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Research Article

The Effect of ESG Activities on Corporate Image, Perceived Price Fairness, and Consumer Responses

Yun-na Park, Sang-Lin Han

Hanyang University
Hanyang University

Published: January 2021 · Vol. 50, No. 3 · pp. 643-664

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17287/kmr.2021.50.3.643

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Abstract

Recently, environment, social, and governance (ESG) are becoming increasingly important in corporate management. Although previous research has mainly focused on financial benefits from the investor perspective, consumer perceptions of ESG activities have received little attention. The purpose of this study was to provide a psychological mechanism of how consumer perceptions of ESG activities. Specifically, the purpose of this study is to examine (1) how ESG affects corporate image (perceived warmth-competence), (2) how perceived corporate image influence perceived price fairness, and (3) these effects may affect consumer response such as brand attitude, loyalty, and willingness to pay more towards corporate. The proposed research model was tested using structural equation modeling. According to the results of data analysis, the results revealed that (1) environment of ESG had a positive impact on perceived warmth and social of ESG had a positive impact on both perceived warmth and competence. Also, governance of ESG had a positive impact on perceived competence. Furthermore, perceived warmth and competence toward corporate had a positive impact on perceived price fairness, which results in brand attitude, loyalty, and willingness to pay more. The interpretations of these findings and the implications are also discussed.
Keywords: ESGCorporate imagePerceived price fairnessBrand attitudeLoyaltyWillingness to pay more