The effects of corporate social responsibility on customer-based brand equity: Spanish hypermarket case

Hypermarkets have experienced substantial restructuring in the recent past because their situation has generated the necessity to develop new models that include different new aspects. The question under consideration here is whether the adoption of measures of corporate social responsibility (C.S.R.) by hypermarkets in Spanish markets can solve their continuing problems by establishing a fair degree of consumer-based brand equity. The purpose of the present study is twofold: (a) to investigate the effects of C.S.R. on hypermarket brand equity; and (b) to explore the dimensions of both these variables by using and testing property scales. As such, it is necessary to consider the possibility of integrating the management of C.S.R. into the global strategy of hypermarkets and to analyse its possible effects on the variables that influence consumer-based brand equity. It may be interesting to dedicate resources and efforts to strengthening hypermarkets' links with their consumers.