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This paper aims to study the impact of consumers’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) associations on corporate financial performance and the moderating role of market competition.

The panel data set is analyzed using a random effects regression model. The analyzed data is based on the unique RepZ Responsibility scores published by the global research agency Kantar Millward Brown and contains information about consumer CSR associations.

This study reveals CSR associations' positive, lagged, direct impact on firms’ market value. Market competition moderates this relationship in the way that a company’s market value benefits more from consumers' CSR associations when facing high rather than low market competition.

Consumers' CSR perceptions increase the market value of a company. This effect is intensified when brands are exposed to intense competition, which allows conclusions about CSR as a differentiation strategy to be drawn: To stand out in a competitive market, brands should prioritize improving their CSR associations among consumers to differentiate themselves and increase their market value.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to test the effect of consumers’ CSR associations on forward-looking financial performance measures. Moreover, by analyzing the moderating effect of market competition on the relationship between CSR associations and firms' market value, this study provides information about the differentiating power of CSR from a brand perspective using a panel-data analysis.