Table 1. Previous empirical studies on...

Table 1.

Previous empirical studies on the link sustainability and brand value

Authors and year	Sample size	Methodology	Industrial scope	Geographic scope	Time scope	Brand value (DV) sources	IV perceptions	IV performance	Sustainability index or perceptions sources	Limitations	Findings
First and Khetriwal (2010)	18 firms	ANOVA test	Electronic and electrical equipment	USA, EU, Asia	2006	Interbrand		X	Authors assigned values on environmental performance based on their judgement	Limited sample (number of brands, industry)	Environmental performance not associated to higher brand equity or brand value
Wang (2010)	81 brands, 200 firm-year observations	Linear regression model	Cross-industry	Global	2005–2008	Interbrand		X	Scores were sourced from Innovest, and converted using a numerical scale, with 1 representing the “worst” and 7, the “best” in each area	This study focuses solely on large corporations that emphasize their brands	Positive effect of prior social performance on brand value, which is amplified for smaller firms
Melo and Galan (2011)	48 firms	Panel data technique	Cross-industry	USA	2001–2003	Interbrand		X	KLD database (MSCI KLD Stats)	Limited sample size, geographic scope and time	CSR has a positive impact on brand value, but to a lesser extent than firm size and other conventional financial indicators. This is due to the lack of alignment of CSR initiatives and corporate strategy
Torres et al. (2012)	57 firms	General least squares (GLS) random-effect estimation	Cross-industry	USA, EU, Asia	2002–2008	Interbrand		X	Sustainalytics	Limited sample (number of brands)	CSR has a positive impact on brand value
Bouvain et al. (2013)	84 major banks	ANOVA and multiple regressions	Financial services (banking)	East Asia (China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan) and the USA	2012	Brand Finance		X	CSRHub	Limited in terms of geographic scope, time and industry (financial services)	Brand value is positively related to CSR, but different CSR factors are more relevant in different regions. In Japan and South Korea brand value is associated with a bank’s appreciation for its employees, while in China, brand value is linked to a focus on the community. In East Asia, community is most significantly related to brand value, while in the USA, caring for the environment and corporate governance are associated with brand value
Nguyen et al. (2015)	15 firms, 348 respondents	Survey	Electronics, food, clothing, financial and automobile	USA, EU, Asia	2009–2011	Interbrand	X		Perceived sustainability from survey	Limited to product categories; student survey	Perceived sustainability negatively associated to brand value
Harjoto and Salas (2017)	47 firms	Structural equations for multivariate regression analyses	Manufacturing sector	USA	2000–2014	Interbrand		X	KLD database (MSCI KLD Stats)	Focused on the USA, over one half of our sample operates in the manufacturing sector	CSR enhances brand value, while socially irresponsible activities destroy more brand value than what socially responsible activities build
Rahman et al. (2019)	62 firms	Dynamic panel data – generalised method of moments (GMM)	Cross-industry	US	2000–2013	Interbrand		X	KLD database (MSCI KLD Stats)	Limited to corporate brands, rather than product brands. Small sample	CSR positively moderates the relationship between corporate brand equity and firm performance
El Zein et al. (2020)	1,100 firms	Panel data OLS model regression controlling by region and time effects	Financial sector	USA, EU	2013–2017	Estimated based on public information and Damodaran’s model		X	Sustainalytics	Limited in terms of geographic scope and focused on the financial sector	ESG positively impacts brand value
Loh and Tan (2020)	90 firms, 180 observations	Regression analysis	Cross-industry	Singapore	2016–2018	Brand Finance		X	Each company was given a sustainability performance score based on the information that has been made publicly available through their company reports and websites	Limited in terms of geographic scope and time	Greater and higher quality sustainability disclosure leads to higher brand value
Zahari et al. (2020)	92 firms	Normality and correlation test	Cross-industry	Malaysia	2016	Brand Finance		X	Companies’ annual reports were reviewed for authors to manually score the companies based on ESG criteria	Limited in terms of geographic scope and time	CSR involvement (environmental, community, workplace and marketplace) improves brand value
Alcaide González et al. (2020)	13 firms	Multivariate linear regression by ordinary least squares	IT sector	USA, Asia	2000–2017	Interbrand, Brand Finance, Kantar		X	Green Ranking, CSR Reptrak, Finance Yahoo Sustainability, Global 100 most sustainable corporations	Limited sample (number of brands, sector)	Companies better ranked in brand league tables are indeed those that report a larger amount of information in their CSR reports
Kim et al. (2024)	144 global brands, 790 observations	Ordinary least square (OLS) regression models	Cross-industry	Global	2007–2014	Brand Finance		X	KLD (now MSCI KLD 400)	Limited to the companies included in Brand Finance’s Global 500	Corporate CSR activities (environment, community, employee relations and diversity) have a positive impacts on brand value, but for CSR focused on product (green products)
Zampone et al. (2021)	80 firms, 420 firm-year observations	Linear regression model	Cross-industry	Global	2013–2018	Interbrand		X	Thomson Reuters EIKON	Limited to the companies included in the Best Global Brands provided by Interbrand	Brand value is positively related to the environmental disclosure, social disclosure, and ESG disclosure, whereas no significant correlation has been found for the governance disclosure
Rahman et al. (2019)	110 firm-year observations	Linear regression model	Cross-industry	US	2007–2016	Interbrand		X	Thomson Reuters EIKON (Resource use, Environmental innovation and Emission reduction scores)	Limited geographic scope	This research argued that industrial firms that actively pursue corporate environmentalism will have a higher brand value
Pope and Kim (2021)	618 firms	Global panel study	Cross-industry	Global	2007–2013	Brand Finance		X	ASSET4 (now Refinitiv), DJSI, ETHICAL, FTSE4GOOD, G100	Limited in terms of time span. No representation from Central America or Africa	CSR and brand value are positively associated, but this association has weakened over time, and CSR has stronger effects for monolithic brand architectures vs. multi-brand
Lin et al. (2021)	164 firms	Dynamic panel data – Generalised method of moments (GMM)	Automotive	Global	2011–2018	Accounting goodwill or intangible assets as proxies for brand value		X	CSRHub	Limited to automotive sector	Green innovation strategy has a positive impact on brand value, which is stronger when a company invests more in marketing and innovation
Qi et al. (2021)	110 firms, 770 observations	Hansen panel threshold regression method	Cross-industry	China	2012–2018	World Brand Lab		X	Shen et al. method to measure CSR strength with social contribution per share	Limited geographic scope	CSR has a significantly inverted U-type threshold effect on brand value
Chiang et al. (2022)	6,763 observations	Linear regression model	Cross-industry	Taiwan	2014–2017	Estimated by authors based on Hirose model		X	Corporate Governance Performance Score sourced from the Financial Supervisory Commission and Corporate Governance Center, Taiwan Stock Exchange	Limited geographic scope	A better CSR exerts a significantly positive effect on brand value, but this effect is stronger for family businesses than for non-family businesses
Ma et al. (2023)	1,515 observations	Linear regression model	Cross-industry	China	2010–2020	World Brand Lab		X	Scores assigned by authors based on companies´annual reports and ESG reports	Limited geographic scope	Corporate carbon information disclosure has a positive impact on brand value
Ke et al. (2023)	110 firms, 990 observations	Three-stage least squares (3SLS) method	Cross-industry	China	2013–2021	World Brand Lab		X	Hexun’s rating on shareholders and customers and suppliers	Limited geographic scope	Increasing investment in CSR increases brand value in the current period. This relationship is positively moderated by two corporate governance variables (size of the board of directors and the board’s proportion of independent directors) and negatively moderated by another (proportion of executive shareholdings)
Zhang and Liu (2023)	81 firms, 810 observations	Linear regression model	Cross-industry	China	2013–2022	World Brand Lab		X	Overall score of CSR obtained from the Hexun and RKS database	Limited geographic scope	Corporate social responsibility (CSR) was significantly positively correlated with financial performance and brand value

Authors and year	Sample size	Methodology	Industrial scope	Geographic scope	Time scope	Brand value (DV) sources	IV perceptions	IV performance	Sustainability index or perceptions sources	Limitations	Findings
First and Khetriwal (2010)	18 firms	ANOVA test	Electronic and electrical equipment	USA, EU, Asia	2006	Interbrand		X	Authors assigned values on environmental performance based on their judgement	Limited sample (number of brands, industry)	Environmental performance not associated to higher brand equity or brand value
Wang (2010)	81 brands, 200 firm-year observations	Linear regression model	Cross-industry	Global	2005–2008	Interbrand		X	Scores were sourced from Innovest, and converted using a numerical scale, with 1 representing the “worst” and 7, the “best” in each area	This study focuses solely on large corporations that emphasize their brands	Positive effect of prior social performance on brand value, which is amplified for smaller firms
Melo and Galan (2011)	48 firms	Panel data technique	Cross-industry	USA	2001–2003	Interbrand		X	KLD database (MSCI KLD Stats)	Limited sample size, geographic scope and time	CSR has a positive impact on brand value, but to a lesser extent than firm size and other conventional financial indicators. This is due to the lack of alignment of CSR initiatives and corporate strategy
Torres et al. (2012)	57 firms	General least squares (GLS) random-effect estimation	Cross-industry	USA, EU, Asia	2002–2008	Interbrand		X	Sustainalytics	Limited sample (number of brands)	CSR has a positive impact on brand value
Bouvain et al. (2013)	84 major banks	ANOVA and multiple regressions	Financial services (banking)	East Asia (China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan) and the USA	2012	Brand Finance		X	CSRHub	Limited in terms of geographic scope, time and industry (financial services)	Brand value is positively related to CSR, but different CSR factors are more relevant in different regions. In Japan and South Korea brand value is associated with a bank’s appreciation for its employees, while in China, brand value is linked to a focus on the community. In East Asia, community is most significantly related to brand value, while in the USA, caring for the environment and corporate governance are associated with brand value
Nguyen et al. (2015)	15 firms, 348 respondents	Survey	Electronics, food, clothing, financial and automobile	USA, EU, Asia	2009–2011	Interbrand	X		Perceived sustainability from survey	Limited to product categories; student survey	Perceived sustainability negatively associated to brand value
Harjoto and Salas (2017)	47 firms	Structural equations for multivariate regression analyses	Manufacturing sector	USA	2000–2014	Interbrand		X	KLD database (MSCI KLD Stats)	Focused on the USA, over one half of our sample operates in the manufacturing sector	CSR enhances brand value, while socially irresponsible activities destroy more brand value than what socially responsible activities build
Rahman et al. (2019)	62 firms	Dynamic panel data – generalised method of moments (GMM)	Cross-industry	US	2000–2013	Interbrand		X	KLD database (MSCI KLD Stats)	Limited to corporate brands, rather than product brands. Small sample	CSR positively moderates the relationship between corporate brand equity and firm performance
El Zein et al. (2020)	1,100 firms	Panel data OLS model regression controlling by region and time effects	Financial sector	USA, EU	2013–2017	Estimated based on public information and Damodaran’s model		X	Sustainalytics	Limited in terms of geographic scope and focused on the financial sector	ESG positively impacts brand value
Loh and Tan (2020)	90 firms, 180 observations	Regression analysis	Cross-industry	Singapore	2016–2018	Brand Finance		X	Each company was given a sustainability performance score based on the information that has been made publicly available through their company reports and websites	Limited in terms of geographic scope and time	Greater and higher quality sustainability disclosure leads to higher brand value
Zahari et al. (2020)	92 firms	Normality and correlation test	Cross-industry	Malaysia	2016	Brand Finance		X	Companies’ annual reports were reviewed for authors to manually score the companies based on ESG criteria	Limited in terms of geographic scope and time	CSR involvement (environmental, community, workplace and marketplace) improves brand value
Alcaide González et al. (2020)	13 firms	Multivariate linear regression by ordinary least squares	IT sector	USA, Asia	2000–2017	Interbrand, Brand Finance, Kantar		X	Green Ranking, CSR Reptrak, Finance Yahoo Sustainability, Global 100 most sustainable corporations	Limited sample (number of brands, sector)	Companies better ranked in brand league tables are indeed those that report a larger amount of information in their CSR reports
Kim et al. (2024)	144 global brands, 790 observations	Ordinary least square (OLS) regression models	Cross-industry	Global	2007–2014	Brand Finance		X	KLD (now MSCI KLD 400)	Limited to the companies included in Brand Finance’s Global 500	Corporate CSR activities (environment, community, employee relations and diversity) have a positive impacts on brand value, but for CSR focused on product (green products)
Zampone et al. (2021)	80 firms, 420 firm-year observations	Linear regression model	Cross-industry	Global	2013–2018	Interbrand		X	Thomson Reuters EIKON	Limited to the companies included in the Best Global Brands provided by Interbrand	Brand value is positively related to the environmental disclosure, social disclosure, and ESG disclosure, whereas no significant correlation has been found for the governance disclosure
Rahman et al. (2019)	110 firm-year observations	Linear regression model	Cross-industry	US	2007–2016	Interbrand		X	Thomson Reuters EIKON (Resource use, Environmental innovation and Emission reduction scores)	Limited geographic scope	This research argued that industrial firms that actively pursue corporate environmentalism will have a higher brand value
Pope and Kim (2021)	618 firms	Global panel study	Cross-industry	Global	2007–2013	Brand Finance		X	ASSET4 (now Refinitiv), DJSI, ETHICAL, FTSE4GOOD, G100	Limited in terms of time span. No representation from Central America or Africa	CSR and brand value are positively associated, but this association has weakened over time, and CSR has stronger effects for monolithic brand architectures vs. multi-brand
Lin et al. (2021)	164 firms	Dynamic panel data – Generalised method of moments (GMM)	Automotive	Global	2011–2018	Accounting goodwill or intangible assets as proxies for brand value		X	CSRHub	Limited to automotive sector	Green innovation strategy has a positive impact on brand value, which is stronger when a company invests more in marketing and innovation
Qi et al. (2021)	110 firms, 770 observations	Hansen panel threshold regression method	Cross-industry	China	2012–2018	World Brand Lab		X	Shen et al. method to measure CSR strength with social contribution per share	Limited geographic scope	CSR has a significantly inverted U-type threshold effect on brand value
Chiang et al. (2022)	6,763 observations	Linear regression model	Cross-industry	Taiwan	2014–2017	Estimated by authors based on Hirose model		X	Corporate Governance Performance Score sourced from the Financial Supervisory Commission and Corporate Governance Center, Taiwan Stock Exchange	Limited geographic scope	A better CSR exerts a significantly positive effect on brand value, but this effect is stronger for family businesses than for non-family businesses
Ma et al. (2023)	1,515 observations	Linear regression model	Cross-industry	China	2010–2020	World Brand Lab		X	Scores assigned by authors based on companies´annual reports and ESG reports	Limited geographic scope	Corporate carbon information disclosure has a positive impact on brand value
Ke et al. (2023)	110 firms, 990 observations	Three-stage least squares (3SLS) method	Cross-industry	China	2013–2021	World Brand Lab		X	Hexun’s rating on shareholders and customers and suppliers	Limited geographic scope	Increasing investment in CSR increases brand value in the current period. This relationship is positively moderated by two corporate governance variables (size of the board of directors and the board’s proportion of independent directors) and negatively moderated by another (proportion of executive shareholdings)
Zhang and Liu (2023)	81 firms, 810 observations	Linear regression model	Cross-industry	China	2013–2022	World Brand Lab		X	Overall score of CSR obtained from the Hexun and RKS database	Limited geographic scope	Corporate social responsibility (CSR) was significantly positively correlated with financial performance and brand value

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