Abstract

The present paper aims at confirming the influence of CSR policies on building up customer relationship through improving trust and commitment, and at the same time to study the influence of these values on satisfaction and loyalty. To achieve this purpose, a causal model that establishes the relationship between those variables has been developed and empirically tested. In order to verify the proposed hypothesis a structured survey was developed. The survey was given to a sample of 501 customers of modern distribution retail stores in Spain. All hypotheses are supported, thus confirming that the consumer perception on CSR policies carried out by the retailer influence on trust and consumer commitment to the company. As these variables affect satisfaction and loyalty, these results also confirm the indirect influence of CSR on customer satisfaction, through these relational variables. Therefore CSR is an essential tool for developing a long-standing relationship between the customer and the company. The originality is that there are very few works that address the study of the relationship between CSR and relational variables commitment and trust. The sample, consumers of retail establishments, is another originality. And the value is that CSR improves the competitiveness of retailing companies through the relational variables.