valueA critical factor explaining individuals’ behaviors has never been investigated using a holistic approach to IBB with ethical and CSR practices. The study profoundly contributes to knowledge about consumer ethics, with potential effects for ethical public relations, while also offering new research avenues for future exploration.