Winning the battle in the mind: modelling the nexus between university corporate social responsibility and university brand positioning in the higher education sector

Figures & data

Figure 1. Conceptual model.

Table 1. Measurement model validation results.

Construct	Code	items	λ	CR	α	AVE
Community Engagement Responsibility (CER)				0.807	0.803	0.629
	cer1	The university promotes opportunities for student volunteering in support of community projects	0.769
	cer2	The university engaged with community groups, including supporting social events that are relevant to the achievement of the mission of the university	0.798
	cer3	The university understands and respects the needs of the community and endeavors to work in consultation whenever appropriate	0.850
		The university promotes local communities’ opportunities for employment within the university	0.753
Ethical Responsibility (ETR)				0.749	0.737	0.655
	etr1	The university has a comprehensive code of conduct	0.757
	etr2	The university tries to perform in a manner consistent with expectations of societal and ethical norms and standards	0.850
	etr3	The university behave with honesty, transparency, and fairness in all its activities and relationship with potential stakeholders	0.818
Internal Stakeholder Responsibility (ISR)				0.804	0.803	0.559
	isr1	The university encourages to engage in activities that would help in developing knowledge, skills, and attitudes	0.742
	isr2	The university provides equal opportunities for all its members	0.756
	isr3	The university undertakes a number of initiatives to improve the quality of life on campus	0.756
	isr4	The university respects the rights and dignity of its students and treats everyone fairly and without discrimination	0.748
	isr5	The university makes sure that the work of students is fully supported, and that they have a decent learning environments	0.734
Legal Responsibility (LGR)				0.833	0.826	0.590
	lgr1	The university is performing in consistence with the expectations of the regulatory bodies for higher education	0.769
	lgr2	The university complies with the standard rules, and regulations as well as with state and local laws	0.804
	lgr3	The university is fulfilling its legal obligations toward its stakeholders	0.781
	lgr4	The university is committed to eliminating any form of unlawful discrimination and promoting equal opportunities for all	0.765
	lgr5	The university respects the highest standards of academic integrity and professionalism	0.720
Operational Responsibility (OPR)				0.808	0.807	0.565
	Opr1	The university has continuously improved the level of its service education	0.717
	Opr2	The university invests in making studying conditions better	0.746
	Opr3	The university is committed to embedding equality and diversity into all its operations	0.755
	Opr4	The university promotes freedom of expression, it encourages debate and discussion	0.764
	Opr5	The university operates in a way that safeguards against unfair practices	0.775
Philanthropic Responsibility (PHR)				0.711	0.732	0.627
	phr1	The university participates in voluntary and charitable activities within their local community	0.732
	phr2	The university consistently offers scholarships to the needy	0.837
	phr3	The university offers free of cost education services to lower-level support students	0.804
Research-Development Responsibility(RDR)				0.729	0.717	0.637
	rdr1	The university is involved in funding relevant research and projects	0.780
	rdr2	The university arranges for linkage with the industry in order to develop the required skills in the students	0.842
	rdr3	The university arranges programs to empower and educate students regarding their social responsibility in their area of specialization	0.771
University Corporate Brand Legitimacy (UBL)				0.894	0.894	0.653
	ubl1	This university puts stakeholders’ needs and wants as the most priority thing	0.779
	ubl2	This university behaves in an honest manner	0.817
	ucbl3	This university is trusted and dependable	0.813
	ubl4	This university is well-managed and operated	0.817
	ubl5	This university satisfies the needs and wants of its stakeholders	0.835
	ubl6	This university ensures everyone fulfills his/her obligations properly	0.786
University Brand Positioning (UBP)				0.839	0.837	0.607
	ubp1	The university offers unique and distinct services than other universities	0.718
	ubp2	The university differs from its competitors in dealing with its stakeholders including students	0.761
	ubp3	The university has a different approach in the sector compared with other universities	0.839
	ubp4	The university clearly communicates what it stands for	0.787
	ubp5	The university conveys a clear identity in all its actions, procedures, and practices	0.785

Table 2. Discriminant validity using Fornell-Larcker criterion.

	CER	ETR	ISR	LGR	OPR	PHR	RDR	UBP	UBL
CER	0.793
ETR	0.441	0.809
ISR	0.412	0.527	0.747
LGR	0.414	0.541	0.609	0.768
OPR	0.358	0.483	0.674	0.556	0.752
PHR	0.498	0.329	0.368	0.281	0.314	0.792
RDR	0.468	0.524	0.515	0.500	0.435	0.388	0.798
UBP	0.498	0.488	0.483	0.460	0.444	0.389	0.451	0.779
UBL	0.495	0.516	0.582	0.545	0.523	0.377	0.486	0.656	0.808

Table 3. Discriminant validity using Heterotrait-Monotrait (HTMT) ratios.

	CER	ETR	ISR	LGR	OPR	PHR	RDR	UBP
CER
ETR	0.568
ISR	0.508	0.682
LGR	0.503	0.688	0.747
OPR	0.441	0.629	0.837	0.681
PHR	0.631	0.438	0.477	0.35	0.401
RDR	0.615	0.717	0.676	0.652	0.573	0.533
UBP	0.605	0.618	0.581	0.549	0.538	0.484	0.576
UBL	0.582	0.63	0.683	0.629	0.615	0.457	0.602	0.756

Table 4. Parameters estimation.

Hypotheses	Path Models	Standardized Coefficients	t-statistics	Decision (Supported-s or not supported-ns)
Hypothesis 1	Community Engagement Responsibility → University Corporate Brand Legitimacy	0.184	3.052**	s
Hypothesis 1a	Community Engagement Responsibility → University Brand Positioning	0.416	6.653***	s
Hypothesis 2	Ethical Responsibility → University Corporate Brand Legitimacy	0.126	2.261**	s
Hypothesis 2a	Ethical Responsibility → University Brand Positioning	0.337	9.123***	s
Hypothesis 3	Internal Stakeholder Responsibility → University Corporate Brand Legitimacy	0.202	3.398**	s
Hypothesis 3a	Internal Stakeholder Responsibility → University Brand Positioning	0.390	9.724***	s
Hypothesis 4	Legal Responsibility → University Corporate Brand Legitimacy	0.156	2.807**	s
Hypothesis 4a	Legal Responsibility → University Brand Positioning	0.388	7.875***	s
Hypothesis 5	Operational Responsibility → University Corporate Brand Legitimacy	0.122	1.953*	ns
Hypothesis 5a	Operational Responsibility → University Brand Positioning	0.054	1.951*	ns
Hypothesis 6	Philanthropic Responsibility → University Corporate Brand Legitimacy	0.058	1.163*	ns
Hypothesis 6a	Philanthropic Responsibility → University Brand Positioning	0.019	0.682*	ns
Hypothesis 7	Research And Development Responsibility → University Corporate Brand Legitimacy	0.076	1.31*	ns
Hypothesis 7a	Research and Development Responsibility → University Brand Positioning	0.100	1.917*	ns
Hypothesis 8	University Corporate Brand Legitimacy → University Brand Positioning	0.656	17.392***	s

Notes: **p-value < 0.05, *p-value > 0.05, ***p-value < 0.001.

Table 5. Parameter estimation: mediation analysis.

Hypothesis	Path Models	Standardized Coefficients	t-statistics	Decision (Supported-s or not supported-ns)
Hypothesis 9a	Community Engagement Responsibility → University Corporate Brand Legitimacy → University Brand Positioning	0.121	3.011**	s
Hypothesis 9b	Ethical Responsibility → University Corporate Brand Legitimacy → University Brand Positioning	0.082	2.189**	s
Hypothesis 9c	Internal Stakeholder Responsibility → University Corporate Brand Legitimacy→ University Brand Positioning	0.132	3.366**	s
Hypothesis 9d	Legal Responsibility → University Corporate Brand Legitimacy → University Brand Positioning	0.102	2.819**	s
Hypothesis 9e	Operational Responsibility → University Corporate Brand Legitimacy→ University Brand Positioning	0.080	1.931*	ns
Hypothesis 9f	Philanthropic Responsibility → University Corporate Brand Legitimacy→ University Brand Positioning	0.038	1.139*	ns
Hypothesis 9 g	Research-Development Responsibility → University Corporate Brand Legitimacy→ University Brand Positioning	0.050	1.286*	ns

Notes: **p-value < 0.05, *p-value > 0.05, ***p-value < 0.001.