Developing corporate social responsibility in financial services

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to contribute to the theory and practice of financial services marketing in sub-Saharan Africa (sSA) by investigating how financial service providers are developing corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices, in particular, seeking to uncover the involvement of stakeholders. Design/methodology/approach: Following an interpretivist approach, the study uncovers fresh and context-rich insights through an analysis of a multiple case study consisting of retail banks in Ghana. Data consist of semi-structured interviews with senior managers and analysis of documents and archives. Findings: The study uncovers three key CSR practices practised by the retail banks: giving, community and corporate reputation/brand with which their stakeholders are only to some extent involved. Banks not as yet drawing extensively on stakeholder resources for CSR practices. Research limitations/implications: The study uses an inductive and in-depth approach to explore contextual insights into CSR, but with subsequent limitations on how far the findings can be extended. Practical implications: The study offers outline for financial services marketing involving stakeholders in CSR. Social implications: It discovers that banks acquire social capital through their CSR activities in the community. Originality/value: The study contributes to financial services marketing theory and practice through an evidence-based framework uncovering the development of CSR through practices that as yet draw on stakeholder resources to a limited extent. Research suggests that CSR practices are dynamic and subject to a range of situational conditions.