New dimensions of commercial banks’ corporate social responsibility in the Visegrád Group countries

Abstract

The study focuses on corporate social responsibility, which is of pivotal significance in the banking sectors of the countries of the so-called Visegrád Group, located in the Central European region and representing similar levels of economic development (V4). The aim of this paper is to examine the changes in the CSR activities of notable banks in the V4 countries between 2007, 2013 and 2018. The study consisted of three phases: first, it determined the relevant CSR goals based on the content (document) analysis, then, a questionnaire survey was conducted among banks for three years (2007, 2013, 2018), and finally, the data were analyzed using variance analysis. As a result of the first phase, 15 CSR activities were identified, and as a result of a questionnaire survey, the focus of each CSR area was presented on a spider-web diagram showing a shift in the ‘priority order’ of CSR areas and target groups, in other words, the intensification of activity towards social groups closer to the activities of banks or even clients. Using both qualitative and quantitative methods, this study confirmed with primary research that the focus of CSR activities in the V4 countries has shifted from general societal challenges to climate protection and the development of financial culture. These results were also evidenced by multivariate statistical methods proving a significant change in 66% of the examined areas.