Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): Profit Seeking or Social Activity?

A company is required to do the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) as a form of responsibility to the stakeholders. In general, CSR activities give several impacts on companies and also the surrounding environment or residents. Companies tend to spend a high CSR expenditure with a possibility to influence their profit but some argue that CSR expenditure is related to companies’ social objectives. The research was conducted with the aim to analyze the effect of CSR on future financial performance and corporate social activity. The data of the research uses secondary data through the annual report and financial report of consumer goods manufacturing industries that registered in the Indonesia Stock Exchange. The result of the research showed that CSR expenditure has no significant effect on future financial performance. However, the company will still report their CSR expenditure as a signal to the users of financial statements. Further, the result of this study shows that CSR expenditure has a significant effect on social activities. This research can be used by shareholders, investors, and other companies in choosing a company with a good image seen from their CSR to work with. Afterward, further research is expected to use other moderating variables such as Return on Equity (ROE) or Earning per Share (EPS) in measuring the relationship of CSR and financial performance