The Impact of Corporate Environmental Performance on Consumer Purchasing Patronage

Abstract

South African companies are perceived to be ceding their competitiveness to their global counterparts partly due to their reluctance to embrace effective corporate environmental practices. Probing the responsiveness of one key stakeholder (consumers), the study aimed to determine if corporate environmental performance lures stakeholder support. Adopting a positivist stance, a quantitative research design was employed in the study. Archival data were collected from companies listed in the FTSE/JSE Responsible Investment Index, to compute a short panel data set for statistical panel data analysis. The study adopted the first differenced econometric models in data analyses. Findings reveal that all explanatory variables for corporate environmental performance yielded a significant positive effect on consumer purchasing patronage. The findings contribute immensely to existing literature and current environmental practices while initiating a novel agenda for future research.