An empirical investigation of the drivers of CSR talk and walk in the fashion industry

Abstract This paper tests the effects of company size, market segment and core business, on the two dimensions of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), namely CSR talk and CSR walk. The study contributes to the literature on CSR offering for the first time a comprehensive explanation of why companies engage in CSR, by combining different perspectives that extant research has typically examined independently. The conceptual framework developed is empirically supported using data from a global sample of 219 small and large fashion companies, operating different businesses and serving different market segments. Results illustrate that small companies engage less in CSR talk and walk than large companies. In addition, companies targeting lower market segments or the luxury segment engage more in CSR talk, and shoe and leather companies engage most in CSR walk. This study empirically supports a novel picture of drivers of CSR engagement focusing on a context that generates a high share of the global value added, though provoking a negative social and environmental footprint.