Effect Of Corporate Social Responsibility Activities Of The Restaurants On Customer Loyalty Anadolu University Graduate School of Social Sciences Res. Assist. Bülent Aydın & Prof. Dr. B. Zafer Erdoğan

The plan of presentation Introduction The problem of study The aim of study Research method Findings implications for theory and practice Limitations and suggestions for future researchers

Introduction Increasing competitive pressures in the restaurant industry, and the fact that customers prefer socially responsible establishments or punish those that fail to fulfil their responsibilities (Reich, Xu and McCleary, 2010) turned corporate social responsibility (CSR) into an important means of competition.

The problem of study The problem of the CSR and customer loyalty was investigated even in a more limited manner in the context of the restaurant industry and thus, it is necessary to investigate this problem more.

The aim of study The purpose of this study is identify the stakeholders of restaurant establishments and also to determine the role of CSR-related activities in customer loyalty. H1: Corporate social responsibility activities affect customer loyalty in the restaurant industry positively

Research method A mixed research method consisting of both qualitative and quantitative methods was used in this research. Qualitative research Quantitative research; Quantitative research method was required in the study in order to determine the role of the data obtained within the context of the qualitative research on customer loyalty.

Research method Population The population of the research consists of the restaurants in Turkey with 1st and 2nd class tourism business license, private establishment licence and Chamber of Commerce licence. As target population was identified rather excessively large, creating time and cost issues, Eskisehir city was determined as the target population of the study. Convenience sampling technique was used when collecting data from customers. 499 questionnaires were collected.

Findings

Findings on the exploratory factor analysis

Findings on the role of the demographic features of the participants on their loyalty As a result of this test, a statistically significant difference could not be find between females and males in terms of customer loyalty (p=0.93) but significant differences were found among the participants according to the marital status (p=0,01). According to the findings, married participants are closer to loyalty when compared to single participants.

The average monthly income was found as statistically significant in customer loyalty (F=2,718; p=0,03). According to the findings obtained in the analysis, no significant difference could be found among the participants in terms of the loyalty by educational status (F=0,76; p=0,52). According to the findings of this analysis, no significant difference could be found between age and in terms of the loyalty (F=1,533; p=0,18). The participants differ significantly from one another according to the frequency of eating in restaurants (F=3,23; p=0,01).

Findings on the loyalty and visiting

Findings on the multiple linear regression analysis HypothesesResults H1a: Customer-oriented CSR activities affect customer loyalty positively Not Supported H1b: Employee-oriented CSR activities affect customer loyalty positively Supported H1c: Environment-oriented CSR activities affect customer loyalty positively. Not Supported H1d: Society-oriented CSR activities affect customer loyalty positively. Not Supported

implications for theory and practice Service quality, customer satisfaction, perceived quality, perceived value, customer trust, decor and furnishings, the layout of the venue, price, product quality, brand image, etc.. With this study it was determined that the CSR, which is examined in a limited way in restaurant industry, has an effective role on customer loyalty.

implications for theory and practice  Cognitive and  Affective factors through CSR, restaurants adress to customers feelings and creates loyalty

Limitations and suggestions for future researchers There are many types of restaurants in the industry. These are; fast food restaurants, ethnic restaurants, green restaurants, family restaurants, etc. It is necessary to investigate the CSR in the context of other restaurant consumers as well. The study is limited to Eskişehir province in Turkey. It is also necessary to investigate the restaurant customers in other countries.

Limitations and suggestions for future researchers Another limitation in this study was about the population and sample. The researchers may endeavour to take a sample from the whole population. The last suggestion for future studies is that the effects of the CSR on the other stakeholders of the restaurants can be investigated

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