Brand Transparency as a Driver of Socially Conscious Purchasing: The Moderating Role of Consumer Karmic Belief

As consumer demand for corporate accountability intensifies globally, understanding how brand transparency drives ethical purchasing decisions becomes critical for sustainable business success. This study explores the influence of observability-based brand transparency on socially conscious purchasing, focusing on the mediating role of brand social responsibility and the moderating effect of consumer karmic belief in an emerging market context. Using a three-stage mixed-methods approach, comprising an exploratory qualitative study (Study 1), a primary quantitative study analyzing data from 402 consumers (Study 2), and a subsequent quantitative validation study (Study 3)—results from partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) indicate that observability-based brand transparency significantly enhances socially conscious purchasing, with brand social responsibility acting as a key mediator. Consumer karmic belief significantly moderates the relationship between brand social responsibility and socially conscious purchasing, while fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) reveals that high observability-based brand transparency is a highly relevant contributing condition that plays a foundational role in driving socially conscious purchasing, underscoring transparency’s pivotal role in ethical consumption. This study extends signaling theory and social identity theory by identifying cultural-spiritual moderators and configurational pathways in an emerging market, offering strategic guidance for managers developing transparency communication strategies tailored to emerging markets.