Effect of Corporate Social Ethical Responsibility on Customer Loyalty: A Survey of Telecommunication Firms in Uasin Gishu County, Kenya

Abstract

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has been used by many companies to gain public confidence through providing essential commodities of some high value to a customer, particular in telecommunication industry where only one mobile operator has dominated the market share for the last one decade. The study objective was to determine the effect of CSR ethical responsibility on customer loyalty. Carroll model and Stakeholder theory were used to explaining the study. The study employed an explanatory research design. The study targeted all customers of telecommunication companies in Uasin Gishu County. Stratified sampling was used to group the population while the systematic sampling technique was used to obtain 400 customers. A structured questionnaire was used for data collection. The reliability of the questionnaire was checked using Cronbach Alpha test. Data was purely quantitative. Data collected were coded and analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The study found that CSR initiatives positively impact on customer loyalty. The study found that ethical responsibilities positively affect customer loyalty. It was therefore affirmed that mobile firms providing telecommunication services with higher levels of ethical CSR initiatives are likely to enhance customer loyalty towards their products. It’s therefore important for telecommunication firms to act as a good citizen in all matters beyond law and ethical rules. Telecommunication firms should engage in ethical CSR in order to create a positive attitude on their customers to enhance loyalty.

Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility, Ethical responsibility, Customer loyalty, and Telecommunication firms