The impact of non-financial reports of food industry enterprises on customer purchasing behavior vs. other CSR communication tools

<b>Research background and purpose:</b> By communicating their activities that fit into the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR), companies can influence customers' purchasing behavior. Communicating about CSR requires an in-depth analysis of customers' needs in this regard. These needs may concern not only the content of the messages, their form, but also the channels through which the messages are distributed. From the point of view of companies, an important issue is to examine whether the reports are a source of information on the basis of which customers make purchasing decisions. The purpose of this article is to ascertain the influence of CSR information conveyed through diverse communication channels with particular reference to non-financial reports on the purchasing behaviour of customers with varying socio-demographic attributes. <b>Design/methodology/approach:</b> A primary survey (a diagnostic survey using a proprietary research tool) was conducted. The research group consisted of adult residents of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship. Among other things, elements of descriptive statistics were used to analyse the collected research material; analysis of numerosity; significance test for one-way analysis of variance ANOVA of Kruskal-Wallis ranks; Mann-Whitney U test. <b>Findings:</b> The investigation carried out that the non-financial report is not an important source of information considered by customers when making a purchasing decision. Companies should actively promote the information contained therein by using other communication tools, e.g. text and graphics placed on product packaging, which have the strongest impact on purchasing decisions regardless of the socio-demographic characteristics of their customers. <b>Value added and limitations:</b> The study focuses on the communication of corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities undertaken by companies in the food industry. It is based on data collected from consumers residing in the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship.