Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility Practices on Impulse Buying Intention: Exploring the Moderating Influence of Social Media Advertising

Reviewer Comments

Authors Response

Questions:

The article is well-written and quite clearly presented. There are, however, some issues, that should be addressed before publication of the manuscript.They mostly refer to the research methodology and obtained empirical results. As stated, the values of both dependent and independent variables were measured on the Likert scale. It means that all variables are measured on the quite weak, ordinal scale. For such scales we must not use the classical regression analysis models. We should rather use a discriminant (classification) models. The dependent variable should be assessed by means of multi-class classification analysis and the independent ones should be changed into the 0-1 dummy variables with the omission of one state of each variable (the best is the worst one). Therefore, the model should be heavily reconstructed. The presented on figures 1 and 2 constructs are by all means ok, but the model itself should be not the regression, but classification one.

Respected Reviewer,

Thank you very much for your valuable feedback. This is a wonderful suggestion to make our work more impactful. We authors have thorough discussion on this comment. Unfortunately, this is our limitation and is reflected in limitations section as well. The current study used the quantitative research technique. The all variables scales were adopted from  recent studies and they also measure these variables based on 5 point likerts scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). (Rodrigues and Borges [69], Dahlsrud and Dahlsrud [70], Park et al. [71], Jiang et al. [72]; Zeng et al. [73] and Logan et al. [74]).

…..The present study incorporates three broader dimensions of sustainable CSR, especially environmental, social, and economic well-being. The measurement items utilized for assessing environmental well-being  (4-item scale) were adopted from the research conducted by Rodrigues and Borges [69], while the measurement items for economic well-being (5-item scale) and social well-being (5-item scale)  were derived from the study conducted by Dahlsrud and Dahlsrud [70]. The dependent variable, impulse buying, was measured using an 5-item scale developed by Park et al., [71]. Finally, the moderating variable Social Media Advertising (SMA) based on three dimensions: Interactivity (11-item scale) was used adopted from Jiang et al. [72]; Perceived Relevance (11-item scale) [73] ; Informativeness (11-item scale)  [74].

However, we are really grateful for this new dimension highlighted by reviewer. Definitely, we would come up with the innovative research agenda for my upcoming research work.

We will apply multi-class classification analysis in our upcoming projects. Once again thank for your valuable insight that gives me upcoming research agenda.

Reviewer Comments

Authors Response

Questions:

Abstract: The comments presented at the end of the Abstract are too general and not convincing. There are no main findings of the research presented at the end of the Abstract.

Agreed, Done.

line 7-13:

 The findings of this study revealed a significant positive association between sustainable CSR practices (including environmental, economic, and social well-being aspects) and impulse buying behavior…

Line 20-21: Further, this study recommends the use of social media to boost positive image for sustainable marketing or development via CSR practices.

The term 'sustainable CSR green practices' raises doubts.

Abbreviations need to be explained the first time they are used in a text.

Agreed, Done. Sorry for mistake. We change the word “green practices” to “CSR practices”.

Line 2: The goal of this study was to investigate the effects of sustainable corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices on impulse buying behavior (….)

The Authors should provide information about the availability of data used in the calculations. Currently, there is only information that data is available on reasonable request from the corresponding author. There is no information why the data is not publicly available. Why is data available only upon reasonable request? Research should be described in a way that allows it to be repeated by other researchers, especially since the software applied is widely accessible and very easy to use.

Agreed.

Respected Reviewer based on your suggestion the data files is attached in the article supplementary files section.

In principle, there are no explicit objections to using brackets in section titles, but the reviewer does not like this practice.

Agreed and removed.

Section numbering is incorrect. The literature Review section should be number 2.                                               

Agreed and updated. Pg. 3. line

It is worth justifying the use of selected research methods. The Authors should explain whether the Structural Equation Modeling was chosen because a similar method had been used for this purpose by other researchers.

Page 9: This study used Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) analyzed using SmartPLS v. 4 software [78]. Many theoretical connections between variables, some of which may be latent (i.e., not observable), may be analyzed using this method [79]. Given that majority of the concepts investigated in Management are not immediately observable, the PLS-SEM approach is highly effective in the field in which our study is framed [80]. We have used this method for three primary justifications. For first of all, PLS-SEM is an efficient method for the study of multidimensional variables, in current study SMA is a second-order constructs [78]. Since we make hypotheses about both direct and indirect links between variables in this investigation, it is recommended that we employ PLS-SEM, which is well-suited to modeling both types of associations simulta-neously [81]. Third, the minimum sample size to use this method of analysis is 100 ob-servations [82], making our sample appropriate by doubling the minimum necessary size (n= 202), which is sufficient to apply the method. The methodology known as PLS–SEM comprises two distinct components, as outlined by Ringle et al. [78]. The initial component is referred to as a measurement model (or outer model) which illustrates the association between constructs and their corresponding indicators [79]. The subsequent element is referred to as the structural model, also known as the inner model, which demonstrates the interconnection between two constructs…

It is necessary not only to justify the choice of research methods but also to compare them with other methods that can be used for this type of calculation.

Page 9: …For first of all, PLS-SEM is an efficient method for the study of multidimensional variables, in current study SMA is a second-order constructs [78]. Since we make hypotheses about both direct and indirect links between variables in this investigation, it is recommended that we employ PLS-SEM, which is well-suited to modeling both types of associations simulta-neously [81]. Third, the minimum sample size to use this method of analysis is 100 ob-servations [82], making our sample appropriate by doubling the minimum necessary size (n= 202), which is sufficient to apply the method. The methodology known as PLS–SEM comprises two distinct components, as outlined by Ringle et al. [78]….

The numbering of the three hypotheses is wrong (lines: 189-191).

Agreed, Done. Pg. 5 & 7.

The Discussion section should include explicit references to specific hypotheses and an in-depth discussion of their verification.

Agreed, Done. Pg.  15 & 16

There is no logical connection between some of the sentences (e.g., 545-546).

Agreed and updated.

There are mistakes in references, e.g., various punctuation marks.

Agreed, Done. Pg. 19

Comments on the Quality of English Language

The words which constitute abbreviations shall start with capital letters.

There are a lot of repetitions throughout the text.

The subject of the sentence is unknown in line 535.

After ‘as follows’ one should use a colon (line 539).

There is grammar error in line 541.

The subject is missing in line 566.

Lack of subject-verb agreement in lines 507-508.

Grammar mistake: missing article in line 572.

Agreed and done.

Professional services for proofreading and editing have been hired which help in creating linkages and clarity among all sections. The article is much refined now.

Reviewer Comments

Authors Response

Questions:

This is an interesting study. I have some concerns.First, the title is CSR practices but in abstract and paper is CSR green practices. I confused about the use of the term.

Agreed, Done. Sorry for the mistake. We changed the word ‘green practices to CSR practices.

line 1-3:

 The goal of this study was to investigate the effects of sustainable corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices on impulse buying behavior, with a focus on the moderating role of social media advertising.

Second, attitude is not always point to behavior. There is a gap, especially talking about CSR.

Agreed, Done. Page 3: Schoff [95] emphasized that businesses today are losing out if they do not engage in CSR. Businesses can no longer afford to ignore CSR, as it increasingly influences consumer decisions (….)

Third, authors keep talking about companies throughout the paper, however, student sample is used.

Respected Reviewer, Current study is focusing on buying behavior of customers. Therefore, university students were selected (young consumers in China). Also, explaining how CSR practices have become the foundation of a company's identity, creating a distinct and long-lasting brand. It has become a prominent tactic among companies. Another important goal is to build relationships with customers, workforces, suppliers, and the social environment. Businesses create strategies for ecological, social, and financial health by evaluating the needs of the community and the effectiveness of existing practices

Comments on the Quality of English Language

Very difficult to read, Native English speaker is needed for proof reading.

Agreed and done.

Professional services for proofreading and editing have been hired which help in creating linkages and clarity among all sections. The article is much refined now.

Reviewer Comments

Authors Response

Questions:

The title and abstract effectively convey the study's intent. However, in the keyword assessment, authors should check the sentence case in the keyword "sustainable Corporate Social Responsibility practices'.

Agreed, updated. line 22-23.

While the introduction articulates its points well, there is room for improvement by eliminating unnecessary discussions. This refinement would allow for clearer identification of research gaps, objectives, and notable contributions. A sentence such as "A company's ability to compete successfully against rivals and grow sustainably in business depends on" should be rewritten to enhance clarity.

Agreed, Done. We removed extra information.

 Page 2.

The literature review section is competently presented, although further justification and formulation of hypotheses are needed. References are required to substantiate claims, like the statement; "Previous research indicated that the quality of reviews indirectly and positively affects a product's perceived usefulness."

Agreed, Done. Pg. 4,5, 6, & 7

For the discussion section, a more comprehensive approach is advisable.

Please include the study's conclusion.

Agreed, Done.  Pg. 15 & 16 .

Agreed Done. Pg. 16

The author demonstrates a connection between general implications and research objectives, achieving a meaningful outcome.

Thank you so much.

In the methodology section, it is necessary to elaborate on the measurement instrument for each construct. When discussing t-tests on subsamples of size 5,000, mention "bootstrap".  Address constructs with factor loadings below 0.5 by either excluding them or providing additional justifications. The assertion of an R-square value of 1.000 raises concerns, as does the absence of statistical significance in the model—unless justifications are provided. The model may be relooked into as it is not acceptable in the present form.  Additionally, language usage requires enhancement for better clarity.

Agreed and updated.

Page 9: … In general, factor loadings values need to be greater than 0.70 [81]. Each item’s factor loading was found to be between 0.344 and 0.839 when the indicator's convergent validity was evaluated. According to Ringle et al. [78], factor loadings between 0.40 and 0.70 should only be deleted if doing so will increase the, CR or AVE values. Sarstedt et al. [81] may accept the construct's convergent validity if the AVE is greater than 0.5 and the CR is greater than 0.6. The estimates of α, composite reliability, and average variance extracted were all higher than the cutoff values shown in Table 1. Therefore, Table 1 shows that the measurement model has convergent validity..…

Page 13: …. The R2 is a statistical metric used to assess the predictive accuracy of a model. It quantifies the collective impact of exogenous latent variables on endogenous latent variables. The value of R2 falls within the range of 0 to 1, indicating the extent to which the model's predictions align with the observed data [79]. Greater explanatory power is indicated by higher R2 values. According to Sarstedt et al. [81], R-squared values of 0.75, 0.50, and 0.25 are classified as large, moderate, and weak, respectively. According to Table 4, the coefficient of determination (R2) for impulse buying was found to be 0.514, indicating a moderate level of explanation. This value suggests that approximately 51.4% of the change in impulse buying can be accounted for by the combined effects of EnWB, EcWB, SWB, and SMA.….

The study's insights substantially contribute to the realms of CSR and consumer behavior. The utilization of a sizable sample and advanced statistical techniques bolsters the study's methodological rigor. Nonetheless, potential limitations must be acknowledged, such as the focus on a specific demographic (university students and young consumers in China) and the reliance on self-reported data, potentially introducing bias.

Page 8-9: To address the potential issue of common method variance (CMV) arising from using the same respondents for all variables, several procedural remedies were implemented. These included ensuring respondent confidentiality through a cover letter, providing clear definitions of unfamiliar terms, and using concise and simple questions. Despite these measures, a statistical approach called the "Correlation Matrix Procedure" (CMP), introduced by Tehseen et al. [75], was employed to analyze the potential impact of CMV on the correlations between latent variables. According to this procedure, CMV was not found to be an issue, as the correlation between the principal variables was below 0.90 [76]. Furthermore, a comprehensive assessment of collinearity was conducted to address the concern of CMV….

 …. Based on exploratory factor analysis and principal analysis approaches, Harman's one-factor analysis results indicated that the study had no problems with common method biases analysis, as the single factor explained 24.52 % of the cumulative variance, which is less than the suggested 50% threshold [77].……

Quality of English Language

Improvement in professional English is highly recommended. 

Agreed and done.

Professional services for proofreading and editing have been hired which help in creating linkages and clarity among all sections. The article is much refined now.

Yes

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Must be improved

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Are the arguments and discussion of findings coherent, balanced and compelling?

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Reviewer Comments

Authors Response

Questions:

The Authors referred to all my comments and remarks.

Thank you so much.

Yes

Can be improved

Must be improved

Not applicable

Is the content succinctly described and contextualized with respect to previous and present theoretical background and empirical research (if applicable) on the topic?

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Are all the cited references relevant to the research?

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Are the research design, questions, hypotheses and methods clearly stated?

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Are the arguments and discussion of findings coherent, balanced and compelling?

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For empirical research, are the results clearly presented?

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Is the article adequately referenced?

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Are the conclusions thoroughly supported by the results presented in the article or referenced in secondary literature?

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Reviewer Comments

Authors Response

Questions:

Some improvements in English.

Agreed and Done. The professional services for proofreading and editing have been hired which help in creating linkages and clarity among the all sections. The article is much refined now.

However, my two comments have not addressed. For example, attitude is not always point to behavior.

Thank you so much.

Changes made.

Page 4.

Student sample was used. Please use working people as respondents instead. It is no point to address my comment by saying other thing. If you think you are right, please provide your argument student sample is the best in your study.

Respected reviewer, the data was collected from students also other young consumers (686 university students and young consumers) because they were active consumers when every new product launch. The current study help the companies to understand trend of consumers what type of product they like and those disliked.

Also, recent studies on CSR and impulse buying collected the data from university students and young consumers (Dey & Srivastava, 2017; Islam et al., 2018). Hayat et al., 2020).

Hayat, K., Jianjun, Z., Zameer, H., & Iqbal, S. (2020). Understanding the influence of corporate social responsibility practices on impulse buying. Corporate social responsibility and environmental management, 27(3), 1454-1464.

Dey, D. K., & Srivastava, A. (2017). Impulse buying intentions of young consumers from a hedonic shopping perspective. Journal of Indian Business Research, 9(4), 266-282.

Islam, T., Sheikh, Z., Hameed, Z., Khan, I. U., & Azam, R. I. (2018). Social comparison, materialism, and compulsive buying based on stimulus-response-model: a comparative study among adolescents and young adults. Young Consumers, 19(1), 19-37.

Comments on the Quality of English Language

OK

Thank you so much.

Yes

Can be improved

Must be improved

Not applicable

Is the content succinctly described and contextualized with respect to previous and present theoretical background and empirical research (if applicable) on the topic?

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Are all the cited references relevant to the research?

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Are the research design, questions, hypotheses and methods clearly stated?

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Are the arguments and discussion of findings coherent, balanced and compelling?

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For empirical research, are the results clearly presented?

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Is the article adequately referenced?

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Are the conclusions thoroughly supported by the results presented in the article or referenced in secondary literature?

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Reviewer Comments

Authors Response

Questions:

Substantial improvement in the paper has been done after the review. All my suggestions have been addressed and desired content have been incorporated. 

Agreed and Done. The professional services for proofreading and editing have been hired which help in creating linkages and clarity among the all sections. The article is much refined now.

Comments on the Quality of English Language

Agreed and Done.

Minor editing in English is still needed in the article. In fact, in the second review, it seems certain software (ex. grammarly) has been used that has taken the essence of the content. However, these inclusions are less in number. A careful check will definitely enhance the quality of the paper. 

Agreed and Done.

Reviewer Comments

Authors Response

Questions:

Thanks for your responses. I suggest authors re-collect the sample using working adults because they perceived the benefits of CSR practices.

Earlier, we had only included gender, age, and education in the descriptive statistics to ensure brevity.  Inline with your suggestion, Table 1: Descriptive Statistics has now been updated by incorporating the relevant work experience of the sample respondents.

Kindly refer to Page 9 of the revised manuscript.  10.1% of the sample respondents have less than 3 years of working experience, while 24.1% have 3-6 years of experience, 38.8% possess 7-10 years of experience, and 27.1% of the respondents have more than 10 years of work experience.

I don't like the title using the term "Sustainable CSR practice." Please define it before you use it.

The article title has now been revised inline with your recommendation. “Impact of CSR Practices on Impulse Buying Intention: Exploring the Moderating Influence of Social Media Advertising”

I suggest authors to use impulse buying intention instead of impulse buying behavior.

Thanks for this suggestion. Agreed and updated in the complete article.