Impact of CSR Initiatives on Brand Image and Consumers’ Intentions to Buy: Case Study of Mahindra & Mahindra

The objective of the present work is to analyze the effects of CSR initiatives by Mahindra, a leading automotive manufacturing company in India. The purpose of this study is to investigate how Mahindra’s CSR efforts affect consumers’ perception towards the brand image of the company. A pilot study of 50 observations was undertaken and the data was analyzed using PLS-SEM. The paper proposes a model to study the relationship of CSR on the consumers’ purchase intention. It attempts to study as to how far Mahindra’s extensive CSR focus in the diverse fields of girl child education, women empowerment, livelihood generation & skill development among the youth and environmental conservation has proven to be the catalyst in steering the purchase intentions of its consumers and provide competitive advantage in building its brand image. The results of this study will be beneficial for Mahindra and any other organization that intends to adopt CSR as a management tool for improving consumers’ loyalty and image towards the brand. From the analysis it can be concluded that a company can enhance revenues by improving its brand image and attitude amongst consumers. The research underscores the critical role of CSR in fostering consumers purchase intention.