Corporate Citizenship: Cultural Antecedents and Business Benefits

Abstract

The article explores the nature of corporate citizenship and its relevance for marketing practitioners and academic researchers. Specifically, a conceptualization and operationalization of corporate citizenship are first proposed. Then, an empirical investigation conducted in two independent samples examines whether components of an organization’s culture affect the level of commitment to corporate citizenship and whether corporate citizenship is conducive to business benefits. Survey results suggest that market-oriented cultures as well as humanistic cultures lead to proactive corporate citizenship, which in turn is associated with improved levels of employee commitment, customer loyalty, and business performance. The results point to corporate citizenship as a potentially fruitful business practice both in terms of internal and external marketing.