Corporate social responsibility and transparent pricing in the case of the euro changeover

The purpose of this paper is to develop a matrix of socially responsible behaviour and communication types (corporate social responsibility (CSR)‐BC matrix) to explain different practices companies use when dealing with stakeholder issues, such as transparent changeover pricing.

The analysis takes theories and research on CSR, transparent pricing and consumer expectations, and a case study approach as its starting point. It explores a case study of adoption of the euro in Slovenia, the 13th member state that joined the European Monetary Union. It deals with the importance of expectations about the changeover process and the responsible behaviour and communications of companies.

According to the data, the cases of changeover can be explained with the CSR‐BC matrix. According to the results, it seems that the majority of companies did not abuse the changeover process. This indicates that consumer expectations and actions can be a meaningful sign for companies to adopt appropriate CSR behaviours and communication regarding the euro changeover.

The case study has some limitations regarding the data. For a more thorough exploratory research stronger data such as interviews within the companies would be beneficial.

The paper contributes to the CSR literature by explicitly linking pricing behaviour and CSR and by developing a CSR‐BC matrix that can be used in exploring corporate pricing behaviours or other behaviours and communication practices as well. With the case study illustration it also allows for a theoretical understanding that such behaviours are not made in a vacuum.