Abstract
Despite an increasing amount of research on perceived corporate hypocrisy (PCH), limited research has investigated PCH among employees. Particularly, the literature lacked a valid instrument for estimating employees’ PCH, even though employees experience severe consequences for PCH. To address this gap, a scale was developed to measure employees’ PCH, using a three-stage Item Response Theory modeling approach. After a series of qualitative studies and six quantitative scale-development iterations, PCH was found to be a unidimensional construct represented by the perceived lack of morality, perceived control breach, double standards, and a value‒behavior gap. Further, the nine-item PCH scale was confirmed to be reliable, valid, and unbiased for different demographic groups. The scale makes theoretical contributions by being one of the few attempts to objectively measure employees’ hypocrisy judgements and incorporating corporations’ double standard and perceived commitment to morality as defining features of employees’ PCH. Assessment of employees’ PCH can help in expanding the hypocrisy literature beyond consumers’ perceptions. Finally, the scale enables corporations to measure employees’ PCH and get an in-depth understanding of the issues of concern as work and organizational phenomena. By implementing proper management strategies, corporations can potentially avoid PCH, create more favorable perceptions among employees, and improve their reputations.
Highlights
Corporations can be perceived as hypocritical if they claim to be something that they are not [1]
44 items measured perceived lack of morality (e.g., “My corporation is unfair” [77]); 33 items measured employees’ psychological contract breach (e.g., “So far, my corporation has done a very bad job of fulfilling its promises to me” [78]); 16 items measured double standards (e.g., “My company’s values often CHANGE when it comes to getting things done” [34]); and 47 items measured the value-behavior gap (e.g., “How my manager represents himself/herself to the public is very different from what happens internally” [79])
By following the golden standards of scale development in item response theory (IRT) as well as methodology suggested by literature [30], this study developed a nine-item scale that is reliable and valid when measuring employees’ perceived corporate hypocrisy (PCH) formed toward their corporations
Summary
Corporations can be perceived as hypocritical if they claim to be something that they are not [1]. While some studies have reported that, through CSR, corporations can gain positive consumer attitudes, corporate image and reputations [13], other studies have reported of the same CSR and sustainability as being commonly used as marketing gimmicks and being perceived as the hypocritical window dressing [5] Such greenwashing may generate emotions of betrayal among the consumers, but can negatively influence their attitudes towards the corporations, with potential loss of trust and increase of skepticism [14]. At a time when individuals have quick access to information platforms and social media, corporate wrongdoing and unethical behavior are more recognized than ever among stakeholders
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