Scale Development and Validation of Corporate Digital Responsibility—A Consumer Perspective

Abstract

Corporate digital responsibility (CDR) is emerging as a prominent issue and has been sporadically discussed in the relevant literature. Due to the limited research on assessing digital responsibility, this study developed a scale that measures CDR from a consumer perspective. A mixed-methods approach was employed to develop and validate the scale. First, an exploratory qualitative study was conducted to conceptualize consumer-centric CDR and formulate the underlying constructs and measures. This was followed by a quantitative study to confirm the validity and reliability of the qualitative results. The scale development and validation process resulted in a measure consisting of six dimensions: digital transparency, digital privacy, digital quality, digital remedy, digital accessibility, and digital inclusiveness. This study contributes to corporate social responsibility research by introducing a consumer-centric CDR scale, which provides practitioners with insights into how to execute responsible practices in the digitalized business arena, reflecting the preferences and expectations of consumers regarding digital responsibility.