최근 많은 학자들이 CSR에 관련된 논문들을 발표했고 국내에서도 기업들의 CSR활동이 지속적으로 증가하고 있지만 CSR이 효과적으로 수행되고 있는가에 관해서는 실무적으로 의문을 가지는 사람들이 상당하다. 이는 다수의 학술연구 결과들이 CSR이 마케팅 성과에 우호적인 영향을 미친다고 발표한 바 있지만 실제 현실사회에서는 확실한 입증자료가 부재하기 때문인 것으로 생각된다. 이런 우려를 고려할 때 구체적으로 어떻게 하면 CSR활동의 효과를 높일 수 있을까 하는 것은 매우 중요한 연구주제인 것이다. 이에 본 연구는 선행연구에서 CSR활동의 효과에 영향을 미치는 것으로 밝혀졌던 적합도, 순수성, 지속성 등 세 개의 선행변인들과 CSR활동의 결과변인들인 기업명성, 브랜드태도, 입소문의도와의 구조모형을 제안하고 이들 간의 관계를 실증적으로 살펴보고자 한다. 연구결과, 소비자들이 인식하는 적합도와 지속성이 CSR활동에 대한 소비자들의 인식에 영향을 미치는 것으로 드러났다. 그러나 기존의 연구결과와 달리 순수성은 CSR활동에 대한 평가에 유의미한 영향을 미치지 않았다. 또한 CSR활동은 기업명성을 구축하는 중요한 도구임이 밝혀졌으며, 기업명성은 브랜드태도와 입소문전파 의도에 긍정적 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났다. 본 연구는 CSR의 효과에 관한 이론적 설명과 더불어 CSR활동의 성과를 제고시킬 수 있는 실무적 시사점을 제시하고 있다.

The Factors that Affect Consumer's Perceptions of Corporate Social Responsibility Activities Recently, many academic articles on corporate social responsibility have been published perhaps reflecting the fact that CSR activities have been constantly increasing in Korea. While most academic studies have shown that CSR activities exert strong positive effects on marketing performance, some practitioners are questioning the effect of CSR in the real world. Recent studies published in the United States show that CSR activities are more effective in certain conditions. This study explores the relationships among several antecedent variables (fit, motivation, consistency) that have been found to affect consumers' perceptions of the CSR activities and the outcome variables (corporate reputation, brand attitude, word-of-mouth intention) of the CSR activities using a structural equation modeling technique. Our results indicate that fit and consistency affect consumer perceptions of the CSR activities. Contrary to previous research results, motivation was found not to have a significant effect on perceptions of the CSR activities. Our study shows that CSR can enhance corporate reputation, and in turn corporate reputation positively affects brand attitudes and consumers' word-of-mouth intention. Finally, some practical implications about how to manage and enhance the effectiveness of the CSR activities are offered .

The Factors that Affect Consumer's Perceptions of Corporate Social Responsibility Activities Recently, many academic articles on corporate social responsibility have been published perhaps reflecting the fact that CSR activities have been constantly increasing in Korea. While most academic studies have shown that CSR activities exert strong positive effects on marketing performance, some practitioners are questioning the effect of CSR in the real world. Recent studies published in the United States show that CSR activities are more effective in certain conditions. This study explores the relationships among several antecedent variables (fit, motivation, consistency) that have been found to affect consumers' perceptions of the CSR activities and the outcome variables (corporate reputation, brand attitude, word-of-mouth intention) of the CSR activities using a structural equation modeling technique. Our results indicate that fit and consistency affect consumer perceptions of the CSR activities. Contrary to previous research results, motivation was found not to have a significant effect on perceptions of the CSR activities. Our study shows that CSR can enhance corporate reputation, and in turn corporate reputation positively affects brand attitudes and consumers' word-of-mouth intention. Finally, some practical implications about how to manage and enhance the effectiveness of the CSR activities are offered .

corporate social responsibility, corporate reputation, brand attitude