Shabib 2017

World Journal of Entrepreneurship, Management and Sustainable
Development
Impact of CSR on consumer behavior of Bahraini women in the cosmetics industry
Fatema Shabib, Subhadra Ganguli,
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WJEMSD
13,3 Impact of CSR on consumer
behavior of Bahraini women in
the cosmetics industry
174 Fatema Shabib
Department of Management and Marketing,
Ahlia University, Manama, Bahrain, and
Subhadra Ganguli
Department of Accounting and Economics, Ahlia University, Manama, Bahrain
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR)
awareness on the attitudes of Bahraini women consumers in the age group of 18-55 and their buying behavior
toward cosmetics products.
Design/methodology/approach – Quantitative method is used for focusing on Bahraini women consumers
aged between 18-55 years. Primary data comprising consumer’s buying behavior and attitudes were collected
through an online questionnaire and analyzed using software like SPSS and Microsoft Office Excel.
Findings – The empirical findings revealed that Bahraini women are not aware of CSR. This lack of
awareness leads to the exclusion of CSR as a factor in their purchase decisions. However, the awareness of
CSR can become a reason for avoiding purchase of specific cosmetics when the consumer discovers that the
producer has been involved in socially irresponsible business practices. Moreover, Bahraini women do not
seek CSR-related information voluntarily from the cosmetics industry.
Research limitations/implications – This research paper is subject to sample size limitations; it focuses
on women of a specific age group using cosmetics and is limited to the Kingdom of Bahrain. Survey method
was used as the only primary data collection method.
Practical implications – This research provides a clear picture of how consumers behave in the absence of
any or very little awareness of CSR. It can benefit cosmetics companies, both existing and new, for adopting
future long-term marketing strategies to create public awareness of CSR.
Social implications – This research highlights the importance of raising awareness of CSR in the Kingdom
of Bahrain and the possible implications of such activities on consumers’ purchases of cosmetics products.
Originality/value – This paper contributes significantly toward information regarding Bahraini consumers’
lack of awareness of CSR and sheds light on consumers’ behavior toward cosmetics products in the Kingdom
of Bahrain.
Keywords Consumer behavior, Corporate social responsibility (CSR), Bahraini women,
Consumer attitude, Cosmetics industry, Kingdom of Bahrain
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
The concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) reflects how companies integrate their
business strategies with the well-being of various stakeholders like employees, suppliers,
consumers and the environment to minimize the negative impact of their business practices.
However, this research study investigates CSR from the consumers’ perspective. There are
limited studies that have investigated consumers’ perspective toward CSR (Swaen et al., 2003).
For the past few years, the concept of CSR has grown in popularity among the Gulf
Cooperation Council (GCC) members[1]. Companies in the Kingdom of Bahrain have adopted
CSR so that they could give back to the community and create a framework that leads to
World Journal of sustainable projects. 3BL Associates Consultancy (2013) conducted a study assessing the
Entrepreneurship, Management
and Sustainable Development understanding and implementation of responsible business practices in Bahrain and
Vol. 13 No. 3, 2017
pp. 174-203
focused on evaluating the attitudes of companies ranging from multinationals to small
© Emerald Publishing Limited
2042-5961
businesses in incorporating CSR as a marketing strategy. They found that most Bahraini
DOI 10.1108/WJEMSD-08-2016-0041 companies did not publish CSR or sustainability reports. In addition, they found that CSR,
most often understood as community engagement, is still a new concept in Bahrain whose Impact of CSR
benefits were not clearly understood by executives. on consumer
The sample is a group of Bahraini women between the ages of 18 and 55 living in the behavior
Kingdom of Bahrain. Bahraini women are represented in all major professions, women’s
societies and women’s organizations. Besides taking care of their family, Bahraini women
play a significant role in the fields of education, medicine, nursing practice and other
health-related jobs, financial services, clerical jobs, light manufacturing duties and 175
veterinary science among others. There are numerous examples of women in responsible
and powerful positions: Dr Fatima Al Balooshi, Social Development Minister (2005-2014),
Shaikha Mai bint Mohammed Al Khalifa, Minister of Culture (2008-present), Sameera Rajab,
Minister of State for Information Affairs and Official Government Spokeswoman

(2012-2014), Dr Bahiya Al Jishi, Shura Council Second Deputy Chairwoman (2004-2006),
Najwa Abdulrahim, Vice President, Bahrain Airport Company Information Technology
(2008-present); Mona Almoayyed (2001-2016), Managing Director, Y.K. Almoayyed & Sons;
Afnan Al Zayani (1999-2016), President, Al Zayani Commercial Services, Ahlam Janahi
(2012-2014), Founder-President, Bahrain Businesswomen’s Society, and Fatima Hassan
Jawad (1980-2016), Jawad Business Group Board Member.
Bahraini women express their beauty with great attention devoted to hair, nail and skin
care. Likewise, Bahraini men have careful personal grooming as a part of their traditions.
Cosmetics producing companies have faced criticism due to irresponsible business
practices such as testing on animals, chemical pollution and using unsafe ingredients
(Roermund, 2013; Chu and Lin, 2012). However, The Body Shop (thebodyshop.com), one of
the most famous socially responsible cosmetics companies in the world, supports animal
protection, human rights, fair trade and environmental protection.
The purpose of this research paper is to analyze the impact of CSR on Bahraini women’s
attitude and their behavior toward the purchase of cosmetics products. The questionnaire
used in the data collection procedure for this research paper is attached as Appendix.
2. Literature review
CSR is defined as “The continuing commitment by business to contribute to economic
development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well
as of the community and society at large” (The World Business Council for Sustainable
Development, 2016).
Researchers do not have a common definition or principle of CSR. The meaning of CSR is
and whether companies should be socially responsible or not are still being argued by
researchers (Crane, 2008). However, most of the definitions of CSR emphasize on the
fact that socially responsible companies’ concerns go beyond short-term profitability.
A company’s commitment to socially responsible activities is important to consumers
(Gupta, 2002). Consumers develop a favorable attitude toward socially responsible
companies’ products (D’Astous and Legendre, 2008).
Previous studies argued that consumer awareness of CSR impacts their behavior
(Mohr, Webb, and Harris, 2001; Wigley, 2008). Some studies revealed that socially
responsible companies are less likely to be boycotted by consumers.
Previous studies have proved the influence of CSR on consumer behavior and have
shown that CSR initiatives have a strong positive influence on consumer behavior
(Mohr et al., 2001; Gupta, 2002; Lin et al., 2011; Rahizah et al., 2011).
Moreover, few studies have found that there is a positive relationship between a
company’s CSR practice and consumers’ attitudes toward that company and its products
(Mohr et al., 2001; Trudel and Cotte, 2011; Vahdati et al., 2015). Given the strong correlation
between consumer behavior and CSR practices, various studies have found conflicting
attitudes where CSR is not an important factor for consumers in making their purchase
WJEMSD decisions (Beckmann et al., 2001; Gigauri, 2012; Zhao, 2012). Others found that consumers
13,3 consider a company’s CSR in their purchase decisions (Kashif et al., 2015). CSR influences
not only consumers’ purchasing decisions but also consumers’ evaluation of new
products (Beckmann and Morsig, 2006). CSR of the cosmetics business is important to
consumers (Chu and Lin, 2012; Roermund, 2013).
While studies largely suggest that consumers do care about CSR some still argue about
176 it, very little research has included the awareness variable into consideration. Moreover,
it has been noted that there is a gap between consumer awareness, their attitude and buying
behavior in the literature which indicates the need for further research in this area.
2.1 Studies of the impact of CSR on consumer behavior in the cosmetics industry
Few studies about CSR in the cosmetics industry have been found. The study by Zhao (2012)
investigated Sweden’s consumer awareness of CSR in the cosmetics industry. It considered the
channels consumers get CSR information from, investigated consumers’ attitudes on different
CSR activities and how consumers’ buying behavior was affected by CSR activities.
A quantitative method was used in this study by using online questionnaire. Zhao (2012)
targeted students and graduates of the Jönköping University as the sample of this study and
only 74 respondents answered the online questionnaire. Respondents’ age distribution was
uneven; majority of them were students aged between 18 and 25 years with little or no income.
They bought what they could afford. The education levels of the respondents were relatively
high. The results of the study could be different if the sample size was larger, including diverse
age groups, to help minimize the bias. The finding of this study cannot be generalized.
Another study by Chu and Lin (2012) examined the Chinese cosmetics consumers’
perceptions, attitudes and behavior toward CSR. It focused on female consumers between
ages 18 and 50 and used online questionnaire. The main research question was “Do Chinese
consumers care about CSR?” The findings were consistent with the Chinese cultural values
of collectivism and harmony.
Roermund (2013) explored the role of CSR in the cosmetics industry in the Netherlands
and the influence of CSR on customer-organization relationships. The study used both
qualitative and quantitative methods. First, a content analysis of CSR strategies of five
cosmetics companies was completed. Then, an inductive approach was used and no
predetermined categories were identified. Second, a survey was conducted with 134
respondents for the analysis. A significant section of the survey was disseminated via
fashion and beauty blogs. This might have biased the results; type of respondents chosen
might have been more interested in cosmetics than the average person. Moreover, most of
the respondents were students and were around the age of 23. Thus, the results cannot be
generalized to the customers in the Netherlands.
All the above studies have been conducted in several countries and have a variety of
findings due to cultural differences and consumer perceptions. Furthermore, due to
sample selection methods, the results of these studies are subjected to sampling bias and
cannot be generalized.
2.2 Conceptual model

The conceptual model, used in this research, is based on literature review with consideration
of the research objectives and questions in mind. Mohr et al. (2001) concluded that the
relationship among consumers’ beliefs, attitudes and behavior about CSR are stronger when
consumers have awareness and knowledge about CSR-related issues and when they
consider these issues to be important. Moreover, Wigley (2008) draws attention to the fact
that there is a significant positive relationship between CSR awareness, attitude and buying
behavior. Also, consumer knowledge about a company’s CSR initiatives can affect the
consumer behavior toward their purchasing decisions. However, Beckmann et al. (2001)
mention that CSR is neither important nor necessary for a consumer to make purchases. Impact of CSR
Factors such as price, quality and brand are more important and consumers make purchase on consumer
decisions due to personal reasons rather than CSR-related reasons. behavior
The conceptual model has been constructed to investigate the consumer awareness of
CSR in the cosmetics industry and to analyze the influences it has on consumer attitude and
buying behavior. Furthermore, it is constructed to investigate how consumers perceive
different CSR initiatives and the impact of this perception on consumer behavior while 177
making purchase decisions. As in Figure 1, the independent variable in the model is CSR
(CSR awareness and initiatives) which is used to test its impact on the dependent variables
which are consumers’ attitude and consumers’ buying behavior. Consumers’ purchase
decision is an outcome of consumers’ buying behavior.

Attitude is defined as “a learned predisposition to behave in a consistently favorable or
unfavorable way toward market-related objects, events or situations” (Strydom, 2004, p. 48).
Consumer’s behavior “reflects the totality of consumer’s decision with respect to the
acquisition, consumption, and disposition of goods, services, activities, experience, people
and idea by (human) decision-making units(over time)” (Hoyer and MacInnis, 2009, p. 3).
Consumer’s buying behavior is defined as “Consumer buyer behavior refers to the buying
behavior of final consumers- individuals and households who buy goods and services for
personal consumption” (Armstrong and Kotler, 2007, p. 128).
This study explores Bahraini women’s awareness of CSR in general and, specifically, in
the cosmetics industry; studies their attitude toward CSR practices and socially responsible
cosmetics companies, and analyses their purchasing behavior toward cosmetics products
after they have gained awareness of CSR activities of these companies.
2.3 Hypotheses
The hypotheses developed based on the conceptual model are three as follows where H0i is
the null hypothesis, HA-i is the alternative hypothesis where i ¼ 1, 2, 3:
H01. CSR awareness and consumer attitude are not related.
HA-1. CSR awareness and consumer attitude are related.
H02. CSR awareness has no positive and significant impact on consumer’s buying behavior.
HA-2. CSR awareness has a positive and significant impact on consumer’s buying behavior.
H03. Cosmetics companies’ CSR initiatives have no positive and significant impact on
consumer’s purchase decision.
HA-3. Cosmetics companies’ CSR initiatives have a positive and significant impact on
Dependent variables
Independent variable Attitude
CSR
awareness
Buying Figure 1.
behavior Conceptual model
WJEMSD 3. Methodology
13,3 Quantitative research methods are used to determine the impact of CSR awareness on
consumer’s attitude and buying behavior within Bahraini female population.
The total Bahraini female population is around 300,000 (BCIO, 2014). Convenience
sampling method has been used since any Bahraini woman does not have an equal
chance of being selected in this research. “Sample size calculator” formula is given by:
178
Z 2 ðpÞ ð1pÞ
Sample size ¼
c2
where: Z ¼ Z-value (e.g. 1.96 for 95 percent confidence level), p ¼ percentage of picking a
choice, expressed as decimal (0.5 used for sample size needed), c ¼ confidence interval,
expressed as a decimal (e.g. 0.09 ¼ ±9).
The sample size of this research, using the sample size formula, was around 384
respondents. According to Singh and Singh Mangat (1996), convenience sample is an
example of an accessible sample. It is often used when in need for quick and easy access to a
sample for a researcher studying a population of interest. It is employed in both qualitative
and quantitative research. Therefore, using convenience sampling method this research
included 384 easiest to access Bahraini women consumers aged between 18-55 years.
This helped to achieve the required sample size in a relatively fast and inexpensive manner
within a limited period of time.
Moreover, a survey has been conducted as the primary data collection method by using a
questionnaire (attached as the Appendix) and is followed by descriptive statistics and
statistical analysis for conducting empirical research. The questionnaire was adopted from
related studies by Zhao (2012) and Roermund (2013).
In comparison, past study of Zhao (2012) found that consumers get CSR information of
the cosmetics industry from different channels; internet plays an important role in
communicating information regarding CSR; consumers’ CSR information about the
cosmetics industry lies between “poor” and “average;” consumers care about product
quality, price and ingredients when they buy cosmetics; and CSR is not an important factor
in consumers’ purchase decision of cosmetics. However, consumers are willing to pay more
for cosmetic products that have been made in socially responsible ways.
Roermund (2013) concluded that customers in the Netherlands possibly have a
positive attitude for organizations that are socially responsible than toward organizations
which are not. The results seem to point out that the CSR communication of cosmetics
brands is lacking.
3.1 The primary data collection methods

The primary method of data collection is based on the survey method in an electronic form
of structured, self-administered questionnaire. The online survey enables the respondent to
voluntarily complete the survey anonymously and on their own. This route was selected due
to its relatively high speed, low cost and convenience. Most of the questions (as shown
in the Appendix) are structured as closed-ended questions in order to measure information
on consumers’ attitude and behavior as accurately as possible. The closed-ended questions,
where the respondent was asked to choose an answer from a list, are the most popular
questions as far as responses are concerned in survey method because these are easier to
code, process and to measure as compared to open-ended questions.
The questionnaire comprises of seven sections. Section 1 of the questionnaire
(Questions 1-6) is related to the demographic background of the respondent, such as age,
marital status, education level, occupation and income. Section 2 (Questions 7-9) is related to
the respondents’ lifestyle and contains general questions about cosmetics usage, frequency Impact of CSR
of purchase and their favorite brand. on consumer
Five-point Likert scaled questions were used in the questionnaire to measure all the behavior
variables; to investigate consumers’ awareness, attitude and buying behavior. Since this
research is quantitative, it is easier to use scaled questions to draw more reliable results and
conclusions from the responses.
A Likert scale is commonly used to measure attitudes, knowledge, perceptions, values 179
and behavioral changes. It is a scale that consists of a series of evaluative statements
(or items) concerning a theme. The respondents are asked to provide a rating using a
five-point balanced scale. Balanced scale is an equal number of positive/favorable and
negative/unfavorable response choices (Parasuraman et al., 2007).

This research uses SPSS program to analyze the data. Since SPSS and other
statistical software programs analyze data based on numerical values, it is mandatory to
assign values to specific questions. For example, for a five-point Likert scale,
responses can be coded as 1-5 (or as 0-4) (with 1 (or 0) being the most negative and
5 (or 4) being the most positive response). Therefore, lowest value should be 1 (or 0) and
the highest value should be 5 (or 4). By using descriptive statistics (maximum, minimum
and mean), one can analyze the data and check the response value to be low or high
(Mooi and Sarstedt, 2014).
Five-point Likert measure can be either a positive or negative response to a statement
(Allen and Seaman, 2007). In Zhao’s (2012) study, five-point Likert scale and descriptive
statistics were employed for measuring responses by using the weighted average of the
responses (mean) ranging from 1 to 5. A numerical value of 1 or 2, was considered to be a
negative response, 3 was considered to be neutral and 4 or 5 was considered as positive.
Therefore, any mean value equal to or less than 3 was considered to be a negative response;
any mean greater than or equal to 4 was considered to be a positive response and any mean
of responses equal to 3 was considered neutral. This research uses the same five-point Likert
scale coding (coded 1-5) used by Zhao (2012).
Section 3 (Question 10) was adopted from the studies by Zhao (2012) and Roermund (2013).
It measures the importance of quality, price, previous experience, packaging, brand image,
reputation, convenience, ingredients, recommendation, environmental friendliness and CSR on
making purchase decisions. As in the study of Zhao (2012), the respondents can select one of
the following: “not important” (1), “of little importance” (2), “moderately important” (3),
“important” (4) and “very important” (5). Section 4, containing Questions 11-14, studies CSR
awareness among the respondents.
Questions 11 and 12 consider the respondents’ knowledge about CSR in general. It was
adopted from Roermund (2013). The respondents can choose from: “not at all” (1), “little
understand” (2), “moderately understand” (3), “understand” (4) and “well understand” (5).
Question 13 has been adopted from the study of Zhao (2012) and is about the
respondents’ knowledge about CSR in the cosmetics industry. To indicate the awareness of
the respondents about the quality of products in the cosmetics industry as in the study of
Zhao (2012), the respondents can choose from: “very poor” (1), “poor” (2), “average” (3),
“good” (4) and “excellent” (5).
Question 14 measures the level and quality of information respondents receive about
CSR activities of cosmetics companies. It was adopted from the study of Zhao (2012) and
Roermund (2013) and respondents have the following options: “very unlikely” (1), “unlikely”
(2), “undecided” (3), “likely” (4) and “very likely” (5).
Section 5 of the questionnaire consists of Questions 15 and 16. These enquire about the
importance of certain CSR initiatives and channels through which consumers receive CSR
information. It was adopted from the studies of Zhao (2012) and Roermund (2013) to indicate
the importance of CSR initiatives to respondents. The respondents can choose from one of
WJEMSD five options: “not important” (1), “of little importance” (2), “moderately important” (3),
13,3 “important” (4) and “very important” (5).
Section 6 considers the attitude of the consumer toward the products of companies with
CSR activities on the five-point scale with the consumer paying attention to CSR activities
being one of the five options, namely, “very unlikely” (1), “unlikely” (2), “undecided” (3),
“likely” (4) and “very likely” (5).
180 Section 7 (Question 17) contains questions on consumer attitude and Section 8 on
consumers’ buying behavior (Question 18), adopted from the studies of Zhao (2012) and
Roermund (2013). Both sections measure consumer perception about the influence of CSR on
consumers’ attitude and buying behavior. To record respondent’s behavior and attitude,
respondents can choose one of the five options: “very unlikely” (1), “unlikely” (2),
“undecided” (3), “likely” (4) and “very likely” (5).
3.2 Validity
Validity has been described as “The determination of content validity is judgmental and can
be approached in several ways. The first way, the designer may himself determine the
validity through a careful definition of the topic of concern. The second way, to determine
content validity is to use a panel of persons to judge how well the instrument meets
the standards. Face validity is the basic and the minimum index of content validity”
(Krishnaswamy et al., 2009, p. 265).
Most of the questions used in this study were adopted from previous studies by Zhao (2012)
and Roermund (2013). The variables used in the questionnaire are chosen and reviewed
carefully through the study of relevant previous studies that used similar method. Therefore,
validity of all questions in the questionnaire has been tested earlier. The existence of content
validity is verified due to the use of standardized questionnaires. In addition, face validity has
been used through pilot study. The questionnaire was pilot tested with the help of a mix of ten
Bahraini women from outside the sample as well as college professors in order to measure the
questionnaire validity and to minimize the bias before distributing the questionnaire:
A pilot study is a smaller scale version of the main study and is designed to check that the design is
doing the job it is supposed to do. A pilot study should identify any problems with the design that
can be corrected before the main study is conducted (Hall, 2008, p. 79).
Pilot study has helped to improve mistakes that the questionnaire could have included
otherwise along with clarity, a high level of reliability and quality.
4. Data analysis
The sample was large and the sample size selected was 384. The convenience sampling
method was used to collect data for reaching Bahraini women consumers aged between
18 and 55 years via an online questionnaire. As a result, this research collected responses
from 274 Bahraini women which produced a respondent rate of 71 percent.
First, data collected from survey were analyzed by using descriptive statistics to
measure the characteristics of the variables used in the survey. Second, the Pearson’s
correlation coefficient analysis and regression analysis were used to test the strength and
nature of the relationship between the variables and the significance of the causal
relationship between independent variables and dependent variables.
4.1 Reliability of the data

To determine the reliability of the variables in the questionnaire, Cronbach’s α has been
used to measure the internal consistency between variables. It is considered to be a measure
of scale reliability. A reliability value (α) lower than 0.6 (αo0.6) is considered poor, a
reliability value (α) within a range (0.6W α ⩾ 0.7) is considered moderately satisfactory and a
reliability value (α) bigger than 0.8 is considered excellent (Bless et al., 2006). By using SPSS Impact of CSR
to measure the reliability of the questionnaire, the result showed that the questionnaire had on consumer
a high internal consistency – a value of (α) ¼ 0.84. behavior
4.2 Demographic information findings
This section discusses Section 1 of the questionnaire which contains an introduction to the
topic, brief definition of CSR and the respondents’ demographic information such as age, 181
marital status, education level, occupation and income. The sample collected from 274
Bahraini women is analyzed in detail.
The responses from the questionnaire presented in Table I showed that all respondents
are Bahraini women aged between 26 and 35 years. The majority of respondents are single
or married with no children; they hold bachelor’s degree with monthly income between
BD100-1,000 (USD266-2,660).
Answer options Response percent Frequency n
Age
18-25 38.7 106 274
26-35 43.8 120
36-45 13.9 38
46-55 3.6 10
Marital status
Single 47.4 130 274
Married 44.2 121
Divorced 6.6 18
Widowed 1.8 5
Number of children
No children 55.5 152 274
1 16.1 44
2 12.8 35
3 9.1 25
4 and more 6.6 18
Education level
High school 10.2 28 274
Diploma 25.9 71
Bachelor’s degree 41.2 113
Master’s degree 15.0 41
Professional degree 4.4 12
Doctorate degree 3.3 9
Occupation
Student 17.9 49 274
Employee 47.1 129
Self-employed 6.2 17
Housewife 7.7 21
Unemployed 10.9 30
Retired 2.2 6
Other 8.0 22
Income
None 21.5 59 274
Less than BD100 10.2 28
BD100-BD500 27.4 75 Table I.
BD 501-BD1,000 28.5 78 Demographic
+BD1,000 12.4 34 information
WJEMSD 4.3 Cosmetics information
13,3 Analysis in this section corresponds to Section 2 of the questionnaire which contains
information about the respondents’ lifestyle and purchasing behavior. The respondents
were asked to indicate how often they use cosmetics, or buy cosmetics products and were
asked to name some of their favorite cosmetics brands available in Bahrain.
Based on the data depicted in Table II, 43 percent of the respondents use cosmetics
182 products daily, 16 percent in parties only and 11 percent use it almost twice a week.
Moreover, 22 percent of the respondents buy cosmetics products quite frequently and
19 percent once a month. Also, 19 percent buy cosmetics products more than once a month.
Hence, majority of the respondents buy cosmetics relatively frequently.
The respondents were further asked about their favorite brands which were pilot tested
through ten female respondents in order to check the appropriateness of the questionnaire. The
most popular brands named in the pilot were: M·A·C, MAKE UP FOR EVER, Bobbi Brown,
The Body Shop and Ingot. In addition, there was an “other” option in the questionnaire so that
the respondents could mention cosmetics brands they preferred and which are available in
Bahrain and not already included in the popular brands. More than five respondents had
answered: NYX, Lancôme, Dior, Maybelline and Flomar. The rest of the brands mentioned
were: Golden Rose, Max Factor, Urban Decay, Clinique, Shiseido, Gosh, Givenchy, Benefit, Too
Faced, Nars, lllamasqua, Kryolan, Bath & Body Works, The Balm, Chanel, Estee Lauder,
Essence, ColourPop, Rimmel, L’Oreal, Bourjois, and Clarins. Table II revealed that 50 percent of
the respondents choose M·A·C as their most favorite cosmetics brand.
4.4 Purchase decision

This section analyzes Section 3 of the questionnaire where respondents were asked to rank
the factors in order of relevance by using a scale ranging from “not important” to “very
important” as discussed in Section 3.1 for making their purchase decision.
Answer options Response percent Frequency n
Cosmetics products used

Daily 43.07 118 274
Twice a week 11.31 31
Once a week 7.30 20
Weekends 8.39 23
In parties only 16.06 44
Other 6.57 18
Uncertain 7.30 20
Cosmetics products buying
Weekly 9.85 27 274
More than once a month 18.61 51
Once a month 21.90 60
Once in 3 months 19.34 53
Once in 6 months 9.49 26
Once a year 8.39 23
Less than once a year 12.41 34
Favorite cosmetics brands
The Body Shop 37.2 102 274
M·A·C 50.4 138
Bobbi Brown 29.6 81
MAKE UP FOR EVER 33.6 92
Table II. INGLOT 14.6 40
Cosmetics information Others (please specify) 16.8 46
The results can be found in Tables III and IV which show that 46 percent of the respondents Impact of CSR
rank the quality of the cosmetics product as “very important” with a highest mean of 4 on consumer
which means “important” and 29 percent of them rank the price as “very important” with behavior
the second highest mean of 3.35 ¼ “moderate”. Thus, quality and the price are the two most
important factors that dictate their purchase decision.
The most unimportant factors are – recommendation, environmental friendliness and
producer’s corporate social responsibility with mean of less than 3. 183
In addition, 30 percent of the respondents rank producer’s corporate social responsibility
as “not important” while, only 8 percent rank it as “very important” and 9 percent rank
it as “important.”
It can be concluded that quality and price are the most important factors that motivate
Bahraini women consumers to purchase cosmetics products. Roermund (2013), in the
Netherlands, also found that quality and price are important factors for most respondents
when it comes to purchase decisions regarding cosmetic products. The most unimportant
Not Of little Moderately Very

Factors important importance important Important important
Price (%) 13.14 17.52 19.34 21.53 28.47

36 48 53 59 78
Quality (%) 7.30 10.95 10.58 25.55 45.62
20 30 29 70 125
Packaging (%) 10.95 19.71 28.47 24.09 16.79
30 54 78 66 46
Brand image and reputation (%) 8.76 23.36 29.93 21.53 16.42
24 64 82 59 45
Environmentally friendliness (%) 16.42 29.20 30.29 14.23 9.85
45 80 83 39 27
Ingredients (%) 12.77 22.26 25.91 22.26 16.79
35 61 71 61 46
Previous experience (%) 12.04 21.90 23.36 21.90 20.80
33 60 64 60 57
Convenience (%) 10.22 22.99 27.74 21.53 17.52
28 63 76 59 48
Recommendation (%) 15.69 26.28 25.18 18.61 14.23
43 72 69 51 39 Table III.
Producer’s corporate social 31.02 29.93 21.53 9.12 8.39 Importance of factors
responsibility (%) 85 82 59 25 23 in purchase decision
Factors Mean
Quality 3.91
Price 3.35
Previous experience 3.18
Packaging 3.16
Brand image and reputation 3.14
Convenience 3.13
Ingredients 3.08 Table IV.
Recommendation 2.89 Descriptive statistics
Environmentally friendliness 2.72 of factors influencing
Producer’s corporate social responsibility 2.34 purchase decision
WJEMSD factors seem to be packaging. In addition, Zhao (2012) found that CSR is not important in
13,3 making purchase decision of cosmetics products. Consumers care more about product
quality, price and ingredients. Furthermore, Beckmann et al. (2001) argued that CSR is
neither important nor necessary for the consumer to make a purchase. Criteria such as
price, quality and brand are important and consumers buy for personal reasons rather than
societal concerns. Moreover, Gigauri (2012) found that Georgian consumers choose
184 products mainly on the basis of their quality and price; they are not aware of CSR; they do
not always consider CSR while purchasing products; but they are becoming increasingly
interested in it.
When it comes to CSR, factors that matter are packaging, ingredients and environmental
friendliness. These can be indicators of protecting the environment by using green and
environmentally friendly material in their packaging or reducing waste and energy in their
production. The results of this research show that these factors are not very important for
respondents’ purchasing decisions.
4.5 CSR awareness

This section discusses Section 4 of the questionnaire which presents the awareness level of
CSR among respondents.
As in Table V, Question 11 shows that only 8 percent of respondents chose
“understand well” and are familiar with CSR concept as options while only 20 percent of the
respondents mention that they understand it. Moreover, 15 percent of the respondents were
not familiar or had no idea about it, only 30 percent said that they understood it little, and
28 percent moderately understood the concept. The mean of this question is 2.77 which is
less than 3 ¼ “understand little.”
Therefore, the research concludes that the respondents are not that familiar with CSR
concept.
In Question 12, the respondents were asked to evaluate their level of awareness toward
CSR activities. In total, 31 percent of the respondents chose “little understand” and
30 percent “moderately understand.” The results indicate that the respondents were not
fully aware of the CSR activities. Only 7 percent of respondents “understand well” CSR
activities and 18 percent “understand” it while 14 percent had no idea about it. In addition,
the mean is 2.71 which means “understand little.”
There is a definition of the concept of CSR within the questionnaire attached as the
Appendix. Therefore, respondents could answer the rest of the questionnaire with a better
understanding of the concept of CSR.
Table VI illustrated the respondents’ knowledge about CSR information in the cosmetics
industry. In total, 22 percent of respondents chose “very poor,” 34 percent chose “poor” and
28 percent chose “average.” The mean of the respondents’ information of CSR in the
cosmetics industry is 2.43 ¼ “poor.” Hence, the respondents’ knowledge about CSR
information in the cosmetics industry is poor (Tables VII and VIII).
The respondents were asked to give opinion on statements to measure their CSR
awareness level. The mean of these statements is less than 3; thus the answers are negative
Not Understand Moderately Understand

at all little understand Understand well Mean
(11) How familiar are you with the concept 14.60 29.56 27.74 20.44 7.66 2.77
corporate social responsibility (%) 40 81 76 56 21
Table V. (12) Your level of awareness of corporate 14.23 31.39 30.29 17.52 6.57 2.71
CSR awareness social responsibility activities (%) 39 86 83 48 18
as explained in Section 3.1. Only 13 percent of the respondents could recall any CSR Impact of CSR
initiative from the cosmetics brands they were using. Moreover, the respondents were asked on consumer
if they sought information about socially responsible cosmetics brands. Majority of the behavior
answers indicated that they did not seek such information. Only 2 percent of the
respondents were information seekers regarding CSR.
In addition, when respondents were asked if it was easy to find information about
socially responsible cosmetics brands, 32 percent of the respondents indicated “undecided.” 185
They were asked about their CSR knowledge regarding their favorite cosmetics brands. Did
they know if those favorite brands were socially responsible in their daily practices? Vast
majority of the respondents were not aware of what CSR means. Only 17 percent of the
respondents were aware of the meaning of CSR.

The findings revealed that due to their poor understanding of CSR, the respondents were
not very familiar or aware of CSR pertaining to the cosmetics industry. The same result was
found by Veersalu (2011) where most of the interviewed Estonian consumers, around 44
percent, were not aware of CSR. Rahizah et al. (2011) found that the consumers’ general
awareness toward CSR was 40 percent in Malaysia. Moreover, Zhao (2012) found that
Swedish consumers’ CSR knowledge about the cosmetics industry was between “poor” and
“average.” However, Roermund (2013) found that in the Netherlands around 69 percent of
the respondents already knew about CSR and 31 percent did not, but most of the cosmetics
consumers were unaware of CSR practices of their favorite cosmetics brands.
4.6 CSR initiatives and information source

Analysis in this section corresponds to Section 5 of the questionnaire which aims to gain an
in-depth understanding of consumer awareness of CSR in general and how they perceive the
Very poor Poor Average Good Excellent Mean Table VI.

CSR knowledge level
21.53 33.94% 27.74% 13.14% 3.65% 2.43 of the cosmetics
59 93 76 36 10 industry
Very Very
unlikely Unlikely Undecided Likely likely
I can recall any corporate social responsibility initiatives by 24.82 34.67 27.74 9.85 2.92
the cosmetics brands I am currently using (%) 68 95 76 27 8
I seek for information about socially responsible cosmetics 36.13 34.31 17.52 9.85 2.19
brands (%) 99 94 48 27 6
It is easy to find information about social responsible 17.88 28.83 32.12 16.42 4.74 Table VII.
cosmetics brands (%) 49 79 88 45 13 Level of CSR
I know if my favorite cosmetics brands are socially 20.80 32.12 29.93 14.23 2.92 awareness among
responsible in their daily practices (%) 57 88 82 39 8 respondents
Mean
I can recall any corporate social responsibility initiatives by the cosmetics brands I am currently using 2.31
I seek for information about socially responsible cosmetics brands 2.08 Table VIII.
It is easy to find information about social responsible cosmetics brands (%) 2.61 Descriptive statistics
I know if my favorite cosmetics brands are socially responsible in their daily practices (%) 2.46 of CSR awareness
WJEMSD importance of cosmetics companies’ socially responsible initiatives in particular.
13,3 The respondents were asked to indicate how important it is for them to find out if
companies engage in certain CSR initiatives. Examples of such initiatives are: no animal
testing, environmentally friendly production, donations to charity, protection against
human rights, treating employees well, encouraging diversity, using safe and natural
ingredients, engaging in fair trade, contributing to local communities, promoting health
186 awareness and promotion campaigns (Table IX).
Descriptive statistics in Table X showed that most of the listed CSR initiatives are
considered as moderately important. Only one activity, namely, “uses safe and natural
ingredients” are considered as important. Overall, respondents consider the initiatives that they
could relate to as more important than the ones they could not relate to. In total, 33 percent of
the respondents rank “uses safe and natural ingredients” as the most important CSR initiative.
Other important initiatives identified are health awareness and promotion campaigns,
protection of human rights and contribution to local communities. The least important initiative
is “against animal testing” which is not considered important by 32 percent of the respondents.
Not Of little Moderately Very

CSR initiatives important importance important Important important
Against animal testing (%) 32.12 28.10 20.07 13.14 6.57

88 77 55 36 18
Environmentally friendly production (%) 19.71 28.10 24.09 17.88 10.22
54 77 66 49 28
Donates to charity (%) 20.07 24.45 32.85 16.06 6.57
55 67 90 44 18
Protects human rights (%) 17.52 20.44 28.83 20.80 12.41
48 56 79 57 34
Treats employees well (%) 16.79 21.53 32.85 17.52 11.31
46 59 90 48 31
Encourages diversity (%) 18.61 28.47 29.93 14.96 8.03
51 78 82 41 22
Uses safe and natural ingredients (%) 10.22 13.14 21.17 22.99 32.48
28 36 58 63 89
Engages in fair trade (%) 14.60 22.99 38.69 16.06 7.66
Table IX. 40 63 106 44 21
The importance of the Contribute to local communities (%) 18.25 21.90 25.91 24.09 9.85
listed cosmetics 50 60 71 66 27
companies’ CSR Health awareness and promotion 16.06 22.99 21.17 24.45 15.33
initiatives campaigns (%) 44 63 58 67 42
Mean
Uses safe and natural ingredients 3.54

Health awareness and promotion campaigns 3
Protects human rights 2.90
Contribute to local communities 2.85
Table X. Treats employees well 2.85
Descriptive statistics Engages in fair trade 2.79
of the importance of Environmentally friendly production 2.71
the listed cosmetics Encourages diversity 2.65
companies’ CSR Donates to charity 2.65
initiatives Against animal testing 2.34
Roermund (2013) found that consumers find animal testing to be the most important Impact of CSR
initiative and 70 percent of the respondents find it important that a cosmetics brand does not on consumer
test its products on animals. Following this, safe and natural ingredients are important to behavior
69 percent of the consumers, while 55 percent favor environmentally friendly products.
Zhao (2012) showed that consumers regard “provide consumers with safe products” as the
most important initiative in cosmetics firms while “contribute to local communities”
received the lowest mean of importance among initiatives. 187
Consumers perceive the importance of cosmetics companies’ socially responsible
initiatives differently. Some customers value CSR more than others due to different social
value orientations (Table XI).
Respondents were asked if they possessed any background information related to CSR
activities of cosmetics companies and, if so, from where they received such information.
Examples of questions used were “Via which channels do you get information about socially
responsible cosmetics brands?” The respondents could choose more than one source and
had ten options to choose from. In total, 43 percent of the respondents mentioned social
networking sites due to their popular usage, and 31 percent mentioned their “friends” as the
source of CSR information. In total, 25 percent of respondents received information through
product packaging and labeling and another 20 percent received their information from
opinion leaders. Moreover, 18 percent of the respondents received information from
celebrities, television and radio commercials. Only 18 percent chose magazines, newspapers
and billboards as sources. The two least mentioned channels were company websites and
salespersons, chosen by 17 and 15 percent of the respondents, respectively. However,
25 percent of total respondents claimed that they did not get any information whatsoever.
Roermund (2013) found that the most publicized channels for receiving CSR information
were social networking sites as mentioned by 40 percent of the respondents. This was
followed by information on packaging by 39 percent of the respondents and magazines by
38 percent of the respondents. The least mentioned option was information from celebrities and
opinion leaders. Only 14 percent of the respondents claimed to have received no information.
The important role of the internet on communicating CSR to consumers can be noticed.
Zhao (2012) found that the respondents consider internet to be the most popular channel for
receiving CSR information. Traditional or printed media such as newspapers, magazines
and billboards were other important information channels for the respondents besides
product packaging and labels.
4.7 Attitude
This section analyzes Section 6 of the questionnaire which measures the respondents’
attitude toward cosmetics companies’ CSR.
Frequency (%)
Social networking sites (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.) 42.7

Company website 17.2
Product packaging and label 24.8
Magazines, newspaper and billboard 17.5
Television and radio commercials 18.2
Opinion leaders (professional make-up artist, beauty blogs) 19.7
Salespersons in shops 15.3
Friends 31.4 Table XI.
Celebrities 18.2 Frequency of CSR
I do not get any information 24.45 source of information
WJEMSD From Tables XII and XIII, it can be noted that 30 percent of the respondents chose
13,3 “very unlikely” and 39 percent “unlikely” as options of paying attention to the producer’s
corporate social responsibility when buying cosmetics. While, only 2 percent of the
respondents chose “very likely,” 7 percent chose “likely” and 23 percent could not decide.
In comparison, Zhao (2012) found that nearly 50 percent of the respondents were
neutral while others disagreed with the statement that they care much about CSR when they
188 buy cosmetics.
In total, 30 percent of the respondents could not take any decision on the statement:
“It is important that my favorite cosmetics company contributes toward society and
community at large.” In total, 23 percent of them chose “unlikely,” 22 percent chose “likely,”
14 percent chose “very unlikely” and only 10 percent chose “very likely.” Also, the mean is
2.91 which is “undecided.”

On the other hand, Roermund (2013) mentioned, “Many respondents seem to favor a
company that makes a positive impact on the world. This could indicate that customers
prefer a cosmetics company that is socially responsible, to a company that does not have a
positive impact on the world.”
The respondents were also asked if they were willing to pay extra money for cosmetics
products produced under socially responsible business practices. In total, 36 percent of the
respondents chose “unlikely” and 25 percent chose “very unlikely.” The results show that
they were not willing to pay extra money for such activities. In total, 25 percent of the
respondents could not decide and only 15 percent would be willing to pay more.
Zhao (2012) showed that the respondents were willing to pay a premium for cosmetics
products produced under socially responsible business practices, but they did not want to
pay too much. In total, 50 percent of the respondents chose to pay less than 10 percent.
Roermund (2013) showed that many respondents were willing to pay more money for
cosmetics products produced under socially responsible business practices, but a smaller
fraction wanted to put effort into finding those products.
Additionally, the respondents were asked if they were willing to take action against
irresponsible practices of cosmetics companies. In total, 43 percent of the respondents chose
“very unlikely” and 40 percent chose “unlikely” showing that respondents are not willing to
Very Very
I pay close attention to the producer’s corporate social 30.29 38.69 22.99 6.57 1.46
responsibility when buying cosmetics (%) 83 106 63 18 4
It is important that my favorite cosmetics company 14.23 23.36 30.29 21.90 10.22
contributes toward society and community at large (%) 39 64 83 60 28
Table XII. I am willing to pay extra for cosmetics products produce in 24.45 36.13 24.82 9.12 5.47
Attitude of socially responsible business practice (%) 67 99 68 25 15
respondents toward I am willing to take action against irresponsible practices of 42.7 40.14 10.94 4.01 1.82
CSR cosmetics companies (%) 117 110 30 11 5
Mean
I pay close attention to the producer’s corporate social responsibility when buying cosmetics 2.10
Table XIII. It is important that my favorite cosmetics company contributes toward society and community
Descriptive statistics at large 2.91
of respondents’ I am willing to pay extra for cosmetics products produce in socially responsible business practice 2.35
attitude I am willing to take action against irresponsible practices of cosmetics companies 1.83
“punish” irresponsible cosmetics companies (through product boycotts or other means). Impact of CSR
However, 11 percent of respondents could not decide and only 6 percent of them were on consumer
willing to take action. behavior
Similarly, Roermund (2013) found that less people actually wanted to punish
irresponsible companies.
It can be noted that Bahraini women consumers do not pay close attention to the
producer’s socially responsible actions when buying cosmetics. Additionally, they do not 189
care if their favorite cosmetics company contributes toward society and community at large
through such activities. Moreover, they are not willing to pay a premium for cosmetics
produced under socially responsible business practices and they are not willing to take any
action against irresponsible initiatives from cosmetics companies.
4.8 Buying behavior

This section discusses Section 7 of the questionnaire which measures the respondents’ past
buying behavior and the tendency of future buying behavior.
As shown in Tables XIV and XV, the respondents were asked if they have bought
cosmetics products primarily because of the producer’s CSR initiative. Most of the
respondents’ answers varied between 30 percent (very unlikely) and 29 percent (unlikely).
In total, 26 percent chose “undecided,” 11 percent “likely” and 4 percent “very likely,” with a
mean of 2.32 which is “unlikely.” Thus, the producers’ CSR activities in cosmetics are not an
important determinant toward consumer’s buying behavior. The consumer would buy
cosmetics if they needed it or wanted it and if they derived benefits from it.
The respondents were asked how likely was it that they would buy cosmetics exclusively
from companies engaged in socially responsible business practice. In total, 38 percent of the
respondents chose “undecided,” while 20 percent chose “unlikely” and 19 percent chose
“very unlikely.” Only 6 percent chose “very likely” with a mean of 2.73 which is “unlikely.”
The respondents were also asked if they would avoid buying and using cosmetics if its
producer was involved in socially irresponsible business practice. The respondents’ answers
Very Very
I have bought a cosmetics mainly because of the producer’s 29.93 28.47 25.91 11.31 4.38
CSR initiative (%) 82 78 71 31 12
I like to buy cosmetics from companies with socially 18.61 19.71 37.59 17.88 6.20
responsible business practice only (%) 51 54 103 49 17
I avoid buying and using a cosmetics if its producer is 12.41 12.41 25.91 30.29 18.98
involved in socially irresponsible business practice (%) 34 34 71 83 52 Table XIV.
I will continue buying cosmetics even if its producer involves 20.80 29.93 29.20 13.87 6.20 Buying behavior of
in socially irresponsible business practice (%) 57 82 80 38 17 respondents
Mean
I have bought a cosmetics mainly because of the producer’s CSR initiative 2.32
I like to buy cosmetics from companies with socially responsible business practice only 2.73
I avoid buying and using cosmetics if its producer is involved in socially irresponsible Table XV.
business practice 3.31 Descriptive statistics
I will continue buying cosmetics even if its producer involves in socially irresponsible of buying behavior
business practice 2.55 of the respondents
WJEMSD varied between 30 percent (likely) “to avoid” and 26 percent (undecided). Also, 19 percent of
13,3 the respondents chose “very likely.” The mean was 3.31 which is “undecided.”
The respondents were asked if they would continue to buy cosmetics even if they knew
that the producer was involved in socially irresponsible business practice. In total, 30 percent
selected “unlikely” and 29 percent selected “undecided”. Only 6 percent responded as “very
likely.” The mean is 2.55 which is somewhere between “unlikely” and “undecided.”
190 In comparison, Mohr et al. (2001) stated that consumers cared about CSR and were
attracted more toward active CSR companies but they reacted toward companies’ CSR
differently through their purchasing behavior. Veersalu (2011) found that companies’
CSR initiatives were very important for the consumer. However, they did not consider
companies’ CSR initiatives when buying its products or services.

When it comes to CSR and buying behavior, the results reveal that the cosmetics
producers’ CSR practice was not an important determinant of a consumer’s buying
behavior. Consumers would buy cosmetics if they needed it or wanted it and if they derived
benefits from it. However, if consumers knew that the producer was involved in socially
irresponsible business practices they would avoid buying and using cosmetics of that
producer. Similar findings were reported by Roermund (2013) and Zhao (2012).
4.9 Hypothesis testing

This section discusses hypothesis tests and results for each of the research hypotheses
identified in Section 2.2. Pearson’s correlation coefficient and regression analysis are used to
test the strength and nature of the relationship and the significance between independent
variables (CSR) and dependent variables (and consumer’s buying behavior).
4.9.1 Attitude analysis. This paper aims to investigate the nature of relationship between
CSR awareness and consumer attitude. Pearson correlation coefficient is used to examine
the strength of relationship between CSR awareness and attitude by using SPSS software.
To describe the strength of the correlation (r), Evans (1996) used the absolute value of r: if r
value ranges between 0.00 and 0.19 correlation is “very weak,” if r value lies between 0.20 and
0.39 then correlation is “weak,” if r value lies between 0.40 and 0.59 then correlation is “moderate”
and any r value above 0.60 indicates strong correlation between variables considered.
Table XVI revealed that CSR awareness and attitude had a negative and very weak
correlation of −0.025, hence it is more likely that there is no correlation between the two
variables. In addition, the significance level is checked between the two variables to decide if
there is any or no evidence that linear correlation is present in the population. The choice of
confidence level of 95 percent has been used, with significance level ( p o0.05). Table XVI
shows that the p-value for this test is p ¼ 0.683W0.05. Thus the independent variable
(CSR awareness) is not significantly related with dependent variable (attitude). Hence, the
alternative hypothesis (HA-1) is failed to be accepted and therefore the null hypothesis
(H01) is accepted:
H01. CSR and consumer attitude are not related.
HA-1. CSR awareness and consumer attitude are not related.
Dependent variable
Independent variable Attitude
Table XVI. CSR awareness

Pearson correlations Pearson correlation −0.025
of CSR awareness and Sig. (two-tailed) 0.683
attitude n 274
4.9.2 Buying behavior analysis. To investigate the nature of the relationship between CSR Impact of CSR
awareness on consumer’s buying behavior, Pearson correlation coefficient is used to on consumer
examine the strength of the relationship between CSR awareness and buying behavior by
using SPSS software.
behavior
Evans (1996) was mentioned in Section 4.9.1 to determine the strength of relationship
between variables. Table XVII reveals that CSR awareness and buying behavior are
positively weakly correlated where r ¼ 0.264. Additionally, the p-value ( p ¼ 0.000 o0.01) 191
suggests high significance level of 99 percent confidence level between the variables.
In addition, regression analysis was used to investigate the impact of the independent
variable (CSR awareness) on the dependent variable (consumer’s buying behavior).
Table XVIII shows that there was a significantly positive relationship between CSR
awareness and buying behavior at confidence level of 99 percent where p ¼ 0.000o0.01 and
supported by t-value ¼ 4.515W1.96. Moreover, R2 ¼ 0.070 and adjusted R2 ¼ 0.066 shows
that the CSR awareness can explain only 6.6 percent of the variation in buying behavior.
Moreover, coefficient value ⩽ 0.3 means that independent variable has small impact on
dependent variable. If the coefficient value lies between 0.3 and 0.5 (0.3 ⩽ Coefficient ⩽ 0.5) that
means that independent variable has moderate impact on dependent variable (Cohen, 1988).
In Table XVIII, coefficient is 0.337 which means that if CSR awareness increased marginally
the buying behavior will positively increase by less than 0.3 (0.337W0.3). Thus, the impact of
CSR awareness on buying behavior is moderate. Hence, the alternative hypothesis (HA-2) is
failed to be rejected and the null hypothesis (H02) is rejected:
H02. CSR awareness has no positive and significant impact on consumer’s buying behavior.
HA-2. CSR awareness has a positive and significant impact on consumer’s buying behavior.
4.9.3 Purchase decision analysis. The importance of quality, price, previous experience,
packaging, brand image and reputation, convenience, ingredients, recommendation,
environmental friendliness and CSR on purchase decisions can be compared using descriptive
statistics. The descriptive statistics show that CSR is not a very important factor in influencing
purchase decisions by Bahraini women toward cosmetics. Quality and price of the cosmetics
products are the most important determinants influencing consumer’s buying behavior.
Additionally, the respondents were asked about their opinion regarding the importance
of cosmetics companies’ CSR initiatives to gain a better understanding of consumer
behavior and how they perceive the importance of cosmetics companies’ socially responsible
initiatives. Those initiatives are: no animal testing, environmentally friendly production,
Dependent variable
Independent variable Buying behavior
CSR awareness
Pearson correlation 0.264** Table XVII.
Sig. (two-tailed) 0.000 Pearson correlation of
n 274 CSR awareness and
Note: **Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (two-tailed) buying behavior
Table XVIII.
Coefficient t-statistics P R2 Adjusted R2 Regression analysis of
CSR awareness with
CSR awareness 0.337 4.515 0.000 0.070 0.066 buying behavior
WJEMSD donations to charity, protecting human rights, treating employees well and encouraging
13,3 diversity, using safe and natural ingredients, engaging in fair trade, contributing to local
communities, health awareness, and promotion campaigns. The descriptive statistics
revealed that Bahraini women consumers did not consider CSR initiatives to be important
determinants of their buying behavior.
Moreover, regression analysis is used with CSR initiatives as independent variable and
192 purchase decision as dependent variable to quantitatively assess the impact of CSR
initiatives on consumer’s buying behavior.
Table XIX illustrated ten different CSR initiatives used as independent variables and
tested their impact on the dependent variable (purchase decision).
The results of regression analysis show that purchase decision is not significantly impacted
by the following initiatives in Table XIX at confidence level of 95 percent with t-valueo1.96
(critical value of t-statistic and 5 percent level of significance) and pW0.05. These initiatives are
as follows: against animal testing, environmentally friendly production, donation to charity,
protecting human rights, treating employees well, encouraging diversity, engaging in fair
trade, contributing to local communities, health awareness and promotion campaigns.
The only CSR initiative that significantly positively impacts purchase decision is “uses
safe and natural ingredients” where p ¼ 0.000o 0.05 and t-value ¼ 4.529 W1.96.
The analysis revealed that CSR is of little importance to the consumers when they make
their purchase decision. In fact, it might be the least important factor to be considered in
making purchase decisions by the sample of Bahraini women shown from the descriptive
statistics in Section 4.4 and the regression analysis. That means that CSR has no impact
on purchase decision since most of CSR initiatives do not positively or significantly
influence purchase decision. Hence, the alternative hypothesis (HA-3) is failed to be accepted
and the null hypothesis (Ho3) is accepted:
Ho3. Cosmetics companies’ CSR initiatives have no positive and significant impact on
HA-3. Cosmetics companies’ CSR initiatives have positive and significant impact on
consumer’s purchase decision (Table XX).
Therefore, the research hypotheses in Section 2.2 and the research findings support HA-2 that
there is significant impact of CSR awareness on consumer’s buying behavior. The research
findings reject other hypotheses which are: HA-1 that there is a significant relationship between
CSR awareness and consumer attitude and HA-3 that cosmetics companies’ CSR initiatives have
positive and significant impact on consumer’s purchase decision.
CSR initiatives Coefficient t-statistics P
Against animal testing −0.008 −0.149 0.882

Environmentally friendly production 0.056 0.907 0.365
Donates to charity −0.060 −1.016 0.310
Protects human rights 0.004 0.064 0.949
Treats employees well −0.037 −0.578 0.564
Encourages diversity 0.093 1.373 0.171
Uses safe and natural ingredients 0.234 4.529 0.000
Engages in fair trade −0.091 −1.386 0.167
Table XIX. Contribute to local communities 0.045 0.756 0.450
Regression analysis of Health awareness and promotion campaigns 0.048 0.866 0.387
CSR initiatives and R2 0.197
purchase decision Adjusted R2 0.167
5. Conclusion Impact of CSR
This research has verified that educated Bahraini women consumers are not familiar or on consumer
aware of CSR in general. Additionally, they have little understanding of these concepts and behavior
how these have been applied by the cosmetics industry. Bahraini women cosmetics
consumers are not active seekers of CSR-related information. Their main sources of
CSR-related information in such matters are friends, social networking sites and product
packaging. They do not devote any extra effort to seek such information about the products 193
they are using through research or other means. Majority of Bahraini women are unaware of
how easy (or difficult) it is to find information about cosmetics brands or if their favorite
cosmetics brands conduct themselves in a socially responsible manner. This indicates that
there is a lack of awareness of CSR activities of cosmetics companies in Bahrain.

Furthermore, since Bahraini women consumers do not pay close attention to the producer’s
CSR activities when buying cosmetics, they failed to recall any information regarding CSR
initiatives of the cosmetics brands they were using. This means that CSR initiatives are not
important to them for making purchasing decision. However, Bahraini women consumers buy
cosmetics products mainly due to the benefits they derive from their use. The most critical
factors affecting their purchasing decision making were quality and price.
Past empirical research results revealed that there was no relationship between CSR
awareness and attitude of Bahraini women. Not only are they not willing to pay a
premium for cosmetics produced under socially responsible business practices, but they
are not willing to take any action against irresponsible activities undertaken by the
cosmetics companies.
However, empirical analysis has also illustrated that CSR awareness has a positive
moderate impact on consumer’s buying behavior. Therefore, if Bahraini women became
better aware of CSR practices, they could potentially buy more from companies engaged in
socially responsible business practices. This means that an increased awareness of CSR
activities by cosmetics producing companies among Bahraini women consumers could lead
to an increase in sales for socially responsible businesses in the cosmetics industry.
5.1 Research contribution

Literature on CSR is currently limited. There are insufficient published studies on the
Kingdom of Bahrain as well as on the rest of the Middle Eastern countries. Moreover, there
is lack of academic research on CSR which involve investigating consumer awareness of
CSR and its subsequent impact on consumer behavior and attitudes. As mentioned in
Section 2 of the literature review, studies on CSR awareness, consumer attitude and
consumer behavior in the cosmetics industry show rather inconclusive results. The lack of
previous research highlights the relevance of this study.
Past studies on CSR in the cosmetics industry have been conducted in different countries
producing different findings due to cultural differences, varied samples of study and
consumers’ perceptions. Roermund (2013) has found that cosmetics consumers were aware
of CSR. However, current research and Zhao (2012) have found that CSR awareness of
consumers is low.
Hypothesis Result
1 H01. CSR awareness has no positive and significant impact on consumer attitude Accepted
2 HA-2. CSR awareness has a positive and significant impact on consumer’s buying behavior Accepted Table XX.
3 H03 . Cosmetics companies’ CSR initiatives have no positive and significant impact on consumer Accepted Summary of the
purchase decision hypotheses testing
WJEMSD The results of Roermund (2013) and Chu and Lin (2012) indicate the importance of CSR for
13,3 consumers and their favorable responses toward socially responsible cosmetics companies.
In contrast, current research and Zhao (2012) have found that consumers are not aware and
they do not care about CSR practices of cosmetics companies.
Previous studies have shown that CSR positively influences consumer behavior
(Mohr et al., 2001; Gupta, 2002; Lin et al., 2011; Rahizah et al., 2011; Roermund, 2013).
194 Few studies have found that there is a positive relationship between a company’s CSR
practices and consumer’s attitudes toward the company and its products (Mohr et al., 2001;
Trudel and Cotte, 2011; Vahdati et al., 2015; Roermund, 2013). In addition, other studies have
found that CSR is not important for consumers in making their purchase decisions
(Beckmann et al., 2001; Gigauri, 2012; Zhao, 2012; Roermund, 2013). Chu and Lin (2012)
suggest that CSR could influence purchase intentions, although it is dependent on the
cultural background of the consumers.
Roermund (2013) has found that cosmetics consumers care about quality and previous
experience more while making their purchase decisions than CSR. However, CSR activities
of the company could affect their behavior and attitude toward cosmetics products.
Current research and Zhao (2012) have concluded that quality and price are the main
factors influencing consumer purchase decision in cosmetics industry and not CSR.
Due to different sampling methods, the results of Zhao (2012) and Roermund (2013) are
subject to sampling bias and cannot be generalized. In addition, current research provides
an in-depth analysis of the significant impact of CSR awareness on consumer’s behavior
and attitude.
From an academic point of view, current research will add its findings to the scarce
literature in the region by highlighting the fact that Bahraini women consumers are
unaware of CSR and hence they do not seek or factor it into their decision-making process.
Information gathered from this research study can be used in the future to empirically
establish that better awareness of CSR can change attitudes and purchasing behavior of
Bahraini women toward cosmetics products. In addition, this research paves the way for
further studies on similar topics in the region for other corporate sectors.
From a practical point of view, this research provides a clear strategy for existing
cosmetics companies in Bahrain, as well as the aspiring ones who want to enter the market,
to create awareness of CSR activities to possibly change Bahraini women’s purchasing
behavior and attitude toward cosmetics companies.
5.2 Recommendations
The research results reveal that there is a lack of awareness among women regarding CSR
activities by cosmetics companies in Bahrain. Women are not information seekers by
themselves. They use the available information that fulfills their needs and desires about the
products they are using. Therefore, if these consumers became better aware of CSR
practices, results of this study show that they may buy more from companies engaged in
socially responsible business practices. That is left for future research to consider.
The results also reveal that price and quality of the products were the main determinants
affecting consumer’s purchase decisions. The paper recommends socially responsible
companies to produce high-quality products at affordable prices. This may have a positive
impact on their sales in Bahrain.
5.3 Limitations
This research is subject to sample size limitations as it focuses only on Bahraini
women aged between 26 and 35 years. Moreover, this research is limited to the Kingdom of
Bahrain only.
5.4 Implications Impact of CSR
5.4.1 Practical implications. Consumers could neither recall CSR initiatives of companies on consumer
from the cosmetics brands they were using, nor did they care about cosmetics producers’ behavior
CSR initiatives in making their purchase decisions. The most important factors for
consumers in their decision-making process were quality and price of the cosmetics.
This paper found that Bahraini women consumers consider CSR initiatives, which they
can personally relate to, as the most important ones, e.g. using safe and natural 195
ingredients. However, there is a positive impact of CSR awareness on the purchasing
behavior of these women. This study could encourage cosmetics companies to adopt
suitable future long-term marketing strategies in order to create more awareness about the
importance of CSR among consumers.

5.4.2 Social implications. Bahraini women express their beauty with detailed attention to
hair, nail and skin care. As Arab women, Bahraini women are generally educated, open
minded and publicly active. Therefore, by helping them to identify and endorse ethical
business practices, cosmetics companies will be able to create awareness about their CSR
initiatives in Bahrain. This may also influence consumer’s purchase decision of cosmetics
products and may attract new CSR-oriented companies to enter the Bahraini market.
5.5 Future research

Since empirical findings of this research revealed that there is a positive relationship
between the awareness of CSR and consumer’s buying behavior, future research should test
it further. Additionally, this research study can be replicated using bigger and more diverse
sample of females.
In addition, future studies may aim to compare Bahraini and non-Bahraini consumer
attitudes and subsequent behavior toward CSR active companies in the cosmetics
industry as well as study the importance of CSR initiatives and possible means of
communicating these to the customers along with their short-term and long-term effects.
A study could also be conducted to analyze the consumer behavior toward CSR active
companies in different industries.
Eventually, since there are limited studies on CSR activities of corporates in GCC, there is
potential for further research, case studies and analysis that could be conducted to
investigate the relationship between CSR initiatives and consumer’s behavior toward
companies engaged in CSR activities.
Notes
1. GCC is a consortium of six countries, namely, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia
and UAE.
2. Since the questionnaire was spread via online, this representation of the questionnaire is not
completely the same as the actual online questionnaire, since the layout was different.
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(The Appendix follows overleaf.)

13,3
198
WJEMSD
Appendix. Questionnaire[2]
on consumer
behavior
199
Impact of CSR
13,3
200
WJEMSD
on consumer
behavior
201
Impact of CSR
13,3
202
WJEMSD
About the authors Impact of CSR
Fatema Shabib has a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting and Finance from the Ahlia University, on consumer
Kingdom of Bahrain. She is a recent Master’s Graduate in Business Administration from the
Ahlia University, Kingdom of Bahrain. She participates in many volunteer works. behavior
Dr Subhadra Ganguli is an Associate Professor of Economics in the Ahlia University, Kingdom of
Bahrain in the Department of Accounting and Economics in the College of Business and Finance.
She holds a PhD Degree in Economics from the University of California in Riverside, USA. Dr Ganguli
has wide-ranging experience in academic teaching and continuous education, research, quality 203
assurance and consulting for the last 20 years in India, USA and Bahrain. She has worked at the
Bahrain Institute of Banking & Finance (BIBF) during 2004-2014 as the Head of Quality Assurance and
Head of Centre for Banking. Dr Subhadra Ganguli is the corresponding author and can be contacted at:
sganguli@ahlia.edu.bh
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Minister of State for Information Affairs and Official Government Spokeswoman

2.2 Conceptual model

decision is an outcome of consumers’ buying behavior.

Independent variable Attitude

3.1 The primary data collection methods

negative/unfavorable response choices (Parasuraman et al., 2007).

“undecided” (3), “likely” (4) and “very likely” (5).

4.1 Reliability of the data

Answer options Response percent Frequency n

4.4 Purchase decision

Answer options Response percent Frequency n

Cosmetics products used

Not Of little Moderately Very

Price (%) 13.14 17.52 19.34 21.53 28.47

4.5 CSR awareness

Not Understand Moderately Understand

respondents were aware of the meaning of CSR.

4.6 CSR initiatives and information source

Very poor Poor Average Good Excellent Mean Table VI.

Not Of little Moderately Very

Against animal testing (%) 32.12 28.10 20.07 13.14 6.57

Uses safe and natural ingredients 3.54

Social networking sites (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.) 42.7

2.91 which is “undecided.”

action against irresponsible initiatives from cosmetics companies.

4.8 Buying behavior

companies’ CSR initiatives when buying its products or services.

4.9 Hypothesis testing

Table XVI. CSR awareness

CSR initiatives Coefficient t-statistics P

Against animal testing −0.008 −0.149 0.882

there is a lack of awareness of CSR activities of cosmetics companies in Bahrain.

5.1 Research contribution

importance of CSR among consumers.

5.5 Future research

(The Appendix follows overleaf.)

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