3.2 The embodiment of theoretical framework in offline CSR activities

the article has established the mechanism model of the brand image and perceived quality, and the model is empirically tested. The results show that there is a direct and important relationship between brand performance, brand personality, corporate image and brand perceived quality, which proves that perceived quality is directly related to brand image(Guan and Dong, 2008).

Thus, in order to make the theoretical framework of brand image more consistent with the research topic of this paper with the background of China, the factor of "perceived quality" was added on the basis of the theoretical framework of brand image proposed by Latif et al. (2015). Therefore, the theoretical framework of brand image research in this paper consists of five factors: perceived quality, brand familiarity, satisfaction, trust and loyalty.

3.2 The embodiment of theoretical framework in offline CSR activities

In literature review 2.1, it is discussed that three main CSR behaviors (philanthropic behaviour, public welfare activities, and product-related behaviors) have significant effects on the improvement of brand image. Tian et al. (2016) also pointed out that philanthropic behaviours could significantly improve consumers' positive attitude towards enterprises compared with other two CSR behaviours. When an enterprise performs philanthropic behaviour, consumers believe that such corporate social responsibility acts are more authentic. Philanthropy effect is the most direct and convincing to the promotion of brand image, sophilanthropic behaviour is selected for the following suggestions on offline CSR activities.

Philanthropic behaviour here refers to cause-based marketing and donation respectively. Cause-based marketing here refers to the enterprise launches a charitable product, and then donating the revenue earned from the charitable product. Donation refers to the donation made directly by the company without the launch of charity goods.Enterprises usually adopt cause-based marketing when carrying out philanthropic activities, because the cost is not so high as the direct donation, and it will also bring more attention to the brand, because cause-based marketing can better engage consumers (Tian,et al. 2014). Therefore, this paper suggests that brands should adopt cause-based marketing in offline CSR activities. In other words, brands launch the charity merchandise and then donates the revenue of the charity merchandise to the charity organization.

In the marketing literature, "brand familiarity" is established through various brand experiences, mainly through direct or indirect product experience and brand activity

experience (Heckler and Childers, 1992). Therefore, brand familiarity is defined as customers' decision through their direct or indirect contact with the brand (Latif, et al. 2015). Consumers can have more direct contact and experience with brands by participating in offline cause-based marketing activities. Second, because of the Internet and the rapid development of social media, a large number of consumers love on the network to share their direct experience in brand activities, and according to “Research on the influence of corporate philanthropic motivation perception on consumer attitudes” published by Lulu Zhang, et al. (2015), compared with other types of brand activities, CSR activities have a positive effect on consumers' spontaneous sharing tendency, thus CSR activities can bring more exposure to enterprises, and at the same time enable consumers who are not directly involved in the philanthropic behaviour of the brand to have indirect contact with the brand through social networks, effectively increasing the degree of familiarity. Maul (2008) believes that pop-up stores and brand exhibitions can enhance the brand experience of customers. In addition, most consumers said that flash stores and brand exhibitions are their preferred offline activities of brands, because they can better meet consumers' demand for perfect "experience" (Wang, 2018). According to the "research on flash stores" initiated by questionnaire Wang-wang (2019), 86.5% of consumers said that flash stores can shorten the distance between brands and consumers. Therefore,

holding experiential cause-based marketing flash stores or brand exhibitions can

effectively enhance the consumers' "familiarity" with brands. In addition, according to the questionnaire Wang-wang (2019), 52% of consumers will buy merchandise in the flash shop, 34.9% of consumers said they would decide whether to buy depending on the situation, so the charity goods in the pop-up shops and brand exhibition activities are easier to get the favor of consumers, stimulate the desire to buy.

Deng (2005) indicated that "customer satisfaction" is a psychological activity, which is a trade-off between perceived gains and perceived losses. Price is one of the biggest factors affecting customer satisfaction, and the purchase of low-priced goods can make the perceived losses smaller (Hwang, 2017). But it's not that the lower the price, the higher the satisfaction, because low prices are usually associated with poor quality. Therefore, a reasonable price can generally improve satisfaction (Melanie, 2017). In general, the price of charity products is about 40% of that of other product lines in the brand, if there is not much difference in production cost between the charity products and other product lines in the brand. The price of Bulgari's charity necklace is about 620 US dollars, and the price of the products within the brand with similar production cost is 1,550 US dollars (Bulgari, 2020). If there is a big difference in production cost between charity products and other product lines within the brand, the price of charity

products is about 10% of that of other product lines of the brand. Marni charity basket launched by Marni sells for about $105, and its production material is only some plastic woven materials, so the production cost is low. However, bags of other Marni product lines are usually made of leather materials, with a relatively high cost and a price of around 1,000 us dollars (Marni, 2020). Therefore, if the charity goods sold in the

philanthropic activities are priced reasonably low compared with other products

of the brand, it can better improve "customer satisfaction". At the same time, the wider the coverage of CSR activities is, the more social connections can be established with more stakeholders and brand "satisfaction" can be improved (Vicky, 2016).

Therefore, the more people covered by the theme of philanthropic activity, the more consumers will improve their "satisfaction" with the brand.

In defining brand trust, McKinney and Benson (2013) pointed out three factors to consider brand trust. The first component of brand trust is credibility, which is the basis of the commitment to increase trust. The second component of brand trust is brand empathy and brand’s care for society. The third component of brand trust is consistency, that is, the consistency of brand positioning perceived by consumers. Therefore, it is

an important factor for improving the credibility to make the charitable motives of philanthropic activities clear and authentic(Tian,et al.2013).At the same time, the matching between CSR activities and enterprises is a factor that must be

considered when designing CSR behaviors. The matching between enterprises and cause-oriented marketing activities is usually reflected in two aspects: function matching and image matching. Among them, functional matching refers toa similarity or correlation between the characteristics and performance of the company's main products and the philanthropic behaviour. Image matching is the correlation degree between brand positioning perceived by consumers and the philanthropic behaviour (Trimble and Rifon, 2006).

Deng (2005) pointed out that customer loyalty comes after customer satisfaction and trust andis a combination of satisfaction and trust. The improvement of "satisfaction" and "trust" is equivalent to the indirect improvement of "loyalty", so that customers develop the trust and dependence on the brand, and repeatedly purchase and use the brand products in the future consumption. Baisheva (2017) stated in her research that high quality, authenticity and creativity are important characteristics of loyalty. To

launch high-quality CSR activities and charity products, the authenticity of the motivation of the activities, and the creativity of the philanthropic activities and products are important ways to improve loyalty.

In the research of Garvin (1987), "perceived quality" is the judgment of consumers on

the overall superiority of products. Perceived quality is different from the objective actual quality, which is the subjective judgment of consumers, an abstract concept higher than the specific attributes of products, and a general evaluation of product attributes (Zeithamlv,1988). The durability of the product is directly related to the "perceived quality". The higher the product durability is, the better the "perceived quality" consumers have for the brand. Meanwhile, product durability is more consistent with the concept of corporate social responsibility (Tian,et al. 2016). Therefore, the more durable the charity goods sold

in offline cause-based marketingphilanthropic activity, the more can improve the

brand image in the hearts of consumers. Generally speaking, compared with goods of the same price, charity goods are usually more durable(Kravis Leadership Institute, et al. 2003). The production of charity goods is usually more cautious and requires higherquality than other goods, because as a brand becomes a charity brand, it becomes an asset, once the quality of some products is found to be poor, it is easy for consumers to distrust the brand and lose the title of charity brand(Shanghai charity development research center, 2010). In addition, CSR behavior usually leads consumers to believe that enterprises' products are more durable (Chernev and Blair, 2015). At the same time, the fewer products are produced, the higher consumers' "perceived quality" of the products will be(Tian, et al. 2016). Companies often sell charitable goods in limited quantities. Compared with other products, the quantity of charity goods is usually relatively small, such as Pink Ribbon charity products launched by Pandora and Nike Air More Uptempo. There is also the charity basket launched by Marni, which has a limited number of bags with different color schemes, and some styles can only be sold at certain events (Marni, 2020).

Experiential cause-based marketing pop-up Store or brand exhibition

Price of charity products is reduced reasonably Charity covers a wide range of people

Clear and authentic philanthropic motivation Activity is matching with the brand

High quality Authentic philanthropic motivation Creativity of activity and product

creativity

Durable charity products Charity products are produced in low quantities