Abstract In-house food service brands operating on college campuses struggle to build brand image without consumer awareness. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities may enhance brand image, for the customers, employees and stakeholders (Lee and Heo, 2009). Brown and Dacin (1997) suggested that CSR associations have significant influence on consumer’s response to new products. The objective of the study is to determine if brand social responsibility influences customers’ purchase decisions and how they cognitively categorize brands. The quantitative methodology involves two different survey instruments designed to be interpreted using Structured Equation Modeling (SEM) and regression analysis. The study confirms that a in house coffee brand offering a high quality product, deploying a brand social responsible strategy can be coveted by the college campus customer with little or no previous experience of the brand.