The scarcity of research on the public's responses towards corporate social responsibility (CSR) in developing countries has inspired this research. The research is aimed at studying the consumers' awareness of, their attitude and behavioural intentions towards socially responsible companies in the Egyptian market. The relevant CSR literature was recapitulated into a conceptual framework, and an empirical study was conducted through a mixed research design. Exploratory qualitative interviews were conducted with corporate managers of a sample of five companies in the Egyptian market. Then, a descriptive quantitative research was conducted through a survey on a non‐probability sample of consumers. The results revealed that consumers in Egypt are actually aware of the CSR concept and even tend to develop positive attitude towards socially responsible companies. Yet, when it comes to the evaluative purchasing criteria that consumers value the most, economic criteria are apparently still given a priority over the social criteria.

In spite of the aim of the World Trade Organization and other international organizations to foster international trade and development by lessening protectionism agendas worldwide, there has been a rise in consumer boycotting behaviour at a macro level involving campaigns directed against foreign products from countries embroiled in conflicts in international relations, rather than against products from individual companies perceived to have engaged in a domestic egregious act. While campaigning at this level is becoming a more effective tool for consumer protest, as it negatively affects both the boycotted countries" macroeconomics and companies" micro-competitiveness, consumer motivations to participate in macro-level boycotts has so far been overlooked in the boycotting literature. This paper examines consumers" behavioural intentions to participate in macro-boycotting campaigns within the context of an Arab country, which has recently witnessed a number of campaigns of this nature. Using the theory of planned behaviour the findings of an exploratory qualitative study of Egyptian consumers offer insights into the motives and barriers to individual macroboycott participation. Findings are discussed together with managerial implications.

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