The dark side of retailing: towards a scale of corporate social irresponsibility

Purpose – Corporate social responsibility is becoming increasingly important in the retailing industry, whereby retailers are frequently criticized for socially irresponsible business practices by mass media and consumer advocacy groups. The purpose of this research is to find out which retail business practices lead to perceptions of corporate social irresponsibility (CSIR) from the customers' perspective and to develop a measurement scale for this construct. Design/methodology/approach – Using quantitative data from a paper‐based and an online survey, a higher‐order, multi‐group confirmatory factor analysis was conducted. Findings – The research identifies 14 factors which represent perceptions of CSIR in retailing. A measurement scale of this construct is proposed and empirically validated. Demographic differences among consumers' CSIR perceptions are revealed. Research limitations/implications – The scale remains to be validated in varying cultural settings other than the USA. Practical implications – The findings provide retailers with a detailed account of business practices that consumers regard as socially irresponsible. The scale can be adopted by retailers in surveys to measure consumers' perceptions. Originality/value – The paper is first in providing a conceptualization and measurement scale for CSIR which is of increasing importance for both retailing theory and practice.