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Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives on the two marketing outcomes - corporate reputation (CR) and brand equity (BE), based on the perception of consumers regarding banks in India. Design/methodology/approach – A survey of banking consumers was carried out, resulting in 303 valid responses. In order to address research objectives and test the hypothesis, structural equations modeling has been employed. Findings – Results reveals that CSR activities influence CR and BE directly as well as indirectly. In addition, the mediating role of trust is found to be significant between CSR and CR and CSR and BE. The study shows that CSR activities build consumer trust in a company which in turn positively impacts CR and BE. Research limitations/implications – The findings have important implications for retail banks in India and suggest that CSR activities can help banks in building CR and BE. The hypothesized theoretical framework has been tested in the banking context, so the generalization of findings is limited to the context. Originality/value – This study contributes to literature by highlighting the important role of CSR and its direct and indirect effects on CR and BE.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which the customer-brand engagement influences the brand satisfaction and the brand loyalty in an online banking context. It further explores the role of the online brand experience as a mediating variable amidst the relationship of customer-brand engagement with brand satisfaction and brand loyalty. Design/methodology/approach This study has used 348 responses been collected through an online survey which was conducted among various online bank customers in Delhi, the national capital of India. The responses were analyzed by the means of the confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling. Findings The results of online survey show that customer-brand engagement positively influences online brand experience. The effects of customer-brand engagement on brand satisfaction and brand loyalty are partially mediated by the online brand experience. Mediation of online brand experience produces the stronger effects as compared to those direct effects of the customer-brand engagement on the brand satisfaction and the brand loyalty. Practical implications This study suggests bank managers to develop strategies that could be able to increase the levels of the customer-brand engagement in an online setting because of its scheduled effects on the online brand experiences and the consumer behavioral outcomes. Originality/value This research is the first-of-its-kind that examines the effect of customer-brand engagement on the customers’ brand experience, brand satisfaction and brand loyalty in the online banking context.

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