How to Reap the CSR Fruits: The Crucial Role Played by Customers

In times of unprecedented relevance of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), companies need to gain a deeper understanding of actual and prospective customers, shedding light on the antecedents of their behavioral choices as to better address their needs and ambitions, in order to get a competitive edge. By adopting a chronological approach, the present chapter provides an overview of the development of research on responsible consumers over time. From early studies focusing on market segmentation based on socio-demographic and psychographic variables, the focus shifts to sophisticated models based either on cognitive processes or on habits, or on a mixture of both. Given the complexity of the phenomenon and its dynamic and ever-evolving nature, the chapter ends with a discussion of cutting-edge perspectives of analysis that represent the latest advancements of the discipline. These new streams of studies focus on the need to adopt holistic, dynamic, cross-cultural, and trust-based approaches, and pave the way for future research.