Should Business Schools Engage in Societal Marketing?  The Influence of Personal CSR Values on Willingness to Pay Tuition Fees

Nadhakan  Shinnaranantana; Alisa  Sony; Haruthai  Numprasertchai

Authors

Nadhakan Shinnaranantana Faculty of Business Administration, Kasetsart University
Alisa Sony Faculty of Business Administration, Kasetsart University
Haruthai Numprasertchai Faculty of Business Administration, Kasetsart University

Keywords:

Business School, Corporate Social Responsibility, Higher Education, SDG 4: Quality Education, Societal Marketing, Willingness to Pay

Abstract

The objective of this study is to investigate the influence of environmental, employee, local community, and customer-oriented personal CSR values on undergraduate business students’ willingness to pay tuition fees. Using purposive sampling, data were collected from 357 students at two Thai business schools via an online survey conducted from February to April 2025. Multiple regression analysis was utilized to evaluate the predictive power of the four distinct personal CSR values on students’ financial commitment.

The findings reveal that employee-oriented and local community-oriented CSR exert significant positive influence on students’ willingness to pay tuition fees, with employee-oriented CSR emerging as a stronger predictor. Meanwhile, environmental and customer-oriented CSR do not significantly impact students’ willingness to pay. Therefore, in an educational landscape characterized by high Power Distance and Collectivism, such as Thailand, universities are encouraged to engage in human-centric CSR to justify tuition fees.

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