The impact of corporate social responsibility on word-of-mouth through the effects of customer trust and customer commitment in a serial multiple mediator model

Abstract

This study aims to understand the impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on word-of-mouth (WOM). A serial multiple mediator model test was employed to investigate the influence of CSR on WOM through the effects of customer trust and customer commitment in isolation as well as in serial. Furthermore, pairwise comparisons between the specific indirect effects were calculated in order to determine which specific indirect effect has a larger influence on CSR-WOM relationship. The survey questionnaire was used to collect 295 responses in the national capital territory of Delhi, India. The total, direct, and indirect effects of the model were estimated using the PROCESS macro for SPSS. The results supported the serial multiple mediator model. The theoretical and managerial implications of the findings were discussed.