Building Customer Loyalty Through CSR: An Investigation of Generation Z Consumers in Ho Chi Minh City and the Role of Trust, Satisfaction, and C-C Identification

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate and evaluate the influence of corporate social responsibility on Gen Z customer’s loyalty in Ho Chi Minh City. In today's business world, with fierce competition, customer satisfaction and retention have become essential goals for companies. Therefore, the implementation and prioritization of social responsibility is crucial to ensure business sustainability. A series of environmental pollution incidents caused by Vedan Vietnam Company in Thi Vai River in Long Thanh District, Dong Nai Province (2008), and the mass killing of fish in many provinces such as Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri, and Thua Thien Hue due to industrial wastewater of Formosa Company (2016) has raised an alarm about corporate social responsibility. For these reasons, the research team decided to conduct a study to explore GenZ's perspective on CSR and its impact, and to develop solutions to help businesses enhance Gen Z customer’s loyalty in Ho Chi Minh City. The study employed SPSS and AMOS software to analyze data, including tools such as Cronbach's Alpha, Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), model suitability test, and research hypotheses (linear structural model SEM). Based on the survey questionnaire data collected from 450 samples in Ho Chi Minh City, the research team identified several variables in the model, including corporate social responsibility (CSR), customer trust, satisfaction, customer identification with the company (CCI), and customer loyalty. The study results indicated that the impact of customer trust on loyalty was the strongest, followed by satisfaction. The findings allowed the research team to propose solutions for businesses to improve the quality of their services while prioritizing social responsibility to satisfy customers.