Retailers increasingly view community engagement (or
involvement) as a strategic priority, and evaluating
approaches to maximize the value of their efforts both
economically and socially are on the rise (Arnold,
Kozinets, and Handelman 2001; Mohammed et al.
2002; Wilson 2005). Community engagement strategy
is described by Bowen, Newenham-Kahindi, and
Herremans (2010, p. 297) as “the subset of a firm’s
corporate social responsibilities (CSR) activities that
are directed toward individual citizens and community
groups.” For example, Walmart has established a local
community contribution program and consistently
offers financial and functional support to local community
organizations (Wilson 2005). Community engagement
programs have the potential to enhance a
retailer’s brand image (Curras-Perez, Bigne-Alcaniz,
and Alvarado-Herrera 2009; Samli, Kelly, and Hunt
1998) and sales revenue (Sen and Bhattacharya 2001).