As you sow, so shall you reap: finding customer-based outcomes of socially responsible coffee cafes

Purpose: In the realm of increased competition among coffee café, the need for customer citizenship behavior (CCB) has increased. But the question of how a café can win CCB through firm-level and individual dispositional factors have not been gained due attention. Against this backdrop, this study aims to investigate a moderated-mediation model to predict CCB through CSR, affective commitment and service quality. Design/methodology/approach: The data were collected from 797 coffee café visitors between April–June 2019. The respondents were approached through a convenience sampling technique. Findings: Using both Structural Equation Modeling and Hayes Macros, data analysis proved that CSR significantly predicts affective commitment and CCB. Moreover, it is also witnessed that the presence of high service quality strengthens the mediation mechanism; thus, a moderated-mediation model is supported. Research limitations/implications: The study is cross-sectional, although the design did not cause a common method variance. The model tested in the study offers a novel mechanism explaining the linking between CSR and CCB through affective commitment and service quality. The findings are useful for the management of café as the large sample size may offer generalizable results. Originality/value: The study offers a novel way of predicting CCB, the desired customer behavior in the present competitive environment in the coffee market. The usefulness of the findings for management is yet another contribution offered by this study