In this paper, we analyze the effect of different dimensions of a firm's corporate social responsible (CSR) on the creation of brand equity (BE) in industrial marketing. Studying effects of CSR and its dimensions on brand equity is a novel and new topic in marketing. Our study, using top managers of 101 industrial companies, shows the strong effects of CSR dimensions directed at different stakeholders on BE.
First, we find that CSR positively affects industrial brand equity. This result is an important extension of the previous literature on CSR, as it is the first study to actually show this effect in an industrial setting. This result confirms prior studies showing that CSR affects firm performance (e.g.,Luo & Bhattacharya, 2006; Margolis & Walsh, 2003; Orlitzky et al., 2003). Moreover, we also show that CSR dimensions generate a positive effect on industrial brand equity