Corporate philanthropy by foreign multinationals in developing countries in Asia: do local consumers truly matter?

This study examines the underexplored issue of whether or not activities of corporate philanthropy (CP) by foreign multinationals, which have been shown to positively influence global stakeholders, can also influence local consumers in developing countries in Asia. We survey how consumers in Myanmar and Vietnam perceive Chinese and Korean multinationals and their CP activities. The results indicate that CP has a fairly limited influence on purchase intentions of local consumers in these markets. The study found only indirect effects through corporate image for firms from China (unfavourable origin), However, neither direct nor indirect effects on purchase intentions were observed for Korean firms (favourable origin). Our findings suggest that, unlike in developed countries, local consumers may not be key stakeholders to consider in planning corporate-sponsored philanthropic activities in developing Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]