Staging or real commitment? CEO reputation management as a moderator of the influence of firm size on corporate social responsibility performance and controversies

Abstract

The increasing importance of corporate social responsibility over recent decades has led research on its drivers to grow exponentially. However, the mystery of different levels of commitment despite comparable firm characteristics related to size, such as financial resources and similar external pressures, has still not been completely unravelled. Given that corporate engagement in social responsibility is not only shaped by firm characteristics but also – and even especially – by the preferences and motivations of its leaders, this study explores how CEOs' reputational ambitions moderate the relationship between firm size and corporate social responsibility. We argue that CEOs who actively manage their reputation are more aware of the reputation-enhancing potential of corporate social responsibility. We test our ideas with a cross-sectional sample of 128 listed companies from seven Western European countries, operationalising CEOs' reputation management with a novel measure based on their self-presentation and posting behaviour on LinkedIn. Our results show support for a weakening influence of CEOs’ reputation management on the positive relationship between firm size and corporate social responsibility controversies, but we do not find support for a strengthening effect on corporate social responsibility performance. In light of the fact that adequate corporate social responsibility performance involves more than just staying away from scandals, our findings indicate that CEOs who actively present themselves as environmentally and socially committed are more likely to do so in response to the pressure and current trend of being green and social than out of a real commitment.