The Effect of Global Logistics Firms’ Engagement in Social Responsibility on Customers’ Perception of Price Fairness -Experimental Evidence in Korea-

Although many logistics firms engage in corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities, prior research has little investigated the effects of those firms’ engagement in CSR on customers’ perception of price fairness. Drawing on the social exchange theory and the instrumental stakeholder theory, the author develops a conceptual framework that can explain the effect of global logistics firms’ CSR engagement on perceived price fairness and the moderating role of customers’ intrinsic attribution of CSR. A between-subjects scenario experiment was conducted to manipulate participants’ perceived level of a global logistics firm’s engagement in CSR. The effects of the experimental treatment were analyzed with an analysis of variance. The results of the analysis shows that customers’ perception of price fairness is significantly lower in the experiment group than in the control group and that customers’ perception of price fairness is significantly higher for high intrinsic CSR attribution than for low intrinsic CSR attribution. The findings of the present study propose an underlying psychological mechanism liking global logistics firms’ engagement in CSR to customers’ perception of price fairness, in which the perception depends crucially on customers’ CSR attribution. Finally, the author suggests strategies for global logistics firms to optimize the effect of CSR engagement on customers’ perception of price fairness.