The impact of CSR and corporate ability on purchase intention in e-commerce websites: an examination across genders

ABSTRACT This study aims to investigate the impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate ability (CA) on customer purchase intention on e-commerce websites. Also, the effect of trust as a mediator between CSR-purchase intention and CA-purchase intention relationships is examined. Finally, the role of gender as a moderator in the relationships between model variables is explored. This research is a type of Structural Equation Model (SEM), and data were collected from customers of e-commerce websites who made online purchases at least five times a year. The results reveal the positive effect of CA and negative effect of CSR for e-commerce websites in promoting purchase intention of their customers. Additionally, gender moderates the relationship between CSR-purchase intention and CA-purchase intention. The finding can be useful to startup companies that operate in the field of e-commerce. Further, online vendors can improve the quality of their service using the findings of this research.