Commitment enhancement to an organic product through corporate social responsibility (CSR) and the mediating role of the consumers’ emotional attachment

Article history: Received 22 September 2016 Received in revised form 10 December 2016 Accepted 18 December 2016 The marketing literature review we announced that previous studies have not dug in depth the effects of social responsibility and emotional attachment on the commitment to a biological product. Further than satisfying the target audience’s emerging and latent needs, which are being trivialized, the marketer must find a comparative advantage over the main actors. Therefore, we intent in this research to integrate Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and emotional attachment to understand emotional commitment to the brand of an organic product? Affective commitment is inherent to a relational perspective that can address the volatility of the consumer and build a deep partnership. Our work target at showing the effect of CSR operating in the organic sector on stimulating the consumer’s emotional commitment toward the company’s products, while testing the mediating role of emotional attachment. For this, we conducted an empirical study involving 430 Saudi customers of the brand Yves Rocher. The results allowed us, on the one hand, to confirm the significance of the causal link between CSR and consumer emotional involvement and, on the other hand, to justify the thorough mediation of emotional attachment to this organic brand. These findings allowed us to identify ways for the professionals working in the organic sector to improve strategies.


Introduction
*In a context of economic crisis and social unrest, the consumer has entered into a "rebalancing logic". He is at the same time searching for pleasure, letting go his consumption and controlling it, both in terms of health and economy (Choi et al., 2004;Mars and Depardon, 2008). Thus, with growing threats raised by the massive and careless exploitation of exhaustible energy sources, pollution and the destruction of nature, the consumer is more and more cautious about what he buys, what he consumes and what he commits himself to purchase later (Haanpää, 2007). The consumer has become a socially-conscious actor who relies on his purchasing power to achieve social and ecological change (Webster, 1975;Elhauge, 2005). In view of these pressures, companies are trying to legitimize their actions by adopting new decision criteria, such as ethical or societal criteria (Arnaudov and Koseska, 2012). Therefore, they try to communicate as clearly as possible the key elements of their ethical practices and to endow their actions with a social, environmental and humanitarian dimension. Of course, organic products, or as they are simply labelled "BIO" products, are a good example of a response to this trend in the consumerist activity (Mars and Depardon, 2008). For these authors, companies operating in this sector are thus compelled to bring to the forefront, this "privilege" of their offer, that is its natural and agricultural roots, so as to reassure the customer, attract him, and stimulate his commitment to more wholesome, more ethical and more societal consumption.
The study of the role of CSR in relation to environment and health concerns has been at the heart of many previous works (Reinhardt and Stavins, 2010). However, the literature devoted to the study of CSR from a relational perspective remains limited, in our view, especially in the Arab world. The present research work aims to highlight the impact of CSR in companies producing BIO products on consumer engagement, with a particular stress on the role that emotional attachment is likely to play in this relationship. The study was conducted in the Saudi context, where research on this topic has remained rare, despite the important consumption of BIO products in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Therefore, this research aims to answer the following question: do the perception of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and the prospects of emotional attachment lead to emotional commitment to the brand of an organic product?
Given the above, this article will rely on a relational approach to highlight the link between CSR and commitment to a BIO brand, considering the emotional attachment of customers to the brand involved. To this end, we will try to achieve the following objectives: -Studying the effect of CSR on the consumer's emotional commitment to a BIO brand.
-Testing the mediating role of emotional attachment to the brand in the relationship between CSR and emotional engagement.
-Checking the relevance of these links to the Saudi consumer of the "Yves Rocher" BIO brand.

Corporate societal responsibility (CSR)
Several recent publications consider that CSR is a new concept and its treatment a news topic (Schrempf-Stirling et al., 2015). However, a review of the literature shows that it dates back to the 1950s, more precisely to the works of Bowen (1953). The concept was born under the pressure of environmental and humanitarian associations requiring greater consideration of social and environmental impacts on business activities (Reinhardt and Stavins, 2010;Carroll, 2015). CSR involves "the duty of businessmen to implement policies, make decisions and follow the guidelines that meet the goals and the values that are regarded as desirable by our society" (Bowen, 1953). For Carroll (1991Carroll ( , 2015, CSR implies that companies take into account the concerns related to sustainable development in their activities. For Elhauge (2005), CSR implies making "a sacrifice of a portion of profit to social interests". This same definition is retained by Reinhardt and Stavins (2010) and by Radhakrishnan et al. (2012). As for Nalband and Al-Amri (2013), he considered CSR to be the contribution to the objectives of sustainable development. For Nalband and Al-Amri (2013), on the other hand, stated that CSR expresses a quest for social legitimacy which is concretized through the company's search for compliance with the requirements of the surrounding society. In sum, these definitions suggest that CSR refers to the voluntary integration by the company of social, societal, environmental and governance concerns within its strategy, its management and its relations with its partners. It consists, for a company, in integrating social and environmental considerations in its operating activities and in the strategies it implements. It also implies interacting with different partners (customers and suppliers) to include these concerns in their relationships.
As for the challenges of CSR, they can be divided into three groups (Lantos, 2001): (1) those related to the sustainability of the businesses (such as human rights, poverty reduction, community growth, health promotion, and fair resource sharing); (2) those pertaining to environmental liability (for instance climate change, renewable and non-renewable resources, the usage of water and land, and the preservation of biodiversity; and (3) those referring to economic efficiency (such as innovation, prosperity, productivity). Some authors consider that the American context bears three distinct forms of CSR, namely ethical CSR, altruistic CSR, and strategic CSR (Lantos, 2001;McElhaney, 2009;Buchholtz et al., 1999). In the European context, the authors have kept the same dimensions, to which they added a new one, namely the current legislation (Jansen et al., 2006, Herman et al., 2012. In this respect, the European Commission has played a crucial role in improving the visibility of the social responsibility policy of businesses, and in encouraging them to continue in this trend (Jansen et al., 2006). As for integrating the dimension of "social responsibility" in the image of the company, it springs from several reasons. Some researchers, state that CSR allows the company to maintain its relationship with its partners and with the community (Choi et al., 2014). For Choi et al. (2014) and Carroll (2015), it is a tool to respond to environmental and social challenges, and the response can be expressed in different ways. For us, it is an offer of a BIO product which must meet the needs of both human beings and the environment (Mars and Depardon, 2008).

The bio product
For Magnusson et al. (2003), there are different interchangeable terms used to point at an "environment-friendly" product. It is an organic or "BIO", natural, ecological, green, pesticide-free product which "respects the environment". For Lehu (2012), it is a product that is "designed, produced and commercialized in the least harmful way possible for the ecological environment, and which can be easily recycled". Some authors (Lehu, 2012) consider that the BIO product is an ecological product which resulted from research that is oriented towards the preservation of nature. For other researchers (Dangelico and Pontrandolfo, 2010), there is a slight difference between an organic product and an ecological product: the latter reduces risks on the environment and is based on criteria relating to formulation and packaging. As for the "organic" product, Ghali et al. (2014) stated that it must "respect the rules of manufacturing, composition and testing which meet the requirements of the charters and the labels currently existing on the market. These labels have been developed by groups or associations interested in the health of consumers". There are several criteria for selecting and purchasing the latter type of products. Some consumers are driven by "concern for the environment" or "environmentalism" (Dunlap and Van Liere, 2008). Other authors focus on the issue of health (Steenkamp and Jong, 2010;Grunert and Grunert, 1995;Magnusson et al., 2003). These authors state that organic products are more wholesome; since they are manufactured without any chemical additives or fertilizers and that they do not harm the environment. For Schifferstein and Ophuis (1998) health concerns are the most important motivation for buying organic products. This certainty is rooted in the mind of many people due to a series of scandals that made the consumer much more attentive to what he buys and consumes.

Emotional commitment to an organic product
Many studies have investigated the crucial role of commitment in the relationship brand/consumer. For Wulf et al. (2003) "it is a lasting desire and a willingness on the part of the consumer to carry on the relationship with the partner, and actually making efforts to maintain this relationship". For Hulme et al. (2004), it is "a desire to continue the relationship with the offer in question" or "resistance to changing trends" (Pritchard et al., 1999). Dagger et al. (2007) considered that commitment is a vital determinant of the purchase intention and a distinguishing factor of true or false loyalty. We distinguish internal commitment, which is the basis of cognitive or emotional responses, and external commitment, manifested in the form of behavioral acts. It leads to a conscious response and a sense of responsibility on the part of consumers to a product or brand. In Sung and Campbell (2009), commitment is the outcome of a lasting relationship and a stable attitude towards a luxury brand.
As for commitment to an organic product, new considerations are needed to better understand the specification of this concept (Closon et al., 2015). Therefore, it will a desire and a predisposition on the part of consumers to continuously acquire Bio products that will meet their expectations while contributing to a better protection of the natural environment. In this context, the authors show that commitment leads to a responsible response on the part of the consumer whenever environmental problems are at stake. Rémy (2004) believed that consuming Bio products helps to fight the evils of industrialized agriculture. In this case, engaging in organic consumption is expressing the deep interest given to health and the environment, by avoiding products containing chemical fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides or other products derived from genetic transformation. Taking into account the attitude of green consumers, Haanpää (2007) distinguished three levels of commitment (strong, partial and weak).
Since Allen and Meyer (1990) proposed their approach which is now considered a traditional one, commitment has been considered a multidimensional variable. It generally has three dimensions: emotional, normative and "continuance" (Sung and Choi, 2010). In the present study, we are primarily interested in the emotional dimension. It is based on resistance to change and a very warm or deeply emotional feeling which develops through the degree of reciprocity or of personal involvement and results in a higher level of trust and loyalty (Gustafsson et al., 2005). Ning (2014) went further in the analysis by showing that only the emotional dimension of commitment could foster a lasting beneficial relationship between the two partners (brand / client).

The link between CSR and emotional commitment to an organic product
According to the literature, the concept of CSR has become very popular in research as well as in the company's organizational culture practices. It has also provided human resources with an access point to play on the social performance of the company (Yanni and Yongrok, 2014;Schrempf-Stirling et al., 2015). This amounts to putting one's culture within states that CSR is a source of competitive advantage on the market where the consumer seeks ethics through consumption. As a matter of fact, ethics engage customers in a lasting relationship based on affection for a product which preserves their health and their environment (Reinhardt and Stavins, 2010). This is the societal orientation that many companies have fostered to improve their products' brand image, reassure consumers, get closer to them, and encourage them to resist in the face of changes in the environment.
Following this literature review, it will be possible to consider CSR, with its different dimensions (ethical, commercial, social), as a determinant of emotional commitment to the brand. This allowed us to state our first hypothesis: H1: The Social Responsibility of the Company has a positive effect on consumer engagement towards its brands.

The Relationship between CSR and emotional attachment to the brand
The pioneering studies on attachment date back to the early 1980s, with the works of Bowlby. From an etymological point of view, the word 'attachment' refers to the relationship between parents and newborns. Bowlby argues that "attachment is an emotionally-laden and specifically-targeted link between a person and a specific object". Many authors similarly associate the strength of this link with the deepest feelings of affection, love and passion (Bowlby, 1980;Park et al., 2006;Thomson et al., 2005). Besides, the stronger the attachment to an object, the more one is inclined to keep this object at a closer distance (Thomson et al., 2005). In other words, the strength of the emotional attachment to an object may be associated with the amount of investment made in this object, that is to say, with the consent to waive immediate interest to consolidate a relationship (Van Lange et al., 1997a;Thomson et al., 2005). It simply reflects investment in the brand or in the product on the part of the consumer. When dealing with an organic product, consumers are emotionally attached as they have a favorable attitude towards this category of products. Peggy and Bridgette (2015) went further in their study of Oprah Winfrey's brand, by calling these brands "human brands", i.e. brands that reach the consumer, attract him, and forge a strong lasting relationship with him.
For Lacoeuilhe (2000), attachment to the brand is expressed by "the power of the cognitive and emotional link connecting the brand to the self". Thus, individuals develop an attachment to the brand on which they can rely to fulfill their emotional and cognitive needs. Attachment to an organic or "Bio" product is deeply accounted for by the authors. For Grisaffe and Nguyen (2011), the consumer attaches himself to a product that will bring him benefits both in terms of health and in terms of the protection of the environment. Similarly, Aertsens et al. (2009) stipulated that the consumer has more preference and affection for a "Bio" product than for a conventional product. This psychological proximity can be summarized in "preference", "guarantee", and "love" towards a product that provides health benefits and protects nature. Thus, a consumer feels more attracted by a healthy, ecological and "sustainable" product.
Mars and Depardon (2008) found the pleasurable part (hedonic) to be equally predominant in the organic field. Consumers are looking for the health and quality side in natural products, but also for the pleasure brought by their consumption. Thus, women give much importance to the sensory nature of organic cosmetics which combine the pleasure of nice smells and textures with wholesomeness.
For women consumers of Bio cosmetics, the pleasure equally comes from the fact of making a purchase that is in keeping with their values, notably when the defense and respect of the environment are involved (Mars and Depardon, 2008). It is considered that the French are much more tied to a regional or national product than to an international one. Therefore, to stimulate psychological proximity, companies compete for awards or labels such as "Ethics on label". This pressure tends to promote the idea of an "ethical" and / or social quality for consumer goods, the mention of which on the products will be an important social issue (Cochoy, 2001).
Hence, we can state the second hypothesis of our research work as follows: H2, H3 and H4: The Social Responsibility of the Company has a positive effect on brand loyalty.

The relationship between emotional attachment and emotional commitment
The emotional attachment of an individual to a person predicts his commitment to the relationship with that person (Drigotas and Rusbult, 1992;Rusbult and Farrell, 1983). Commitment is defined as the degree to which an individual perceives a relationship in a long term perspective, and his will to remain in that relationship even if things go wrong (Van Lange et al., 1997b, Closon et al., 2015. Many researchers consider commitment as a measure of marketing effectiveness (Dwyer et al., 1987;Moorman et al., 1993;Morgan and Hunt, 1994). In a marketing approach, the degree to which an individual remains attached to a brand is an important indicator of commitment (Garbarino and Johnson, 1999;Lacoeuilhe, 2000;Park et al., 2006). Also, we can assume that a valid measure of emotional attachment should be able to predict the commitment of a consumer to a brand. Lacoeuilhe (2000) has qualified the setting of an emotional connection between the brand and the individual expressed in a notion of "emotional attachment" as a source of commitment to the brand. This makes the imitation or transposition of the relationship particularly difficult (Aaker, 1996;Amine, 1998). Porges (2003) stated that before being socially engaged in a product (choosing a healthy and nature-friendly product), there must be a psychological closeness and affection for the product or brand that one aims to consume. Thomson et al. (2005) distinguished three dimensions of attachment to a brand: connection, passion and affection. Lacoeuilhe (2000) approved of these measures, as he considers that psychological proximity to a brand is especially expressed by affection, passion and connection to the brand. In a societal context, this affection grows with a product which cares about health, nature and society in general.
Following this literature review, we can state our third hypothesis, namely: H5: Attachment to an organic brand induces commitment to this brand.
H6: Emotional commitment to an organic brand has a mediating role between the Social Responsibility of a company and attachment to the brand.
After this literature review, we can draw our different hypotheses in a simplified way through the conceptual model (Fig. 1).

Why choosing "Yves Rocher" as a study target?
The Yves Rocher brand was born in 1959 out of the vision of a man who believed in nature-based cosmetics and in the democratization of beauty for all women. Both principles are the pillars over which vegetal-based cosmetics have emerged. All Yves Rocher's products come from organic farming and follow an eco-citizen approach. They received the ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certifications on the French market. Today, Yves Rocher is present on all continents and continues to spread its image as an eco-citizen brand, which offers purely organic products that are totally chemical, fertilizer and additive-free. Yves Rocher's CSR is very well connected to the Saudi market where, according to officials, the brand has a strong reputation and an extensive customer base. This is why it does not cease to multiply its shops all over the Saudi territory.
The reputation of Yves Rocher and its bright image as an organic brand of choice on the Saudi market brought us to choose this context to conduct our investigation on the causal link between CSR and customer commitment, while highlighting the role of psychological proximity with customers.

Research methodology
The primary objective of the present investigation is to study the causal link between CSR and emotional commitment while studying the mediating role of emotional attachment.
To check the different hypotheses of our conceptual model, we conducted a face to face survey with a sample of 430 customers whom we met in the Yves Rocher Bio cosmetics shops.
The questionnaire was administered to a convenience sample (25% of which are male and 75% female). According to sellers we encountered at the various sales points visited, the dominance of the female gender in our sample is accounted for by the general structure of the customers of this brand in the Saudi market; these are primarily women. So, we tried to involve customers of different ages and PCA (Principal Component Analysis) (Table1). We opted for a non-probability sample for its convenience and practicality. Indeed, this sampling method facilitates the researching, the selection as well as the examination of the persons directly involved in our investigation, and allows for a better response rate.
The survey was conducted on two different samples with the intention of keeping only the common part of the results. The first sample, observed at the exploratory stage, covers 200 individuals, while the second one, devoted to the confirmatory phase, targets 430 individuals.
The data collected from respondents were processed with data analysis software (SPSS and AMOS), and underwent exploratory and confirmatory analyses. Besides, we used structural equations methods which allowed us to treat all the linear relationships between the dependent variables in a unidirectional way. Finally, we evaluated the parameters of our model through the method of maximum likelihood. The choice of this method is justified by a sample size ranging between 300 and 500 observations.

Measurement scales
The operationalization of the constructs was based on the use of measurement scales tested in the marketing literature. To this end, we used a threedimensional (commercial, ethical, social) CSR measurement scale. It is the scale of Singh and Del Bosque (2008) which we adjusted to the context of our study. This scale is based on eight items including the various dimensions of CSR (commercial, ethical, social dimensions). It is not exhaustive, though. Each of the included dimensions comprises two components (Table 2). Yves Rocher services are always good. Yves Rochet is an innovator and launches new products into the market continuously its products always maintain good quality. Yves Rochet Informs in a correct and truthful way about the characteristic/properties of its products behaves ethically/honestly with its customers.

Ethic dimension
The BIO brand "Yves Rocher" behaves in an ethical and honest way with its consumers. Respect for the principles of ethics in its relations is a priority for achieving greater economic performance.

Social dimension
Yves Rocher is concerned with the protection of the natural environment. Yves Rocher devotes part of his budget to donations and social activity to help the disadvantaged. Yves Rocher supports the development of society by financing social and / or cultural activities. I consider that this mark is concerned with the improvement of the general well-being of society.
To measure emotional attachment, we opted for the 3-dimensional scale of Thomson et al. (2005). These authors measured emotional attachment through a range of emotions experienced toward the brand (connectedness, affection and passion). Each of these emotions is expressed through a range of emotions that constitute our indicators. These indicators were subject to a rating ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree), according to the Likert scale (Table 3). To measure emotional commitment, we used the scale of Shuv-Ami (2012), a one-dimensional scale with four indicators (Table 4).
To ensure the dimensionality of each of these scales, we performed a PCA (Table 5). The PCA conducted to check the items representational quality and the reliability of the CSR measurement scale provided a Cronbach's alpha of 0.722> 0.7 with a KMO = 0.718>0.5. Hence, the scaling matrix CSR is factorized. The inertia returned by the two axes is acceptable, it is 81.495%> 50%.  Similarly, the three-dimensional scale measuring 'Brand Attachment' announces a Cronbach's alpha of 0.721> 0.7 KMO = 0.721> 0.5. In addition, the inertia returned by the two axes is acceptable, it is 88.842%> 50%. This implies that the scale of this construct is reliable.
The measurement scale of 'Affective Communication' is represented by a single dimension which includes items that have significant contributions to the formation of this axis, and correlations with the total score exceeding 0.3.
Cronbach's alpha (α = 0.888) allow us to make a statement about the reliability of the scale.

Validating measures
A confirmatory factorial analysis was conducted to check the validity of our measurement scales. The outcomes of this analysis show that our research constructs meet the recommended levels for each adjustment index.
The absolute indices, the incremental indices and the parsimony indices for the dimensions of our model are very good and show a perfect fit of these scales with empirical data. This brings us to state the correct identification of our research model. The Cronbach's alpha (α) and the Joreskog Rhô (ρ) assigned to the measurement scales of our model's constructs exceed 0.8 (Table 6). Thus, these reliability indices for each construct are within acceptability standards. In addition, the Rhôs of convergent validity related to all the dimensions are superior to 0.5. This allows us to state that there is convergent validity for all the dimensions of our research model (Table 7). Similarly, the discriminating validity (Table 8) indicates Rhô square roots with convergent validity associated with each construct that are superior to the correlations shared with the other constructs. Thus, the discriminating validity is checked and we can judge that the measurement scales of our model's constructs only cover the dimensions which we intend to measure. These results lead us to claim that all the proposed measurement scales are reliable and have reliable internal consistency. Hair et al. (1995) advised to check the indexes listed below to evaluate the fit quality of the research model. The AMOS software yielded the following results:

Adjustment of the global model
We can deduce from Table 9 that our research model fits well. The values reached show that the absolute, incremental and parsimonious indexes check the acceptance thresholds in a significant way. Thus, the model of our research presented hereafter (Fig. 2) is validated.

Checking hypotheses
To evaluate the model's causality relationships, we have adopted the method of maximum likelihood in our structural analysis.

Checking the direct effect of antecedents of commitment to an organic brand
The direct effect on the constructs of our model is judged significant at the 5% threshold, following the compared tests of Student (1.96). The results of our empirical analysis show that the CSR dimensions affect consumer commitment to an organic brand significantly (Toukabri and Ibrahim, 2016). Thus, the Student tests attributed to the relationships between the dimensions of CSR (commercial, social and ethical) and consumer commitment to an organic brand are significant at the 5% level (exceeding 1.96).
In addition, the consumer's emotional attachment to an organic product has a significant effect on consumer commitment to an organic brand. This leads us to confirm H1 and H5 hypotheses and invalidate H2, H3 and H4 (Table 10).

Checking the mediating effect of attachment to the brand
To test the mediating role of brand attachment between social responsibility and commitment to the brand, we used the tests of the conditions of Baron and Kenny (1986). Table 11 shows the test results of the related hypotheses at the mediations of the three dimensions of the brand loyalty construct. Hence, hypotheses H6.a, H6.b H6.c are confirmed and reveal thorough mediations.
According to the results presented in the Table  11, the four test conditions of Baron and Kenny (1986) are met. This leads us to confirm the three sub-hypotheses H6 and consequently mediation is complete for each dimension of emotional attachment between CSR and commitment to the brand.

Discussion, contributions, limitations and future tracks
The present research consist the first study that analysis the commitment, engagement and Corporate Social Responsibility within the Saudi Market. As part of a relational approach oriented towards a social and organic perspective, our research work confirmed the causal link between CSR and emotional commitment, and stated that the Corporate Social Responsibility of the Company impacts the consumer's emotional engagement in a significantly positive way. These findings are consistent with the work of Haanpää (2007). Moreover, these results provide literature with a new investigation in one of MENA market. Indeed, CSR allows to reassure the customer and to increase his resistance to change, since nowadays, organic consumption is considered to be more wholesome and more reliable when health and the environment are concerned (McElhaney, 2009;Elhauge, 2005;Nalband and Al-Amri, 2013). The results of our analyses equally allowed us to account for a total mediation of emotional attachment between CSR and emotional engagement. This is consistent with the results of Porges (2003).  Given these results, we can say that the company can draw the consumer to its products through its societal approach. The resulting commitment of the consumer is much stronger and deeper if it springs from a feeling of affection, psychological proximity, and emotional attachment to the company's products, which in our context are organic products.
In our opinion, the results of our investigation provide very interesting contributions on both the theoretical and managerial levels.
Theoretically, we found that treating CSR according to a relational approach is new in the marketing literature. Indeed, we consider that most of the previous research works tended to treat the role of CSR in its concern for the environment or for health according to a managerial approach. In our present investigation, we treated CSR as it is perceived by consumers. In the case of the Saudi context, a review of the literature reveals, in our view, a lack of a clear explanation of the consumers' responses to the companies' societal behavior, especially those companies which offer organic products, although the number of Saudi consumers buying organic products has been growing rapidly over the last years.
From a managerial point of view, our results have proved to operators in the organic sector that CSR can attract consumers, stimulate psychological closeness with them and engage them in the long run. It is important in this context to highlight a new determinant that brings the company closer to the consumer and establishes a lasting relationship with him. This means that companies which care about the environment and society, which pay attention to people's health and provide them with organic products have a strong tendency to encourage consumers to engage in buying and consuming their products.  H6.a, H6.b and H6.c are confirmed: the mediations are total Nowadays, most professionals are deeply convinced of the crucial role of CSR for society and the environment. They equally recognize their roles in supporting sustainable development and in fighting against the negative effects of the industrialization of society. However, many of them consider that engaging in such societal orientation is a heavy burden on the company's budget and has a negative impact on its financial performance and profitability, especially in the current context which is affected by a deep economic crisis and an impaired consumer purchasing power. Yet, through our present investigation, we have demonstrated that the societal orientation of the company offering an organic product can be considered a competitive advantage for this company, since it allows to generate emotions and customer attachment and to boost the customer's resistance to change and, hence, secure his commitment. Such involvement is considered to be pivotal in establishing a stable and lasting relationship with the customer (Lacoeuilhe, 2000).
To sum up, we can say that the present study allowed us to show professionals that engaging in a societal approach and offering a healthy, agriculturebased product is beneficial in many respects. First, there is a benefit in terms of concern for human health through providing a safe and chemicalfertilizer-free product. Second, there is a benefit with regard to the environment which consists in reducing the negative effects of industrial production on nature and climate. Besides, this approach offers the company's various stakeholders a positive image of the company. And finally, a societal approach benefits the company commercially as it helps to forge a lasting emotional connection with customers. Such a relationship is sought by all operators to build customer loyalty in a highly competitive market.
This research work does not pretend to be exhaustive, though. As any other research work, it has limitations which can be overcome through future investigation. Hence, our findings should be handled with caution in the generalization of empirical results, seeing that our study focused on a limited geographical area, involved a single category of organic products (Yves Rocher organic cosmetics), and relied on the method of convenience sampling and linearity of structural equations.
Besides, the results obtained through our empirical study can be useful for future research tracks, as they can expand our causal model by incorporating other variables that may give a clearer view on the implications of CSR according to a relational approach. Thus, the integration of other moderating variables related to the individual (living standard, purchasing power, place of residence, etc.) may enhance potential research works through the study of the effects of these variables on the whole relationships of the proposed causal model.