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Article

How Does Multinational Corporations’ CSR Influence Purchase Intention? The Role of Consumer Ethnocentrism and Consumer Ambivalence

by
Zhi Zhang
1,2,
Zhaoying Yang
1,
Jiang Gu
2,* and
Moon-Seop Kim
3,*
1
Economics and Management School, Nantong University, Nantong 226019, China
2
College of Business, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
3
Department of Business Administration, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon 24341, Republic of Korea
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Sustainability 2023, 15(7), 5908; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15075908
Submission received: 31 January 2023 / Revised: 24 March 2023 / Accepted: 27 March 2023 / Published: 29 March 2023
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Consumer Satisfaction and Service Quality in Green Marketing)
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Abstract

:
Given the increasingly strained relationship between humans and the environment, green marketing has become a necessity for the sustainable development of society. In this context, this paper seeks to explore the influence of multinational enterprises’ green marketing behavior on Chinese consumers’ green consumption willingness. Through reviewing the related theories and deeply analyzing multinational corporations’ CSR, a theoretical model of multinational corporations’ CSR and consumer purchase intention has been built in this paper based on consumers’ perceptions. The paper provides empirical research on the multinational corporations’ CSR, corporate image, consumer ambivalence, and purchase intention, and offers a hypothesis of the relationship between the four. Consumer ethnocentrism can significantly negatively regulate the relationship between corporate image and consumers’ willingness to buy and further negatively regulate the process of establishing the corporate social responsibility system of multinational corporations.

1. Introduction

Many global firms and foreign investments have entered China since its reform and opening. The opening up of China has benefited multinational firms, but it has also helped the country’s economy and society thrive. They have consistently given the new dual-cycle development model in China a boost and have grown to constitute a significant portion of the country’s economy. At the same time, multinational corporations actively promote the idea and practice of CSR in China in response to the growing demand for China to take part in global governance. This creates more favorable conditions for China to actively engage in economic globalization and global sustainable development governance.
The demand for CSR from multinational firms is rising along with their influence around the world. In actuality, international corporations have engaged in more CSR-related initiatives than local businesses [1]. The majority of studies on transnational firms’ social responsibility generally concentrate on their CSR-related activities and enterprise performance analyses, as well as their customers’ and employees’ perceptions of and relationships with their CSR behavior [2,3,4,5].
Consumers and corporations alike have long been preoccupied with the topic of CSR. The public’s expectations are growing for corporate social responsibility as a result of the growth of the market economy and the ongoing advancement of social culture. People’s concern about the environment and resources has gradually transformed into a kind of self-discipline behavior in the process of consumption. Linked to moderate, pollution-free, environmental protection consumption, green demand in the world has been or is gradually increasing [6]. Businesses should not only uphold their societal obligations but also fulfill customer expectations. If consumers’ expectations of businesses are higher than the efforts made by businesses, consumers may boycott the business (for instance, consumers boycotted the Vanke to Wenchuan earthquake donation event because the donation amount fell short of their expectations). This would have an adverse effect on the business. Corporate social responsibility is an extension of the corporate brand. The emotional consumer–brand relationship mediates the relationship between brand attribute associations and purchase intentions for brand extensions [7]. In the current market, corporations must obtain competitive differentiation and consumer trust in order to establish a strong and long-term relationship with consumers. In order to achieve these goals, more and more corporations allocate resources to corporate social responsibility. Consumers’ cognition of corporations and the communication of enterprise information to consumers will affect consumers’ positive attitude towards corporations. For example, no matter whether consumers are observing or using products, the inferences drawn from the social actions of corporations can change product evaluation (products are considered to perform better) [8]. A large number of studies have confirmed that how consumers view the motivation of corporations to participate in social responsibility will affect their evaluation and response to corporate social responsibility [9]. Prompted by COVID-19, some corporations actively undertake corporate social responsibility and support epidemic prevention and control work by donating materials, volunteering to serve the community, making anti-epidemic videos, and using intelligent epidemic prevention.
In addition to offline CSR activities, the rise of social media makes it possible for consumers to actively participate in CSR activities, and the form of CSR activities has gradually shifted from offline to online, attracting the public to jointly participate in CSR projects initiated by enterprises, which is known as “virtual CSR co-creation” in academic terms. As many as 72% of the global 2000 companies use social media as part of their CSR communication, such as Pepsi’s “Refresh Everything”, Unilever’s “Sustainable Living Lab 24 h”, Alipay’s “Ant Forest” and Tencent Public Welfare’s “Children’s Gallery”. These are all examples of virtual CSR co-creation. Virtual CSR co-creation activities have become effective strategic tools for enterprises to promote green consumption [10,11]. Companies have established a good social image through virtual CSR co-creation and cultivated a group of loyal consumers, and these companies are favored by consumers. Research on corporate social responsibility shows that corporate social responsibility is conducive to improving the image of corresponding corporations and enhancing their competitiveness, and also has a positive impact on consumers’ attitudes towards products, purchase intentions, customer loyalty, and employees’ organizational identity [12,13,14,15].
The social responsibility activities of transnational corporations are also very important in China. With the expansion of China’s economic scale, the number of foreign corporations entering China has increased significantly, not only in terms of economic influence but also in terms of social and cultural influence. However, despite such a domestic environment, the CSR activities of transnational corporations have not been paid attention to in practice, and there is also a lack of in-depth investigative research on the effects of the CSR activities of transnational corporations in academia. The research on the CSR effect of transnational corporations focuses mainly on the case studies of domestic and foreign corporations or corporations in developed countries. In particular, transnational corporations have to consider which strategy to choose between localization and standardization when carrying out enterprise activities. Therefore, in the field of CSR, it is also necessary to consider the special CSR effects of these transnational corporations. There is also very little research on the application of the persuasion knowledge model in CSR. From a strategic perspective, CSR is a communication activity that can actively form the corporate image and attitude. It is necessary to conduct in-depth research in the field of persuasive communication. Because the degree of knowledge activity of the recipients exposed to CSR information is different, the persuasion effect will also be different, which will soon lead to CSR results. Are the CSR activities of multinational corporations effectively favored by consumers? Which type of CSR activity is more acceptable to consumers? How does participation affect consumer response? Will consumer ethnocentrism affect the CSR activities of multinational corporations? These are the problems that corporations and management departments need to solve urgently.
Given all of the above, this study takes customers of the South Korean corporation Orion in China as its research subject. This study will investigate the effects of multinational corporations’ corporate social responsibility on consumer purchase intention behavior and the mediating roles of corporate image and consumer ambivalence in between. It will also examine consumer ethnocentrism as the boundary condition of the path where CSR of multinational corporations indirectly affects purchase intention behavior through corporate image and consumer ambivalence, with the hope of enhancing the research on CSR of MNCs. This study also adds consumer ethnocentrism to further study the impact of the CSR activities of transnational corporations and how the public understanding of them changes. CSR activities have achieved results, emphasizing the formation of emotional ties between the public and corporations [16]. Therefore, it is very important for corporations to engage in CSR activities. At this time, transnational corporations have both global and regional problems to consider. Therefore, it is necessary to take reasonable countermeasures according to the CSR problems of transnational corporations.

2. Literature Review

2.1. CSR

CSR was firstly referred to as the voluntary social responsibility of businessmen and professional managers [17], and its subjects were later extended to managers, employees, customers, suppliers, communities, and governments. The iron law of CSR requires companies to take more social responsibility for their actions; otherwise, it will lead to the gradual loss of their social rights. Subsequently, the contract theory, the stakeholder theory, the corporate citizenship theory, and other doctrines have deepened the study of CSR further. For example, the corporate citizenship theory emphasizes the role of companies in managing the rights of individual citizens [18]. In other words, profitable companies must give back to society because their success cannot be achieved without a good and harmonious social ecology [19], whereas the stakeholder theory reduces the ambiguity of “society”. As stakeholders influence the achievement of organizational goals [20], companies should engage in activities that are beneficial to their stakeholders.
In the marketing perspective, CSR has positive implications for improving financial performance [21], uniting employees [22,23], creating competitive advantage [24], and enhancing market performance. Domestic and foreign scholars have studied CSR from a consumer perspective with consequence variables related to purchase intention [25,26,27], brand loyalty [28,29,30], word-of-mouth communication [31], consumer satisfaction [32].
According to [33] multinational corporations (MNCs) must address the complex needs of numerous stakeholders and show social responsibility toward their host communities in three different areas: (1) in their home country; (2) in their various host countries; and (3) on an international level [34]. MNEs’ CSR initiatives not only advance the general well-being of society but also the economic development of the host nation. Therefore, subsidiaries might lessen stakeholder pressure from unfamiliar host nations and aid the development of local legitimacy by engaging in CSR as a non-market coping strategy [35], especially for MNCs operating in emerging markets. The field of CSR research in the context of MNCs is shifting toward the dynamic characteristics of social expectations, the non-fixed needs of stakeholders, the factors that impede CSR, and the integration of dynamic corporate capabilities with social needs as a result of global trade processes and the COVID-19 epidemic [36].

2.2. Corporate Image

Corporate image under the marketing theory refers to consumers’ overall perceptions of a company [37], which exist in the public mind rather than in the company itself [38]. What is more, it is dynamic and complex, which means no company’s corporate image is unanimously agreed upon by the entire public [39].
In previous studies, scholars have divided corporate image into different dimensions. Some scholars believe that the assessment of corporate image should be considered in six aspects: the product image, the environmental image, the employee image, the managerial image, the public relations image, and the overall image [40], whereas other scholars have divided corporate image into dimensions such as marketplace performance, business performance, fiscal capability, company governance, employee rights, investor relations, purchaser rights, and brand cultivation [41].
In general, the corporate image is often comprised of two dimensions: the competence image and the social responsibility image [42]. The competence image mainly constitutes functional factors of the corporate image, such as corporate services, employee performance, and product quality [43], while the social responsibility image mainly constitutes emotional factors of the corporate image, referring to the extent to which companies assume their social responsibilities in the face of social issues. As the status of CSR in corporate management rises, so does its proportion in the evaluation system of the corporate image. The level of corporate performance is also derived from the attractiveness of the CSR image to customers, investors, and other stakeholders. Therefore, companies should shape their corporate image based on CSR [44] to enhance their corporate value and market competitiveness [45].
Subsequently, scholars have explored the relationship between the corporate image and purchase decisions [46,47] as well as customer loyalty [48] from the perspective of consumers. Empirical studies have shown that the corporate image has a positive effect on consumers’ purchase intentions and customer loyalty.

2.3. Consumer Ethnocentrism

Ethnocentric values are group psychological affiliation value tendencies derived from the social identity theory, which first referred to a view of one’s own group as the center of things and the standard by which all other things are measured and evaluated. Due to the tendency of individuals to attach to social groups, people are inclined to emphasize the superiority of their own group and develop negative attitudes toward out-groups, which has a positive impact on the maintenance of traditional culture but can have negative effects on cross-group and cross-cultural communication [49]. As the concept evolved, it was gradually applied to the field of consumer behavior, referring to consumers’ beliefs about the appropriateness and morality of purchasing foreign goods and reflecting the individual characteristics of consumers’ psychology toward foreign products. When faced with the choice between domestic and foreign products, consumers would naturally identify with and prefer domestic products, while they are prone to develop prejudice against or even psychological resistance to foreign products [50]. In previous studies, the antecedent variables of consumers’ ethnocentric values mainly involved cultural openness [51], patriotism [52,53,54], the perceived threat [55,56], and the values inventory [57]). The consequence variables are mainly related to product attitudes, purchase intention, and brand preferences [58].
Previous empirical studies have shown that consumer ethnocentrism negatively affects attitudes towards foreign products as well as purchase intention [59] and exerts a positive impact on the intention to purchase domestic products [60].

2.4. Consumer Ambivalence

Ambivalent attitudes were first applied to the field of attitude research, generally defined as the existence of positive or negative cognitive evaluations, emotions, and affective experiences of the same target object by individuals [61,62], and then were gradually introduced to the consumer domain [63]. Research on consumers’ ambivalent attitudes has shown that opposite emotions can be produced by individuals with the same consumption experience [64] and that ambivalent attitudes only arise when both positive and negative evaluations have relative stability, reaching a certain level [65,66,67,68,69,70]. Such ambivalent attitudes can directly or indirectly influence consumers’ cognition, affective responses, and behavioral intention, thus having conflicting effects on their decisions and behaviors. Specifically, scholars have not reached a consensus on the positive or negative effects. On the one hand, some studies have confirmed that consumers’ ambivalent attitudes exert negative effects on their decisions and behaviors; i.e., consumers’ ambivalent attitudes trigger emotional depletion [71,72], which in turn reduces purchase intention [73].
For example, in the luxury shopping experience, the combination of contradictory attitudes positively influences consumers’ decision-making outcomes and leads to specific shopping behaviors [74].

2.5. Purchase Intention

Purchase intention is usually defined as the subjective possibility that a consumer will voluntarily adopt a purchase behavior for a particular product after evaluating product information based on their own needs [75,76], reflecting the degree of consumer intention and propensity to decide to purchase a product [77].
Under the marketing theory, the concept of consumer support for CSR was initially proposed, arguing that the level of CSR fulfillment would have a direct impact on consumers’ purchasing behaviors, but that such an impact would be limited by the degree of consumer trust in the firm’s capabilities and their support for CSR behavior [78]. Subsequently, scholars have begun to study the connection between CSR and consumers’ purchase intentions. Previous empirical studies have shown that CSR directly or indirectly affects consumers’ purchase intention [79]. Consumers’ purchase intention is determined by their evaluations of the company [80], and whether companies undertake basic social responsibilities such as economic and legal responsibilities or fulfill extended social responsibilities including ethical and charitable responsibilities. These will also enhance consumers’ sense of identification with the company while promoting its own economic benefits and stimulating social development [81,82]. On the one hand, some scholars have proposed that CSR behavior or the degree of consumer perception of it is directly and positively related to purchase intention [83,84] and that corporate contributions to society and local communities positively affect consumers’ purchase intention, while contributions to the environment have no significant effect on consumers’ purchase intention [26]. In addition, the extent to which different dimensions of CSR affect consumer purchase intention varies widely [85]. On the other hand, some research has indicated that CSR does not directly affect consumers’ purchase intentions. By contrast, it exerts an indirect impact on consumers’ purchase intentions via mediating variables including the corporate image [86], the brand image [83], self-congruity [25], and consumer support for responsible business [87,88].

3. Mechanism Analysis and Theoretical Hypothesis

3.1. CSR of MNC and Consumer’s Purchase Intention

When corporations enter the overseas market, they can reduce the risks brought by entering the overseas market by increasing the number of corporate social responsibility activities [89], such as preventing the occurrence of malignant environmental accidents and alleviating conflicts with local communities, residents, and labor organizations. They can also have a positive impact on the corporate image and consumer purchases. Previous studies found that CSR has a significant impact on consumers’ purchase behavior in research on family restaurants [90]. Other studies took Huawei as an example on this basis and proposed that although CSR has a certain impact on consumers’ purchase intentions, other factors such as price and quality should not be ignored [91]. Based on this, scholars further explored how CSR affects consumers’ purchase intentions. Some scholars found that economic, moral, charitable, and social responsibilities have a significant impact on consumers’ willingness to purchase from the perspective of multidimensional CSR, while legal responsibilities have no significant impact on consumers’ willingness to buy [92]. Other studies showed that although CSR has a direct impact on consumers’ purchase intentions, product quality plays a positive regulatory role in the impact of charity, law, and environmental responsibility on consumers’ purchase intentions [93].
Therefore, although scholars still dispute how corporate social responsibility affects consumers’ willingness to buy, they have reached a consensus on the positive impact of corporate social responsibility on consumers’ willingness to buy. Corporations undertaking social responsibility will not only promote their own economic benefits and promote social and economic development, but also enhance consumer recognition and thus enhance consumers’ willingness to buy. According to the information above provided, the following hypothesis is proposed:
Hypothesis 1. 
The CSR of MNCs has a significant positive impact on consumers’ purchase intentions.

3.2. Mediating Role of Corporate Image and Consumer Ambivalence

In terms of the relationship between CSR and corporate image, the implementation of social responsibility practices by corporations can have a positive impact on corporate image [94] or alleviate the adverse impact of corporate cynicism on the corporate image [95]. Other scholars analyzed CSR from multiple dimensions and pointed out that economic, ethical, legal, charitable, and social responsibilities have positive effects on corporate image [44]. In terms of the relationship between corporate image and consumers’ purchase intentions, consumers perceiving different corporate images will have different purchase intentions and behavior intentions [96,97].
Based on this, the role of corporate image in the impact of CSR on consumers’ purchase intentions is worth exploring. Some scholars have focused on the impact of corporate social responsibility on consumer loyalty to intercity bus services and found that corporate image played an intermediary role in the relationship between them [98]; other scholars further explored and found that CSR at the brand level does not directly affect consumers’ purchase intentions but positively affects consumers’ purchase intentions through the intermediary role of corporate image [23]. Thus, the hypothesis is put forward:
Hypothesis 2a. 
Corporate image plays a mediating role in the relationship between the CSR of MNCs and consumers’ purchase intentions.
Hypothesis 2b. 
Consumer ambivalence plays a mediating role in the relationship between the CSR of MNCs and consumers’ purchase intentions.

3.3. Moderating Role of Consumer Ethnocentrism

Consumer ethnocentrism is regarded as a consumption belief with obvious national prejudice. It is usually used to measure the value judgment and pursuit of consumers; that is, whether consumers are patriotic and whether products are domestic. Based on this, it can be inferred that the origin of the brand itself is regarded as the key basis for consumers to judge whether it conforms to the moral code, as individuals with high ethnocentrism will belittle and refuse foreign products and their advantages and may even punish other individuals who prefer these products [99]. On the other hand, nationalists have higher ethnocentrism and are more conservative, so they will reject global brands for the purpose of protecting their own economies, safeguarding local industries, and reducing unemployment.
As mentioned above, in different situations, the corporate image and the contradictory attitude of consumers will have different effects on consumers’ purchase intentions. In the context of ethnocentrism values, under the influence of social identity theory, consumers tend to have a preference for domestic products and even have a bias or exclusion against foreign products, which adds uncertainty to the impact of corporate image and consumers’ contradictory attitudes on their purchase intentions and then produces conflict results.
The contradictory attitude of consumers has an important impact on consumer decision-making [100]. Existing literature focuses on the role of consumer contradictory attitudes in consumer purchase decisions [101], and only a small amount of literature explores the impact of consumer contradictory attitudes in tourism decisions [102]. In reality, consumers often hold contradictory attitudes toward specific countries.
Hypothesis 3a. 
Consumer ethnocentrism moderates the relationship between corporate image and purchase intention. Specifically, the positive promotional effect of corporate image on purchase intention will be weakened with the rise of consumer ethnocentrism.
Hypothesis 3b. 
Consumer ethnocentrism moderates the relationship between consumer ambivalence and purchase intention. Specifically, the positive promotional effect of consumer ambivalence on purchase intention will be weakened with the rise of consumer ethnocentrism.

3.4. Moderated Mediation Role of Consumer Ethnocentrism

In terms of the relationship between CSR and consumers’ contradictory attitudes, when multinational companies assume corporate social responsibility, consumers often have both positive and negative emotions towards brands; i.e., contradictory attitudes. As for the relationship between consumers’ contradictory attitudes and their willingness to buy, as mentioned above, the impact of consumers’ contradictory attitudes on their decisions and behaviors varies according to circumstances; i.e., under different circumstances, consumers’ contradictory attitudes may enhance or weaken their willingness to buy.
Based on this, the role of corporate image in the impact of CSR on consumers’ purchase intentions is worth exploring. Previous literature combined with the background of the COVID-19 pandemic to explore consumers’ abandonment of luxury restaurant booking conversations. The results showed that luxury restaurant attachment led to a decrease in consumers’ willingness to buy through its impact on consumers’ contradictory attitudes, which further confirms the intermediary role of consumers’ contradictory attitudes [103]. According to the information above provided, the following hypothesis is proposed:
Hypothesis 4a. 
Consumer ethnocentrism moderates the relationship between the CSR of MNCs and consumers’ purchase intentions through corporate image. Specifically, the positive promotional effect of corporate image on purchase intention will be weakened with the rise of consumer ethnocentrism.
Hypothesis 4b. 
Consumer ethnocentrism moderates the relationship between consumer ambivalence and purchase intention. Specifically, the positive promotional effect of consumer ambivalence on purchase intention will be weakened with the rise of consumer ethnocentrism.
Based on previous research and these hypotheses, this study suggests a research model, as shown in Figure 1.

4. Methodology and Data

4.1. Research Method

This paper studies the corporate social responsibility of the multinational Korean Orion Group in China. In order to prevent the spread of desertification in Inner Mongolia, the Orion Group, which is famous for its chocolate pie, began to promote the cause of the “Green Zone” in 2020. The purpose of the “Green Zone” project is to plant trees in the desert area of Inner Mongolia in China, which is the center of desertification, to prevent desertification and thus reduce the occurrence of sandstorms. By preventing the spread of desertification in Inner Mongolia through Orion’s Green Zone project, the annual number of sandstorms flowing into South Korea can be reduced. In this way, the project may reduce the incidence rate of respiratory diseases such as laryngitis, asthma, and rhinitis, and make contributions to the reduction of bad products in cutting-edge industries such as electronics. This study collected data from 633 users in cities with severe sandstorms in China (Huhehaote, Yinchuan, Beijing, Chengde, Shijiazhuang, and Tianjin).
Through an internet website, people from specific provinces (Huhehaote, Yinchuan, Beijing, Chengde, Shijiazhuang, and Tianjin) were recruited and asked to participate in a survey in order to test the research’s main hypothesis. As a result, the responses from 633 participants were considered in the study that followed. Table 1 provides demographic details about the respondents.
The measuring items were taken from earlier research and changed for this study to enhance the validity and reliability of measurements. Participants rated issues on a seven-point scale (1 = strongly disagree; 7 = strongly agree). The operational definitions and measurement components for each construct are displayed in Table 1.

4.2. Variable Measurement

In the questionnaire, the scales utilized were previously used literary maturity scales that were refined through translation and back translation. All surveys were assessed using the Likert scale (1–7), which is 1 = “strongly disagree”, 2 = “very much disagree”, 3 = “disagree”, 4 = “generally agree”, 5 = “agree”, 6 = “very much agree” and 7 = “strongly agree”.
CSR of MNC. The scale used in this paper is that developed by (Martínez P. et al. 2013), which comprises four statements. They are: “This company protects the environment”, “This company is actively involved in public welfare”, “This company engages in charity and donates”, and “This company can actively help solve some social problems”. The Cronbach α is 0.78.
Corporate Image. The scale used in this paper is that developed by (Chen S. C. 2021) which comprises six statements. They are: “Orion is a responsible enterprise for the social and public interests”, “The meaning of Orion is very good”, “Orion’s symbolism is good”, “Orion’s corporate image is very attractive”, “Orion is an enterprise that fulfills its social responsibilities”, and “Orion itself is full of charm”. The Cronbach α is 0.78.
Consumer Ambivalence. The scale used in this paper is that developed by Zhang Q. Y. et al. (2018), which comprises three statements. They are: “I have both good and bad feelings for Orion”, “I have both positive and negative feelings for Orion”, and “I both like and dislike Orion”. The Cronbach α is 0.84.
Consumer Ethnocentrism. The scale used in this paper is that developed by Bi X. et al. (2012), which comprises eight statements. They are: “Chinese people should not buy foreign products because this hurts Chinese business and causes unemployment”, “Can only import products that are not available in China”, “Buying Chinese products is the first priority”, “Buying foreign products is not done by the Chinese”, “Real Chinese should only buy Chinese products”, “Chinese people should not buy foreign products because this hurts Chinese business and causes unemployment”, “Buy Chinese products in order not to lose China’s wealth to other countries”, “My family and friends have been laid off, directly or indirectly, as a result of buying foreign goods”, “I like to buy Chinese products even if I lose money”. The Cronbach α is 0.94.
Purchase Intentions. The scale used in this paper is that developed by Zuckerman G. et al. (2009), which comprises four statements. They are: “I have the intention to buy Orion’s chocolate pie”, “I’d probably buy Orion’s chocolate pie”, “I will buy it if there is a chance in the future”, and “I give priority when buying similar products”. The Cronbach α is 0.72.

5. Research Results

5.1. Multilevel Confirmatory Factor Analysis

In order to ensure that the variables used in this study had good construct validity, we conducted multilevel confirmatory factor analysis on the main variables (CSR of MNCs, corporate image, consumer ambivalence, consumer ethnocentrism, purchase intentions).
The five-factor benchmark model was compared to a number of alternative models, and it was discovered that the five-factor model had a good fitting degree (χ2/df = 3.12, CFI = 0.93, TLI = 0.92, RMSEA = 0.058, SRMR = 0.05) and was significantly better than other alternative factor models. This finding demonstrates the high discriminant validity of the five variables used in this study. Table 2 displays the findings of the multilevel confirmatory factor analysis.

5.2. Descriptive Statistics

Table 3 describes the mean, standard deviation, and correlation coefficient of each variable.

5.3. Hypothesis Test

Figure 2 shows the path coefficients between the variables in this study. Table 4 of the results shows that the CSR of multinational corporations has an influence on consumers’ purchase intention (γ = 0.68, p < 0.001). The data lend credence to hypothesis 1. In addition, CSR has an impact on corporate image (γ = 0.64, p < 0.001), and corporate image has a significant predictive effect on consumers’ purchase intention (γ = 0.69, p < 0.001). Model 9 incorporates CSR and corporate image into the model at the same time. The data show that corporate image has a significant impact on consumers’ purchase intention (γ = 0.42, p < 0.001), which still has a significant positive impact, indicating that corporate image plays a partial intermediary role between CSR and consumers’ purchase intention. Hypothesis 2a is supported. Next, this study estimated the confidence interval of the indirect effect of CSR on consumers’ purchase intentions through corporate image by calculating 5000 bootstrap times. The results show that the indirect effect of CSR on consumers’ purchase intentions through corporate image is 0.28, and the 95% unbiased confidence interval of the intermediary effect does not contain zero (95%LLCI = 0.21, 95%ULCI = 0.37). As a result, Hypothesis 2a is further confirmed.
Similarly, the CSR of multinational corporations elicits a contradictory attitude (γ = 0.15, p < 0.001), and contradictory attitudes have a significant predictive effect on consumers’ purchase intention (γ = 0.09, p < 0.05). Model 10 incorporates CSR and contradictory attitudes towards multinational corporations at the same time. The data show that contradictory attitudes have a significant impact on consumers’ purchase intention (γ = 0.03, p < 0.05), which still has a significant positive impact, indicating that contradictory attitudes play a partial intermediary role between CSR and consumers’ purchase intentions, so Hypothesis 2b is confirmed. This study estimated the confidence interval of the indirect effect of CSR on consumers’ purchase intentions through contradictory attitudes by calculating 5000 bootstrap times. The results show that the indirect effect of CSR on consumers’ purchase intentions through contradictory attitudes is 0.27, and the 95% unbiased confidence interval of the intermediary role contains zero (95%LLCI = 0.18, 95%ULCI = 0.35). Therefore, Hypothesis 2b is further confirmed.
Hypothesis 3a holds that ethnocentrism values will regulate the relationship between corporate image and consumers’ purchase intention. As shown in Table 4, the ethnocentric values negatively regulate the relationship between the corporate image and consumers’ willingness to buy (γ = −0.20, p < 0.001); thus, Hypothesis 3a is confirmed. In order to more intuitively reflect the regulatory effect of ethnocentrism values, this study includes a regulatory effect chart of the influence of ethnocentrism values on the relationship between corporate image and consumers’ purchase intention at a level higher than or lower than one standard deviation. The high degree of ethnocentric values in Figure 1 (γ = 0.54, 95%LLCI = 0.45, 95%ULCI = 0.62) is shown. Hypothesis 3a was further confirmed by the finding that when nationalistic values are low, corporate image has a higher favorable impact on customers’ purchasing intentions (γ = 0.82,95%LLCI = 0.76, 95%ULCI = 0.89). According to Hypothesis 3b, the relationship between consumer ambivalence and customers’ purchasing intents will be regulated by ethnocentrism values. The link between consumer ambivalence and consumers’ purchase intentions is negatively regulated by ethnocentric values in Table 4 (γ = −0.17, p < 0.001), supporting hypothesis 3b. This study includes a moderating effect chart of the impact of ethnocentrism values on the relationship between consumer ambivalence and consumers’ purchase intentions at a level higher or lower than one standard deviation in order to more intuitively reflect the moderating effect of ethnocentrism values. Compared to the high level of ethnocentric values (γ = 0.46, 95%LLCI = 0.37, 95%ULCI = 0.55), as illustrated in Figure 3, Hypothesis 3b is further supported by data showing that when nationalistic values are low, consumer ambivalence has a higher favorable impact on customers’ purchasing intentions (γ = 0.78, 95%LLCI = 0.72, 95%ULCI = 0.85) (Figure 4).
In this paper, the parametric bootstrap method was also used to test the mediated effect of regulation. The results are shown in Table 5. Under different levels of ethnocentrism, the difference in the intermediary effect of ability is significant (−0.15, 95%LLCI = −0.18, 95%ULCI = −0.09). The empirical results reflect that the mediating effect of ability will change with the change of ethnocentric values, which proves that the mediated effect exists. Further, the mediating effect of ability between CSR motivation and consumers’ product attitude is significant under low-level (0.50, 95%LLCI = 0.43, 95%ULCI = 0.57) ethnocentric values but still significant under high-level (0.35, 95%LLCI = 0.28, 95%ULCI = 0.44) values. This shows that the indirect effect of CSR on consumers’ product attitude through ability is regulated by ethnocentric values and that there is a mediating effect. Therefore, Hypothesis 4a is confirmed. Similarly, at different levels of ethnocentrism values, the mediating effect of contradictory attitudes is significantly different (−0.05, 95%LLCI = 0.02, 95%ULCI = 0.09). The empirical results reflect that the mediating effect of contradictory attitudes will change with the change of ethnocentric values, which proves that the mediated effect exists. Further, the mediating effect of contradictory attitudes between CSR and consumers’ product attitude is significant at the low level (−0.00, 95%LLCI = −0.01, 95%ULCI = −0.06) of ethnocentric values but still significant at the high level (0.05, 95%LLCI = 0.02, 95%ULCI = 0.09). This shows that the indirect effect of CSR on consumers’ attitudes toward products through contradictory attitudes is regulated by ethnocentric values, and there is a mediating effect. Therefore, Hypothesis 4b is confirmed.

6. Conclusions and Discussion

6.1. Conclusions

The performance of CSR is the key for modern multinational corporations to better “go in” and “go out”. Since CSR was put forward, it has attracted the attention of academia and business circles. The focus has gradually changed from “whether corporations should perform social responsibility” to “how corporations should perform social responsibility”. Multinational corporations have a stronger sense of social responsibility. Many multinational corporations have promoted social responsibility to the strategic level, embedded it in the corporate culture, and run it through their daily operations. Concepts such as “CSR strategy” and “CSR marketing” have received more and more attention. Corporate social responsibility has gradually become a new marketing method allowing a company to differentiate itself from the competition.
Consumer response and feedback are the key indicators to measure the effectiveness of corporate marketing activities. CSR performance will affect consumer attitudes and behaviors. It will affect consumers’ perceptions of CSR. Consumers infer the motivation behind CSR based on perceived CSR performance. Motivational attribution will affect consumers’ attitudes and evaluations of corporate brands and then influence their behavioral choices. At present, most studies still tend to suggest that CSR has a positive impact on consumers and that the expression form of CSR affects the perceived quality of CSR among consumers. CSR behaviors with a high matching degree have a more significant impact on consumers. Compared with image matching, CSR behaviors with a high functional matching degree are more likely to gain consumer recognition. It also brings a positive brand attitude [104], so as to gain consumers’ support and trust and improve consumers’ purchase intentions and consumer loyalty. However, not all CSR behaviors will be positively received by consumers, and sometimes they will be questioned or even resisted. Some scholars have revealed the theoretical mechanism behind enterprises’ “thankless” fulfillment of social responsibility. Characteristics of corporate social responsibility affect consumer response, and characteristics such as matching degree, commitment level, and time choice will affect consumers’ perception of the quality of corporate social responsibility. Consumers’ “excessive feelings” will lead to psychological contract breaches, thus forming negative evaluations of enterprises as they question or even reject the behavior [36].
The motivation of multinational companies to enter the market is an important research topic in the field of international business, which has been studied extensively at home and abroad. However, the research on the influence of MNCs’ motivation to enter the market on CSR behavior is still insufficient. Most research results show that environmental factors have an impact on CSR behavior. Campbell (2007) analyzed the causes of CSR behavior from the perspective of institutionalism and pointed out that the economic environment and system had an impact on CSR behavior. Chih et al. (2010) believed that the degree of enterprise competition, legal restrictions, and private regulation within the industry had a certain impact on CSR behavior. The above research results provide a theoretical basis for MNCs to fulfill CSR behavior, but they are not enough to explain the relationship between MNCs’ motivation to enter the host country market and CSR behavior.
The corporate social responsibility of multinational corporations is often accompanied by many uncertainties and risks. Therefore, understanding the corporate social responsibility of multinational corporations is conducive to understanding the image of local consumers and their willingness to buy, as well as improving the competitiveness of corporations. Corporate social responsibility has a very positive effect on corporate image. Corporate image is an important external manifestation of corporate culture and an important asset with strategic significance. In the current industrial competition, the enterprise image recognized by the people can have a long-term positive impact on the company, promote the company to obtain important competitiveness that cannot be surpassed, and promote the company to win the final victory in industrial development. Among the stakeholders, customers have the most obvious effect on the company. Customers use their understanding of corporate social responsibility to further perceive the value and external image of the company. Corporations need to independently assume social responsibility because social responsibility activities play a key role in customers’ comprehensive understanding of corporate image. The company takes advantage of social responsibility to create a close relationship with customers, so as to create a good corporate image. The creation of a corporate image is based on the premise that the company independently assumes social responsibility.
By analyzing the relevant literature on corporate social responsibility and corporate image, it is found that although there is a lack of research literature on the relationship between corporate social responsibility and the corporate image of Korean or other multinational companies, some scholars have studied the relationship between them in Chinese corporations or from other perspectives. However, it was found that consumer ethnocentrism was not included in the previous literature.
Based on the perspective of consumer ethnocentrism, this study constructed a model to explore the internal mechanisms of multinational corporations’ corporate social activities on their purchase intentions. The results show that the social responsibility of multinational corporations has a positive impact on the behavior of purchase intention. Corporate image plays an intermediary role in the relationship between corporate social responsibility and purchase intention of multinational corporations; that is, corporate social responsibility of multinational corporations promotes consumers’ purchase intention behavior by improving corporate image. At the same time, consumer ambivalence plays an intermediary role in the relationship between the corporate social responsibility of multinational corporations and consumers’ purchase intention behavior; that is, the corporate social responsibility of multinational corporations promotes consumers’ purchase intention behavior through the consumer’s ambivalence. Consumer ethnocentrism can significantly negatively regulate the relationship between corporate image and consumers’ purchase intention and further negatively regulate the process of the corporate social responsibility system of multinational corporations, affecting consumers’ purchase intention behavior through corporate image and consumer ambivalence, and means that the lower the consumer ethnocentrism, the stronger the effect of corporate social responsibility on consumers’ purchase intention behavior through corporate image and consumer ambivalence.

6.2. Discussion

6.2.1. Theoretical Implication

This study takes ethnocentrism as a moderating variable to study the relationship between consumers’ corporate social responsibility and purchase willingness toward multinational corporations. Through the study of previous literature and empirical tests, this study puts forward relevant suggestions for multinational companies to improve their marketing strategies. First, multinational companies face consumer groups with different cultural backgrounds. When formulating marketing strategies, they should focus on customer characteristics rather than national characteristics. Consumers in different countries may have common customer characteristics, and consumers in the same country may have different needs. This paper believes that the degree of internationalization is one of the important bases for market segmentation because consumers with a high degree of internationalization often show cosmopolitanism and will respond positively to foreign products. Therefore, for consumers with a high degree of internationalization, multinational companies should highlight the internationality and diversity of their products in their marketing strategies.
Second, for the ethnocentric consumer group, although they prefer domestic products in their purchase decisions, multinational companies can highlight the quality of products and dilute the foreign attributes of products in their marketing strategies. At the same time, because product involvement in high-involvement products will alleviate the negative emotions of ethnocentric consumers, multinational companies can guide consumers to become more involved in high-involvement products through marketing. For example, they can increase advertising, give promotional materials, and use other marketing means to enhance consumers’ willingness to buy and increase their probability of buying high-risk foreign products.
Finally, for the world’s cosmopolitan consumer groups, although they will not take extra care of products in specific countries in their purchase decisions, it can be seen from the results of this study that their level of investment has a greater impact on consumption decisions for low-involvement products. Therefore, when multinational companies determine their marketing budgets, if the consumer groups they face generally show cosmopolitanism, they should appropriately increase the marketing budgets of low-involvement products so as to achieve a better marketing effect. For nationalists, the higher their involvement in the company’s products, the more they will treat products from other countries’ cultural backgrounds fairly. At this time, the regulatory role of involvement is more reflected in high-involvement products. Therefore, compared with low-involvement products, multinational companies should spend their limited budgets more on the marketing of high-involvement products.

6.2.2. Research Limitations

Although this study has obtained many meaningful research results in analyzing the purpose and reasons for CSR performance and the relationship between CSR behaviors by Korean-funded enterprises in China through empirical research, there are still some deficiencies and limitations.
First, as this study is an empirical analysis based on the data collected in the questionnaire survey, the understanding ability of the questionnaire fillers will have an impact on the data, and the questionnaire results will vary with the different understanding of the respondents. In addition, relevant data were only obtained through questionnaires, so it is inevitable that respondents would fill out questionnaires based on subjective judgment rather than objective facts, which affects the objectivity of data.
Second, in addition to the structured questionnaire survey, other research investigations should also be carried out. For example, we visited enterprises for deeper discussions and interviews, found more cases of CSR behavior, and conducted more in-depth research on them.
Third, although this study examines the impact of CSR from different angles, it finds that it is necessary to conduct a more comprehensive study from various angles, such as employee performance, customer loyalty, and brand value enhancement.

Author Contributions

Z.Z.: software, methodology, writing original draft, and project administration. Z.Y.: data curation, writing—review and editing. J.G. and M.-S.K.: conceptualization, investigation, supervision. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Funding

This study was supported by the Social Science Foundation of Nantong (No. 2022CNT041).

Institutional Review Board Statement

Not applicable.

Informed Consent Statement

Not applicable.

Data Availability Statement

The original contributions presented in the study are not included in the article, further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author.

Acknowledgments

All participants in this study are gratefully acknowledged.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Figure 1. Theoretical model.
Figure 1. Theoretical model.
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Figure 2. Multilevel SEM model path analysis. *** p < 0.001, * p < 0.05.
Figure 2. Multilevel SEM model path analysis. *** p < 0.001, * p < 0.05.
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Figure 3. Moderating effect of consumer ethnocentrism on the relationship between corporate image and purchase intentions.
Figure 3. Moderating effect of consumer ethnocentrism on the relationship between corporate image and purchase intentions.
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Figure 4. Moderating effect of corporate image on the relationship between corporate image and purchase intentions.
Figure 4. Moderating effect of corporate image on the relationship between corporate image and purchase intentions.
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Table
Table 1. Demographics information of the participants.
Table 1. Demographics information of the participants.
Demographic Information of the Participants
Gender (%)Education (%)Income (%)
Male37.9<=High School4.25000–8000 (RMB)5.8
Female62.1University studying248000–10,000 (RMB)9.3
Job (%)University graduated14.110,000–15,000 (RMB)41.9
Student11.1>=master56.4>15,000 (RMB)14
Company employee69.5Other1.3Residence (%)
Housewife0.3Age (%)Huhehaote16.3
Public servant9.6<=2538.4Yinchuan17.3
Self-employed7.626~3035.7Beijing17.4
Agricultural worker1.331~3515.2Chengde15.8
Other0.636~408.7Shijiazhuang17.2
>=412.2Tianjin15.8
N = 633.
Table
Table 2. Results of multilevel CFA.
Table 2. Results of multilevel CFA.
Modelχ2/dfRMSEACFITLISRMR
Five-factor: CSR, CI, CA, CE, PI3.115 ***0.0580.9330.9240.046
Four-factor: CSR, CI, CA + CE, PI5.469 ***0.0840.8560.8390.067
Three-factor: CSR + CI, CA + CE, PI5.6610.0860.8480.8320.070
Two-factor: CSR + CI + CA, CE + PI10.4650.1220.6910.6590.169
Single factor: CSR + CI + CA + CE + PI21.85 ***0.1820.3130.2480.224
Note: CSR: CSR of MNC, CI: corporate image, CA: consumer ambivalence, CE: consumer ethnocentrism, PI: purchase intentions. *** p < 0.001.
Table
Table 3. Means, standard deviation, and variables’ correlation.
Table 3. Means, standard deviation, and variables’ correlation.
VariablesMSD123456789
1. Gender1.620.49
2. Age28.085.390.001
3. Education3.471.69−0.040.13 **
4. Job4.250.99−0.000.19 **−0.037
5. Income2.391.170.020.35 **0.276 **0.229 **
6. CSR1.890.91−0.06−0.01−0.0160.011−0.021
7. CI4.020.60−0.020.000.138 **0.0110.0150.633 **
8. CA4.080.570.01−0.03−0.0410.022−0.16 **0.157 **0.050
9. CE3.411.05−0.01−0.01−0.006−0.092 *−0.0680.099 *−0.0310.449 **
10. PI2.991.11−0.01−0.010.099 *0.0130.0460.678 **0.688 **0.0750.009
Note: N = 633, CSR: CSR of MNC, CI: corporate image, CA: consumer ambivalence, CE: consumer ethnocentrism, PI: purchase intentions. ** p < 0.01, * p < 0.05.
Table
Table 4. Hierarchical regression analysis results.
Table 4. Hierarchical regression analysis results.
VariablesM1M2Y
M1M2M3M4M5M6M7M8M9M10M11M12
(Constant)3.791.243.502.363.920.891.033.740.320.931.163.57
Gender−0.020.020.020.020.000.040.001−0.000.030.040.00−0.00
Age−0.01−0.000.030.03−0.03−0.02−0.02−0.03−0.02−0.02−0.03−0.02
Education0.15 ***0.15 ***0.010.020.10 *0.10 **−0.010.10 *0.040.10 **−0.000.10
Job0.030.010.060.060.020.01−0.000.01−0.000.01−0.010.03
Income−0.03−0.02−0.19−0.19 **0.030.040.050.040.050.030.050.04
X 0.64 *** 0.15 *** 0.68 *** 0.42 ***0.69***
M1 0.69 *** 0.42 *** 0.64 ***
M2 0.09* 0.03* 0.15 **
W 0.07 *−0.05
M1 (×) W −0.20 ***
M2 (×)W −0.17 ***
R20.020.420.030.060.010.470.480.020.580.480.510.04
ΔR20.020.400.030.020.010.460.460.010.100.000.030.02
F2.19 *65.60 ***3.48 **5.27 ***1.1980.45 ***80.75 ***1.66105.80 ***70.43 ***72.03 ***2.78 **
Indirect effectMediation VariableEffectSEBoot95%CI
M10.280.04[0.21, 0.37]
M20.270.00[0.18, 0.35]
Note: X: CSR of MNC, M1: corporate image, M2: consumer ambivalence, W: consumer ethnocentrism, Y: purchase intentions. *** p < 0.001 ** p < 0.01, * p < 0.05.
Table
Table 5. Monte Carlo simulation tests the mediating effect with moderation.
Table 5. Monte Carlo simulation tests the mediating effect with moderation.
X→M1→YX→M2→Y
Moderating VariableLevelEffectSEBoot 95% CIEffectSEBoot 95% CI
WHigh0.350.05[0.28, 0.44]0.050.02[0.02, 0.09]
Difference−0.150.03[−0.18, −0.09]0.050.02[0.02, 0.09]
Low0.500.04[0.43, 0.57]−0.000.01[−0.01, 0.02]
Note: N = 633; Bootstrap sample size = 10,000. CI = confidence interval.
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MDPI and ACS Style

Zhang, Z.; Yang, Z.; Gu, J.; Kim, M.-S. How Does Multinational Corporations’ CSR Influence Purchase Intention? The Role of Consumer Ethnocentrism and Consumer Ambivalence. Sustainability 2023, 15, 5908. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15075908

AMA Style

Zhang Z, Yang Z, Gu J, Kim M-S. How Does Multinational Corporations’ CSR Influence Purchase Intention? The Role of Consumer Ethnocentrism and Consumer Ambivalence. Sustainability. 2023; 15(7):5908. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15075908

Chicago/Turabian Style

Zhang, Zhi, Zhaoying Yang, Jiang Gu, and Moon-Seop Kim. 2023. "How Does Multinational Corporations’ CSR Influence Purchase Intention? The Role of Consumer Ethnocentrism and Consumer Ambivalence" Sustainability 15, no. 7: 5908. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15075908

APA Style

Zhang, Z., Yang, Z., Gu, J., & Kim, M.-S. (2023). How Does Multinational Corporations’ CSR Influence Purchase Intention? The Role of Consumer Ethnocentrism and Consumer Ambivalence. Sustainability, 15(7), 5908. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15075908

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