The Influence of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) on the Emotional Well-being of Young People

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), in simple terms, means “Social impact”, which has achieved unparallel significance and has become imperative to any company’s strategic decision-making. It has gained prominence from all organisations and has realized that government alone will not be able to get success in its endeavour to uplift society. With the quickly changing corporate environment, many organisations have set up separate CSR wings as a planned tool for sustainable growth.

Today’s and tomorrow’s youth are income earners, entrepreneurs, educators, innovators, health professionals, and political and civic leaders important to economic growth and well-being. We must value young people as assets and equal partners in addressing our world’s most crucial development challenges. Youth development is about more than simply creating more skilled workers and asset-based approaches. It means creating opportunities for young people that help them develop a sense of competence, purpose, value and empowerment with social skills that can help them in becoming successful adults. The role of corporate social responsibility in youth development is subjective, and the research study showed that Corporate Social Responsibility has a significant role in youth development.

The purpose of this article is to understand the impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on the emotional well-being of the youth and the effect of two intervening factors, i.e., corporate image and reputation, over higher education students and first-generation learners. Based on the research conducted by various organizations, it has been observed that emotional well-being is influenced by corporate reputation, corporate image, and CSR practices. This article contributes to the information on CSR, considering the intervening effects of the organisation’s image and reputation in the relationship between CSR and the emotional well-being of the youth. These effects are not only direct and positive but significant. Therefore, students’ emotional success is promoted by the good practices of CSR, but this effect is also stimulated by favourable corporate image and reputation.

There are numerous studies that shows a relationship between organizational reputation and CSR. The prominence is very much linked with sustainability and social responsibility. According to the study, CSR has a positive effect on reputation, which in turn has positive effects on the behaviors of customers, employees and its investors. In higher education, the students are the most important stakeholder group as they give good reputations to those organizations that are perceived as socially responsible and become more loyal and less price friendly.

From the perspective of stakeholders, such as students, CSR initiatives can influence creating emotional well-being based on confidence in the experience and integrity of the institution. Institutions that act responsibly can influence the perception of trust, admiration, good feelings, and esteem felt by their stakeholders. In fact, Institutes/Universities that organise community participation and environmental responsibility projects generate more social kindness from the customers, which in turn can positively affect the emotional appeal. If students perceive that their institution is socially responsible, they can acquire an emotional push that includes feelings and emotional ties of belonging within the institution.

In order to attract and retain students and to obtain competitive edge, Institute/ University must build well founded strategies that should encourage meaningful discussions with their students, involving them in socially responsible projects with visibility and transparency in the means, in order to provide a good corporate image and a solid reputation for the Institution. In this way, students develop greater loyalty, trust and commitment to the Institution and engage in positive word-of-mouth communications by sharing their experiences with others, developing an emotional bond with the University/Institute. They should design/implement CSR strategies based on motivating their associates to become brand ambassadors on social media, communicate CSR with external audiences, involve their associates in projects related to CSR and promote the understanding of their associates of the reasons for CSR in their organizations. On the other hand, managers must conform their organizational culture towards one that increases awareness of initiatives, including all associates, thus improving participation in CSR programs and increasing identification with the organization.

Corporate Social Responsibility has its own positive impact as it reduces youth problems, especially illegal immigration and the best practice for youth development is educational programs. Various studies have revealed that corporate social responsibility has reduced major youth problems such as illegal immigration, unemployment, violence and educational disparity. Some other positive effects include an increase in education quality, more employment opportunities, getting a sense of ownership, and increased Literacy which helps in social interactions. This also helps in reducing poverty, enhancing the ambition of youth and providing youth with income sources and skills. It has also been seen that students who learn about CSR can become more aware of the products they use and the companies that make them.

Youth social responsibility involves developing a sense of commitment to the community and environment. From this commitment, students/young people are then able to engage in activities such as organizing campaigns around certain societal issues, and caring for the homeless, sick or elderly. So, in all retrospect, Schools/colleges can make this topic more exciting by thinking up creative ideas that change students’ attitudes toward business ethics and sustainability.

Views of the authors are personal and do not necessarily represent the website’s views.

Vanita Kaushal, Senior Manager- Industry Connects-CSR, Skilling and Projects. Her expertise encompasses a wide range of areas, including CSR fundraising and revenue generation, client management, business development, operations and customer service.