Purpose: The objective of this paper is to examine the relationship between consumer expectations of CSR and their responses to socially responsible companies in the Indian context. The definition of CSR was adopted from Carroll's conceptual definition model, which included a company's economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic responsibilities.

Design/ Methodology/ Approach: A structured and non-disguised questionnaire was designed to collect the necessary data. Data on CSR expectations of economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic and consumer responses towards socially responsible companies were obtained from the respondents. A total of 304 responses were collected from various backgrounds. Data was analysed with the help of descriptive statistics and factor analysis.

Findings: The findings demonstrated that CSR expectations of consumers in India are high. A significant and positive association was found between the ethical-philanthropic expectation of CSR and consumer response to socially responsible companies. Other expectations had insignificant effect on consumer responses.

Originality: This paper empirically considers and acknowledges Carroll's model of social responsibilities, and associates it with consumer’s responses towards socially responsible companies in general.

Research Limitations/ Implications: The limitation of this study is the limited scope of the model. For more insight into the relevance of CSR, it would be interesting to include other relevant variables from this area. In this study the impact of CSR activities of companies was included in general; it was not related to any particular product or service, company and industry.

Practical Implications: This study offers insights for businesses or companies must embrace social and ethical considerations at all levels of their marketing strategies and programmes. CSR should not be considered as an obligation, instead it can be used as a marketing tool to streamline long term development.

                Social Implications: The findings of the study suggest that meeting ethical and philanthropic expectations does not reduce the profits of the companies but is a way of increasing the bottom line while contributing to the welfare of the society.

KEYWORDS: Corporate Social Responsibility, CSR Expectations, Socially Responsible Companies.