The importance of corporate social performance in place branding of retail banks in Egypt

Branding issues and corporate social performance (CSP) are growing in importance for both companies and customers. In place marketing, places could be branded as each place should define and communicate its competitive advantages effectively and adapt to fit the needs of place customers. On the other hand, in Egypt, a major challenge for marketers is retail banking which is experiencing significant changes and entails the marketing of intangible services rather than tangible products. The purpose of this paper is to provide a useful starting point to consider retail banks as place brands, and advise place brand managers about how to integrate their values with CSP and branding issues. Limited research has addressed the relationship between CSP and place branding. This study draws a model that investigates the relationship between applying corporate social responsibility (CSR) and place branding through improving brand equity of retail banks in a developing country, namely Egypt. Results of this research might be of interest to companies, practitioners, and society concerning the role of CSR in developing a place brand.