The effect of stakeholders' awareness of a company's corporate social responsibility activities on the attitude towards the company : a case study : HSBC Malta

Abstract

The main focus of this paper is to facilitate a deeper understanding of the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and to measure the relationship between the stockholders' awareness of a company's CSR activities and their attitude towards the company. The study was carried out in Malta and it reports the findings from face-to-face interviews with customers and non-customers of HSBC Bank Malta that was used as an example of a socially responsible organization. There was a relatively low awareness of the CSR activities carried out by the company among its stakeholders. The research has also showed that although within the modem business environment companies are facing an increasing pressure to both maintain profitability and behave in socially responsible ways, attitude towards the company is not affected by its CSR activities. The main factors influencing judgments about the company were further investigated in the study.