House-buyers' expectations with relation to corporate social responsibility for Malaysian housing

Purpose - The concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) has been widely acknowledged by contemporary businesses in the last 20 years. The purpose of this paper is to study how CSR is perceived by house-buyers in Johor Bahru, Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach - A qualitative approach, by way of house-buyer focus group, was used to uncover house-buyers' criteria for housing development, levels of satisfaction, expectations of developers' social responsibilities, and factors influencing their purchase decisions. Findings - Research findings showed that majority of house-buyers in Johor Bahru expected a socially responsible developer to provide more CSR features such as more green spaces, recreational parks and facilities, security features, and good infrastructure. However, less wealthy buyers were more sensitive to house price and fulfilling their basic accommodation needs. Thus, developers need to be prudent in pricing products for different purchaser groups. Although all participants indicated their readiness to pay for CSR features, it is less clear as to how much premium house-buyers would pay for such extras. Clearly, the pricing of CSR features emerges from this study as a key issue and how this varies by property type. Originality/value - Most CSR research has been conducted in developed countries, very little has been documented about practices in developing world. These research findings will be beneficial for developers in developing more socially responsible products to cater for the house-buyers' increasing expectations.