Consumers' Perceptions of South African Clothing retailers' Corporate Social Responsibility: A Triple Bottom Line and Gendered Perspective

ABSTRACT This study examines the influence of consumers' perceptions of clothing retailers' corporate social responsibility (CSR) on word‐of‐mouth (WOM) and purchase intent in the South African emerging market context. Additionally, a gender comparison was conducted to explore potential differences in the relationship between consumers' CSR perceptions, WOM, and purchase intent. An online survey based on validated scales was used to collect data ( N = 1293). Partial least squares (PLS‐SEM) was applied to specify a reflective‐formative model incorporating consumers' CSR perceptions as a higher‐order construct composed of social, economic, and environmental dimensions. The social dimension emerged as the most influential in shaping CSR perceptions, with WOM partially mediating the relationship between CSR perceptions and purchase intent. Additionally, a permutation‐based multigroup analysis revealed gender differences in the relationship between consumers' CSR perceptions, WOM, and purchase intent, which can form the basis for further exploratory investigation.