Exploring the relationship between ESG, trust, brand reputation, and brand equity

Abstract

The social and environmental issues confronted by society are increasingly apparent. Businesses deem environmental, social, and governance (ESG) to be a critical strategic priority. This study aims to examine the effects of implementing ESG on customer trust, brand reputation, and brand equity. The survey research approach was utilized with 203 Thai participants using a questionnaire as the research instrument. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was utilized to investigate the proposed hypotheses in this study. The findings indicate that firms' implementation of ESG has a significant effect on both customer trust and brand reputation. Furthermore, the moderation analysis demonstrates that customer trust fully mediates the causal relationship between ESG implementation and brand equity, and partially mediates the relationship between ESG implementation and brand reputation. These findings provide a comprehensive understanding of the ESG concept for both academics and practitioners. The study offers implications and suggestions for future research based on these results.