Investigating the Effect of Social Responsibility and Pro-Environmental Behavior of the Brand on the Willingness to Pay of Consumers with the Mediating Role of Brand Equity

The present study was conducted with the aim of investigating the effect of social responsibility and pro-environmental behavior of the brand on consumers' willingness to pay and the mediating role of brand equity among natural fruit juice consumers in Ardabil city. For this purpose, this research was conducted with a descriptive-survey method and using structural equation modeling. The statistical population of this research was all the consumers of natural juices in Ardabil City. Using Cochran's formula, a sample size of 384 people was selected by available sampling method, and they answered the standard research questionnaires. The validity and reliability of the questionnaire was confirmed using construct validity and Cronbach's alpha coefficient. The test of the research model was done based on the structural equation modeling method in AMOS25 software. The results showed that the effect of brand equity on consumers' willingness to pay is positive, and the company's social responsibility has an effect on brand equity. Also, brand equity plays a mediating role in the relationship between corporate social responsibility and consumers' willingness to pay. Also, the positive and significant effect of pro-environmental brand behavior on consumers' willingness to pay and brand equity was confirmed, and finally, the relationship between brand pro-environmental behavior and consumers' willingness to pay was strengthened with the mediating role of brand equity.