The development of Internet technology has fundamentally altered the relationship between businesses and consumers. In addition to facing competition from new players, businesses now face greater challenges from increasingly informed, capable, and active consumers. In a world where value is negotiated between individual consumers and businesses, it is essential for businesses to carefully study the convergence between production and consumption, and the co-creation of value by producers and consumers if they wish to maintain sustainable competitiveness. Fulfilling social responsibility is an integral part of this effort for businesses. With the application and popularization of 5G technology, enterprises are gradually digitizing and automating their production and operation. They are using Internet technology to build modern intelligent systems, improve their green innovation capabilities, strengthen relationships with customers, increase revenue and benefits for shareholders, and ultimately enhance corporate social responsibility [1].

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) was initially proposed by Sheldon (1923) [2], who believed that businesses should have a concept of commercial morality, which means that they have a responsibility to enhance social benefits while pursuing their own interests [3]. In recent years, the discussion on CSR has evolved from past definitions of corporate social responsibility and promotion of corporate operational responsibilities to include multiple topics, such as CSR practice and effect analysis ^[4][5][4,5]. With the promotion of digital technology, the effects and benefits of fulfilling social responsibilities have become increasingly clear, and CSR has been valued and recognized for its benefits [6]. Many business owners have listed CSR as part of their business strategy in various ways to establish a closer relationship between the enterprise and society [7]. Therefore, some scholars believe that CSR will be a new competitive strategy in the future [8].

Luu (2019) [9] believes that CSR is a concept of push–pull, in which enterprises encourage customers to contribute to their organizational mission and values. Through digital means, this can further extend the relationship between enterprises and customers. When customers perceive that the values reflected in the activities promoted by the enterprise are consistent with their own values, it will enhance their recognition of the enterprise. When customers perceive that the enterprise’s operations have surpassed established moral requirements, they may feel proud and exhibit positive behavior to recognize the organization. This behavior demonstrates that customers are co-creating value with the organization ^[10][11][10,11]. Based on previous research, it has been found that investment in CSR by enterprises will have a positive impact on customers’ attitudes, commitments, loyalty, trust, positive word-of-mouth, purchase intentions, and reputation ^[12][13][12,13]. Therefore, in the digital age, the fulfillment and promotion of CSR are indispensable and important components.

The customer-oriented approach is the foundation of value creation, highlighting the importance of customer interaction in value co-creation behavior ^[14][15][16][14,15,16]. Customers are partners and co-producers of value, services, and products (Mubushar et al., 2021) [10]. They not only have certain requirements for services but also contribute to the service delivery process. In addition, customers can have a significant impact on a company’s social responsibility activities ^[17][18][17,18]. When customers are skeptical about a company’s social responsibility practices, it can hinder the success of those activities ^[19][20][21][19,20,21]. With the influence of digital information, customers receive information about different brands and compare their services. As services are intangible in nature, a single company may find it difficult to understand how customers perceive service quality, leading to what is called a “service gap”. If a company regards its social responsibility practices as additional, non-essential services, the service gap may widen. To avoid significant cognitive errors between companies and customers, it is important for companies to ensure that their social responsibility practices are not seen as unnecessary strategies.

Taiwan’s banking industry is a franchised industry and has its own unique characteristics compared to other service industries, making the relationship between companies and customers particularly strong. Customer relationships are important resources for banks [22]. Both sides are involved in money lending and borrowing, requiring a high degree of trust [23]. Good relationships between companies and customers can only be achieved through high levels of trust ^[24][25][24,25]. With the emergence of digital Internet finance, the relationship and trust between banks and customers have become even more important [26].

2. Social Capital Theory

Social capital theory posits that social relationships and networks can facilitate cooperation and mutual support between individuals and organizations [27]. Recent literature has also explored the relationship between social capital theory and bank behavior ^[28][29][28,29]. In this study, corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices can be viewed as a means for banks to establish social relationships and networks that can promote interaction and trust with customers. Customer perception reflects how customers view a bank’s CSR practices and their level of trust in the bank. Ultimately, value co-creation can be seen as a relationship and network established between banks and customers based on mutual interests and trust, which can be achieved through CSR practices and customer perception. Therefore, this study employs social capital theory to explain the relationship between CSR practices, customer perception, and value co-creation between banks and customers. This theory emphasizes the importance of trust, interaction, and mutual interests, which align well with the goal of establishing a strong relationship between banks and customers.

3. The Uniqueness of Taiwan’s Banking Industry

The control over deposit and loan product prices has led to the flourishing of Taiwan’s banking industry. However, the large number of banks has brought about fierce competition, with a peak of 53 banks in 2000. As the market size in Taiwan is not large, the excessive number of banks and their small sizes led to the removal of restrictions by the government on banks’ crossing different financial sectors. This was achieved through bank mergers and cross-industry operations to improve operational performance [30], ultimately reducing the number of banks to 38 in 2008. Compared to other service industries, the banking industry is an enterprise endorsed by credit. The establishment of a good image can increase depositors’ confidence in it and increase the scale of the bank’s business. The products sold by the banking industry are also different from those sold by the traditional service industries, and its operations have their own unique characteristics. Therefore, this study believes that the relationship between banks and customers has more obvious differences compared to other service industries. This study revealed that there is a significant difference between the relationship between the banking industry and customers compared to other service industries. Banks have a role as financial intermediaries, creating revenue through financial lending. Banks’ own capital accounts for about 10% of their assets, and they also use debt to run their businesses, with most of the investment risks borne by creditors [31]. Banks attract customers’ deposits by lowering interest rates, which increases interest income. The increase in deposit amounts reduces the overdue loan ratio, leading to an increase in bank accounting profits ^[32][33][32,33]. The unique nature of the banking industry makes its operations highly risky [34]. For example, a bank in Taiwan launched a credit card with no loan threshold for loans to boost its performance and share price. Within a year, the credit card loan balance surged, leading to a deterioration of bad debts and triggering a credit card debt crisis. The bank could not create corresponding value, leading to a change in ownership.

4. CSR Practices at the Organizational Level

Bowen (1953) [35] proposed CSR that the bottom line for managers to execute any corporate policy, decision, or activity is to establish it based on fulfilling societal values and goals. Subsequently, many researchers proposed their personal opinions based on this foundation ^[36][37][38][36,37,38]. Turker (2009) [36] believed that the main focus of a company’s CSR behavior is to positively and proactively influence society and its stakeholders, making its actions go beyond economic interests. Dahlsrud (2008) [39] discussed and classified the definition of CSR, including voluntary, stakeholder, social, environmental, and economic responsibilities. Based on the summary of existing literature, CSR has many positive impacts on organizational operation. Maintaining a good relationship with stakeholders can sustain wealth/long-term value growth [40] and maintain a good reputation for the company [13]. As an incentive mechanism, corporate social responsibility (CSR) drives companies to innovate in product design, processes, management, and policies, thereby promoting a shift in their profit and growth models. By improving production efficiency, changing production methods, expanding innovation domains, enhancing the business environment, and developing a circular economy, companies can increase their profits. While undertaking certain social responsibilities may increase short-term operating costs, it undoubtedly contributes to the establishment of a good corporate image, creating intangible assets and ultimately forming a competitive advantage, which brings long-term potential benefits to companies. As a trust-based industry, the banking sector is particularly vulnerable to negative impacts on depositor confidence caused by news or announcements, especially in today’s digitized and economically challenging environment. Such events may lead to asset fluctuations or even bank runs. Therefore, this study considers that examining the CSR practices of banks is crucial for exploring their development. Customers also respond with loyalty ^[41][42][41,42]. The relationship between enterprises and customers is essentially an exchange relationship, governed by the principle of reciprocity. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices can meet customers’ needs in terms of value, satisfaction, approval, and other dimensions, thus encouraging customers to actively engage in value co-creation with socially responsible enterprises [43]. Customer-perceived value (CPV) refers to the overall evaluation of the benefits customers perceive and the costs they incur when obtaining a product or service. Customers mainly consider the external characteristics of products, such as quality, packaging, and color, as part of the value they receive. In addition, higher-level abstract benefits, such as enterprise reputation, convenience, and image, also contribute to CPV, which fall within the scope of CSR [44].