Journal of Food Distribution Research Volume 47 Issue 3 Perceptions of Corporate Social Responsibility of Prominent Fast Food Establishments by University Students Carissa J. Morgan a, S. R. Dominick b, Nicole J. Olynk Widmarc, Elizabeth A. Yeager d and Candace C. Croney e a, b c Graduate Research Assistant, Associate Professor, Department of Agricultural Economics, Purdue University, 403 West State Street West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA Phone: +1 765-494-2567. Email:
[email protected] d Department of Agricultural Economics, Kansas State University, 342 Waters Hall, Manhattan, KS, 66506, USA e Associate Professor, Department of Comparative Pathobiology, Purdue University, 625 Harrison Street, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA Abstract Corporate social responsibility (CSR) can affect the way customers perceive a company and can influence product differentiation. This study assesses university students’ perceptions of CSR across eleven prominent fast food restaurants. A total of 550 students responded to in-person surveys administered on the campus of Purdue University. Chipotle and Panera Bread were perceived to be the most socially responsible out of the fast food restaurants studied, receiving mean preference shares of 31% and 30%, respectively. Keywords: consumer behavior, consumption patterns, corporate social responsibility, fast food perceptions Corresponding author November 2016 Volume 47 Issue 3 18 Morgan et al. Journal of Food Distribution Research Introduction Food expenditures by consumers away from home are increasing in the United States (BLS 2016; USDA 2016). At the same time, consumers are increasingly demanding more (attributes) from their food, and fast food restaurants have been moving to meet growing demand for social responsibility (Morgan et al.