Corporate Social Responsibilities of Food Processing Companies in Vietnam from Consumer Perspective

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has been receiving increasing attention in the international community since the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) emphasise effective corporate partnership. CSR is one of the most critical instruments linking corporate activities to the SDGs. Among various stakeholders, consumers can play an essential role in motivating companies to become socially responsible. However, there is little evidence from developing countries about the linkage between CSR and consumers. This paper, therefore, examines the relationship between consumers’ perception of a company’s CSR practices and their attitudes towards and intentions on purchasing its goods with empirical evidence from the Vietnamese food industry. The primary data was collected from 622 consumers using processed food in a self-administered survey in Northern Vietnam. Based on the structural equation modelling (SEM) analysis, this study shows that perception of CSR toward community has the most substantial influence on consumers’ attitude, followed by the perception of CSR toward employees and perception of fair operating practices responsibility. Although Vietnamese consumers have knowledge of the CSR in the food processing industry, their response to either good or bad CSR practices is still insufficient. Hence, the Vietnamese government and civil society should actively intervene to strengthen CSR regulations and enhance consumers’ CSR awareness.