According to the findings of South Korean researchers from Chungnam National University, corporations concentrated on corporate social responsibility and easy, not too cluttered websites are of most importance in helping create consumer trust and loyalty with the online shopper, but especially for the Japanese and South Koreans.
The online consumers of 1,033 people from these two countries were studied to understand the extent of effecting the purchasing decision due to CSR initiatives like sustainability and environmental issues. According to the findings, the research study concludes that online buyers feel more confident in those companies which are committed towards social and environmental responsibility. Moreover, if these companies make their online shopping experience intuitive and transparent, then this further improves the purchase frequency and ensures repeat business.
Impact of CSR on the purchasing behavior:
The best described by CSR is the effort from a company for society’s benefit and its environment. In such effort, whether it is environmental, societal, or ethical practices to run the business in business ethics, CSR relates it all. Both of them noticed that consumers in both Japan and South Korea like buying their products from companies who really try their level best in CSR activities. But researchers have noticed that differences lie in terms of influence in between both of these countries.
The case here is with Japanese consumers, who respond extremely well to CSR in foreign brands. Even though they are less inclined to accept foreign companies, they have greater odds of trusting the brand when the company does take adequate care of its CSR commitments. That’s a critical finding for international brands which want to carve off some portion of the Japanese market slice: CSR can just well smash that glass ceiling of distrust associated with imported goods.
South Korean consumers shopped more online, but CSR activities had a weaker impact on South Korean purchasing behavior than Japan. Trust was still established, although the relationship between CSR and purchase frequency was stronger in Japan, and, at least in Japan, consumers seem to care about CSR activities when they decide to shop with foreign firms.
Accessible Websites End
Besides CSR, another characteristic of hassle-free easy online shopping was brought forth by this study. That includes easy navigation on a website, and easy procurement of information about a product will also increase the likelihood of getting a buyer to shop at such a site. Similarly, the same study of market research pointed out that if a customer felt that the whole process was easy and less strenuous in terms of procuring global goods, then they will want to do it again.
CSR activities may enhance the experience in online shopping. Presenting a website that clearly states the CSR activities of a company is known to be a method of enhancing users’ experiences while raising the possibilities of frequent purchases for users. This is very critical in global e-commerce, especially in cases where transparency and accessibility would boost repeat business.
Cultural differences in online shopping behavior
There are also some cultural differences at least between Japan and South Korea in this regard. While on average South Koreans were even more aggressive in their purchase behaviors in online shopping, South Koreans were buying from the internet far more frequently than Japanese people. The consumers of Japan are choosy and very critical about the social responsibility and ethical business practices before actually purchasing something from the internet.
This finding makes the demonstration of CSR efforts very important for foreign companies that aim to succeed in Japan. While South Koreans may be more open to online shopping platforms without much regard for CSR, Japanese consumers are more careful and prefer companies that reflect their values.
The study further concludes that CSR initiatives will be the bridge between consumers’ positive perception of online shopping and their hesitation towards adopting global brands. As a result, CSR can eventually become a standard feature of global e-commerce which can help make online shopping more accessible to more people.
This is an event that will see the rise of international e-commerce, where with such growth, there will be the necessity to have CSR in online shopping. Organizations focusing on clarity of products, sustainability and social responsibility will not only boast of their public image but win the loyalty and confidence of consumers at large. The winning of hesitant consumers in the international market for businesses targeting such markets and especially in Japan may well depend on demonstration of business commitment towards CSR.
This study conveys the message: in this new digitalized era, CSR is no longer just a marketing but an integral business strategy. More and more consumers in Japan are demanding greater corporate accountability, making CSR efforts increasingly significant to the decision of purchasing or not. This means that the expectations of businesses have to be fulfilled in order to benefit from long-term growth and success in international markets.
Conclusion
The growing importance of CSR in online buying behavior is identified in some recent studies conducted at Chungnam National University. Better prospects for winning the confidence of consumers will be seen in those firms that can match CSR practices with the nature of their business and those websites that are user-friendly and transparent in an environment like Japan. As long as e-commerce is exponentially growing with no signs of slowing down in the forseeable future, CSR will be a brand personality that will shape up expectations and preferences of consumers. Placing them at the front lines of doing business would likely make them more attractive and encourage repeat business that could help usher in an ethically more sustainable world order.
Source: Chungnam National University