Spanish Consumer´s Perception of Corporate Social Responsibility

Abstract

The findings of this paper increase our comprehension of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) from the
consumer’s perspective in a Spanish context. Based on primary data collected via personal surveys in Spain we
provide evidence to show that Spanish consumers are supportive of CSR. We also show that sustainable
development theory can be applied in Spain. We evaluated the importance placed by Spanish consumers on three
responsibilities ―economic, social and environmental― and find that economic responsibilities are most
important while social and environmental responsibilities are of least importance. The nature of these
divergences is relevant for companies incorporating CSR in their corporate agenda for strategic reasons.
Keywords: Consumer’s perceptions, Corporate social responsibility, Spain, sustainable development theory,
Spanish consumers.