RESEARCH ARTICLE Consumer behavior and corporate social responsibility: An evaluation by a choice experiment Flavio Boccia | Rosa Malgeri Manzo | Daniela Covino Department of Economic and Legal Studies, “Parthenope” University of Naples, Naples, Italy Correspondence Daniela Covino, Department of Economic and Legal Studies, “Parthenope” University of Naples, Naples, Italy. Email: daniela.covino@uniparthenope.it Abstract The relationship between corporate social responsibility and consumer's behavior is more and more strong today: so it influences management of ethical and social effects of companies. The aim of the study is to investigate to what extent the socially responsible behaviors of companies influence consumer purchasing decisions and, moreover, the possible willingness to pay higher prices for good practice products. A choice experiment was conducted in Italy for this purpose on ready‐made foods, where socially responsible initiatives of companies are compared with four levels of price and the presence or absence of a known brand. The analysis shows a positive relationship between socially responsible initiatives of companies and attitudes of consumers towards them and their products. However, by investigation, only few people adopt corporate social responsibility as choice criterion for purchases still, because traditional purchasing criteria continue to prevail, in particular the price. The conclusions are also a matter for thought for further discussion. KEYWORDS experimental economics, food marketing, preference, ready‐made foods, stakeholder engagement, willingness to pay 1 | INTRODUCTION Over the last few years, dietary consumption trends have undergone profound changes (Pilati, 2004). The reasons that led to this change have been many: some socioeconomic, such as the increase in per capita income, the demographic growth, and the reduction of family nuclei; others, of an industrial nature, such as the development of state‐of‐the‐art technologies, the introduction of new products on the market or the repositioning of existing ones. We are faced with a constantly evolving society, the so‐called satiety society, where the food no longer has a mere nutritional function but becomes a means of satisfying a personal pleasure. In an attempt to emerge and stand out to the increasingly demanding eyes of the consumer, companies operating in the food industry often adopt measures that attest to the quality of the products offered and the initiatives taken in favor of the environment and the society in general (Antonucci, 2007). The adoption of these or other choices, dictated by the will to win consumer confidence and thus gain new market shares, inevitably entails greater costs for companies. Keeping the prices slightly above the average market prices offered by the market, while ensuring a higher level of quality, is crucial for success. It is therefore of funda- mental importance to understand if the average consumer is willing to pay a surcharge for such products, preferring them to the conven- tional products. The survey carried out under this project on ready‐made food (products that are poorly treated in literature) aims to answer this question and to understand how the socially responsible initiatives undertaken by companies, compared with four levels of price and the presence or absence of a known brand, affect consumer buying choices. After a general overview on the literature and the analysis of the methodology adopted, the research phases will be presented and then conclude with the presentation of the results, and the related comments, obtained from the survey. Received: 11 April 2018 Revised: 11 June 2018 Accepted: 7 July 2018 DOI: 10.1002/csr.1661 Corp Soc Resp Env Ma. 2018;1–9. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/csr 1