Corporate Social Responsibility Motives Research Articles

Strategic motivations for corporate social responsibility: profitability or legitimacy?

Strategic motivations for corporate social responsibility: profitability or legitimacy?

A novel IFN-CSM-CoCoSo approach for multiple-attribute group decision-making with intuitionistic fuzzy sets: An application in assessing corporate social responsibility performance

With the rapid growth of the economy, enterprises have encountered a series of problems while pursuing economic benefits, such as food safety and environmental pollution issues, resource shortages and energy consumption issues, which affect the sustainable development of enterprises. Establishing a corporate performance evaluation system from the perspective of social responsibility, based on stakeholder theory and the importance of overall goals reflected in the weight of social responsibility indicators, is a very effective measure to achieve corporate social responsibility (CSR) goals through CSR motivation and stakeholders. The performance evaluation of CSR from the perspective of environmental accounting is a MAGDM. Recently, the CoCoSo technique and cosine similarity measure (CSM) technique was utilized to conduct the MAGDM. The intuitionistic fuzzy sets (IFSs) are utilized as a technique for conducting uncertain information during the performance evaluation of CSR from the perspective of environmental accounting. In this study, the intuitionistic fuzzy CoCoSo based on the CSM (IFN-CSM-CoCoSo) technique is built for MAGDM with IFSs. Finally, a numerical example for performance evaluation of CSR from the perspective of environmental accounting is conducted to verify the IFN-CSM-CoCoSo technique.

Corporate social responsibility by joint agreement

Industry-wide voluntary agreements are touted as a means for corporations to take more corporate social responsibility (CSR). We study what type of joint CSR agreement induces competitors to increase CSR efforts in a model of oligopolistic competition with differentiated products. Consumers have a higher willingness to pay for more responsibly produced goods and services. Firms are driven by profit, and are also possibly intrinsically motivated, to invest in CSR. We find that cooperative agreements directly on the level of CSR reduce CSR efforts compared to competition. Such agreements throttle both for-profit and intrinsic motivation for CSR. CSR efforts only increase if agreements are permitted solely on output. Such production agreements, however, reduce total welfare in the market and raise antitrust concerns. Taking externalities into account may help justify a production agreement under a broader welfare standard, but not agreements on CSR directly. Simply setting a higher mandatory CSR standard by regulation while preserving competition always gives higher within-market welfare.

CEOs’ early famine experience, managerial discretion and corporate social responsibility

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) reflects entrepreneurs’ early life experiences in reality. Based on imprinting theory and upper echelons theory, this paper examines the impact of a CEO’s early famine experience on CSR, analyzes the moderating effects of environmental discretion (market abundance), organizational discretion (slack resources), and CEO discretion (CEO concurrently) on the above relationship, using Chinese manufacturing listed companies from 2010 to 2019 as research samples. Research shows that when CEOs have early famine experiences, their companies have better social responsibility performance. This effect is positively moderated by the environment and organizational discretion and negatively moderated by CEO discretion. Further research finds that when CEOs are in state-owned firms, the positive effect of their early famine experience on CSR will be reinforced. The early famine experience of a turnover CEO has a weakening effect on CSR. The positive performance of CSR is more pronounced for male CEOs’ early famine experience. The early famine experience of CEOs with lower education has a more significant effect on CSR. This study reveals a practical path to improve CSR motivation from CEOs’ early famine experience and provides new evidence for the research about the CEOs’ personal experience and corporate strategic decision-making.

Shareholder primacy or stakeholder pluralism? Environmental shareholder proposals and board responses

PurposeThis study examines shareholder and board motivations regarding corporate social responsibility (CSR) to understand boards' stewardship approaches to environmental issues.Design/methodology/approachUsing content analysis, the authors classify CSR motivations in all environmental shareholder proposals and board responses of Fortune 250 companies from 2013 to 2017 from do little (a shareholder primacy perspective) to do much (a stakeholder pluralism perspective). The authors calculate the motivational dissonance for each proposal-response pair (the Talk Gap) and use cluster analysis to observe evidence of board stewardship and subsequent environmental disclosure and performance (ED&P) changes.FindingsBoard interpretations of stewardship are not uniform, and they regularly extend to stakeholders beyond shareholders, most frequently including profit-oriented stakeholders (e.g. employees and customers). ED&P changes are highest when shareholders narrowly lead boards in CSR motivation and either request both action and information or information only. The authors observe weaker ED&P changes when shareholders request action and the dissonance between shareholders and boards is larger. When shareholders are motivated to do little for CSR, ED&P changes are weak, even when boards express more pluralistic motivations.Research limitations/implicationsThe results show the important role that boards play in CSR and may aid activist shareholders in determining how best to generate change in corporate CSR actions.Originality/valueThis study provides the first evidence of board stewardship at the proposal-response level. It measures shareholder and board CSR motivations, introduces the Talk Gap, and examines relationships among proposal characteristics, the Talk Gap, and subsequent ED&P change to better understand board stewardship of environmental issues.

Predicting cause-related marketing patronage intentions, corporate social responsibility motives and moderating role of spirituality

PurposeRecent studies have observed rise in consumer’s ethical concerns about the online retailers while making a purchase decision. The impetus for businesses to use corporate social responsibility (CSR) is evident, but the effects of CSR motives on corresponding processes underlying cause-related marketing (CRM) patronage intention have not been thoroughly examined. This study, anchored on attribution theory, established a research model that better explains the influence of CSR motives on patronage intentions toward CRM-oriented online retailers. Additionally, this study aims to examine the moderating role of spirituality (SPT) on CSR motives and CRM patronage intention (CPI).Design/methodology/approachPrimary data has been collected from 722 respondents and analyzed by using deep neural-network architecture by using the innovative PLS-SEM-ANN method to predict/rank the factors impacting CPI.FindingsThe results revealed the normalized importance of the predictors of CPI and found that value-driven motive was the strongest predictor, followed by strategic motive, SPT, age and stakeholder-driven motive. In contrast, egoistic motive, education and income were found insignificant.Originality/valueThe pandemic has transformed the way consumers shop and fortified the online economy, thereby resulting in a paradigm shift toward usage of e-commerce platforms. The results offer valuable insights to online retailers and practitioners for predicting patronage intentions by CSR motives and, thus, effectively engage CRM consumers by designing promotions in a way that would deeply resonate with them. This study assessed and predicted the factors influencing the CPI s, thereby guiding the online retailers to design CSR strategies and manage crucial CRM decisions.

Building trust after pollution emergency: A strategic perspective on corporate social responsibility

We use extreme regional pollution emergencies to provide new evidence regarding the motivations for corporate social responsibility (CSR). We document that local firms strategically improve CSR to build trust following pollution emergencies, and this is specifically true for highly polluting firms. Firms face different intensities of external pressure from their stakeholders. In particular, following pollution emergencies, political dependency, institutional investors and public monitoring are the main sources of stakeholder pressure and drivers of the increased CSR. We further find that firms that gain trust through CSR activities after pollution emergencies are rewarded. CSR serves as a buffer against financial constraints, financing distress and the negative profitability effect following emergencies. This study contributes to the CSR literature on trust-building-motivated CSR strategies.

Employees go green: the roles of perceived CSR and intrinsic motivation

PurposeThis study investigates how and when employees' perceived corporate social responsibility (CSR) encourages their workplace pro-environmental behavior (WPB).Design/methodology/approachSurvey data were collected from 189 employees of different industries in southern China. Data were analyzed using PROCESS macro.FindingsThis study found that intrinsic motivation mediated the relationship between perceived CSR and WPB. Furthermore, self-concern strengthened the indirect perceived CSR–WPB link.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the existing literature of micro-CSR by highlighting intrinsic motivation as a mediating mechanism explaining how employees' perceived CSR encourages WPB. In addition, studying the moderating effects of other-orientation and self-concern enriches the understanding of when perceived CSR may or may not stimulate employees' WPB.

Evaluating the Enablers of Green Entrepreneurship in Circular Economy: Organizational Enablers in Focus

In recent decades, green entrepreneurship has been at the center of attention as an effective strategy to maintain sustainability and create a competitive advantage for organizations in a circular economy. However, the successful implementation of this strategy requires organizations to have internal enablers. This study endeavored to identify and evaluate organizational enablers for green entrepreneurship in manufacturing Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Iran. Identifying organizational enablers can help SMEs in facilitating the conditions for adopting green entrepreneurship. To these ends, organizational enablers were extracted by reviewing the literature and then, using the viewpoints of 17 active experts in different industries in SMEs, they were classified. In the next step, the “Best Worst Method” was employed to prioritize the identified enablers (5 factors) and sub-enablers (20 factors). The contextual hierarchical relationships between these factors were identified through the “Interpretive Structural Modeling” method. Using the Matrix of Cross-Impact Multiplications Applied to Classification (MICMAC) analysis, the driving and dependence powers of organizational enablers were computed and the enablers were clustered. Based on the results, among the five enablers, three including total quality management, circular supply chain management, and corporate social responsibility were the most important from the point of view of the experts. Moreover, among the sub-enablers, strategic planning, green purchasing, and corporate social responsibility motivation were more important than other sub-enablers. The results of ISM analysis provided a seven-level hierarchical model and the relationships between them. The results of the MICMAC analysis led to the clustering of 20 organizational enablers in three main clusters: driving (nine factors), linkage (four factors), and dependent (seven factors). The results of this study provide practical suggestions for active senior managers to implement green entrepreneurship in SMEs.

Status, Wellbeing, and Behavior at Work or in College

This paper investigates how consumers’ perceived motivations for corporate social responsibility (CSR) influence retail store re-visit intentions, and how consumers’ cultural beliefs influence consumers’ perception of CSR activities during the Covid-19 pandemic. Two studies were conducted, the first one was in 2021 when the pandemic was severe and the second was in early 2023 when the pandemic was less severe. Regression results suggest community-motivated (vs. firm-motivated) policy has a substantial positive impact on customers’ re-visit intentions. Moderated mediation models suggest perceived “fit” between CSR policy and Covid-19 mediates the impact of perceived motivation on re-visit intention. Further, results suggest that consumer collectivism and uncertainty avoidance negatively moderate the indirect effect of perceived motivation on customers’ re-visit intention when the pandemic was most severe (study 1). Moreover, the negative moderation effects on consumer revisit intention disappeared when the pandemic became less of a concern (study 2). Summarily, our results indicate consumers favored community-motivated (vs. firm-motivated) CSR policy, and as consumers’ collectivism and uncertainty avoidance increased, re-visit intention was negatively impacted, suggesting this consumer group favors social norms of reducing virus spread and avoiding potential risks by reducing store re-visits under the severe pandemic condition. Overall, the results suggest that regardless of the motivations for adopting CSR activities, managers should focus on improving the relevance and contribution of their CSR policies to help communities cope with a crisis. Other theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

The differential impact of substantive and symbolic CSR attribution on job satisfaction and turnover intention

AbstractEmployees have their own understandings of corporate social responsibility (CSR) motives. This study investigated whether employees' different perceptions of CSR motives, including substantive CSR attribution and symbolic CSR attribution, influence their work attitudes, job satisfaction, and turnover intention. Moreover, we explore the mediating role of person‐organization fit in the relationships among CSR attribution, job satisfaction, and turnover intention. We collected 687 responses for an overall response rate of 16%. The results of structural equation model (SEM) analyses show that substantive CSR attribution decreases employee turnover intention and that symbolic CSR attribution increases employee turnover intention. Based on these results, we provide relevant theoretical and managerial implications.

Flattery will get you somewhere, sometimes? The effect of flattery and hotel segments on a hotel guests' green behavior

AbstractConsidering the importance of the hotel guests' behavioral support for the hotels' green corporate social responsibility (CSR), this research examined the persuasive power of flattery in promoting guests' green behaviors. Study 1 revealed that a flattery message significantly increased the hotel guests' towel reuse intentions during their stay and this effect was mediated by their perceptions of the hotel's CSR motives. Study 2 further showed that a feeling of guilt served as another key mediator in the relationship between a flattery message and the guests' responses (i.e., perceived CSR motives, hotel image, attitudes toward a hotel, towel reuse intentions), which was moderated by hotel segment (economy vs. mid‐priced vs. luxury). This research provides meaningful insights into the understanding of the consumers' pro‐environmental decisions in the service consumption context and explains the underlying cognitive process. Moreover, this research offers an empirical message strategy by hotel segments to effectively promote the hotel guests' green behavior and achieve successful marketing outcomes.

CSR Perceptions and Brand Attitudes in Chinese Luxury Hospitality: The Moderating Effect of Ads vs. Media Reports

The fit between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and luxury is a debated topic and there is limited understanding regarding how the CSR initiatives of a luxury hotel are differently perceived and responded to by customers. The present study analysed the fit between CSR and luxury in China’s luxury hospitality industry by investigating customers’ CSR perceptions as well as their brand attitudes. According to the attribution of CSR motives, this study classified consumers’ four CSR perceptions, including CSR washing, corporate hypocrisy, corporate citizenship, and shared value creation. An experimental study was implemented with 400 luxury customers. It was found that when the CSR information of a hotel was disclosed by advertisements, participants reported stronger perceptions of CSR washing and corporate hypocrisy as well as weaker perceptions of corporate citizenship and shared value creation than when the CSR information was disclosed by media reports. Different CSR perceptions were found to differently influence customers’ brand attitudes. Their brand attitudes were positively influenced by the perceptions of corporate citizenship and shared value creation and were negatively influenced by the perceptions of CSR washing and corporate hypocrisy. In view of this, the present study argued that the fit between CSR and luxury in the hospitality industry is associated with whether consumers perceive CSR initiatives positively or negatively.

Corporate social responsibility and customer's responses: CSR authenticity and government intervention during the COVID-19 pandemic

COVID-19 had unparalleled social and economic impacts in many countries, including Indonesia. Companies are urged to develop corporate social responsibility (CSR) in this challenging environment to support society. As CSR enters a more developed stage, the government's role in initiating and promoting it has also been recognized. First, this study explores the company's motives for engaging in CSR, as well as the role of government by interviewing three CSR officials. Further, this study investigates the effects of CSR motives, CSR authenticity, and corporate brand image on community well-being and customer citizenship behavior, with government intervention as a moderating variable, by an online survey to analyze nine hypotheses. Using purposive sampling, 652 respondents from five local companies in Indonesia participated in the survey, and the data were analyzed using SmartPLS. The interviews showed two CSR motives and the role of government, and the survey showed mixed results on the impact of CSR motives on CSR authenticity and corporate brand image, the positive impacts of CSR authenticity and corporate brand image on community well-being, and customer citizenship behavior. Although high levels of government intervention are noticeable, this variable was not found to be a significant moderator. This study highlights the importance of how customers perceive CSR motives and authenticity, so companies should consider it when developing CSR activities. Engaging in CSR initiatives during a crisis may improve a company's brand image and customer citizenship behavior. However, companies should appropriately manage their CSR communications to avoid customers' suspicion about the CSR motives.

Vocabularies of Motive for Corporate Social Responsibility: The Emergence of the Business Case in Germany, 1970–2014

The business case constitutes an important instrumental motive for corporate social responsibility (CSR), but its relationship with other moral and relational motives remains controversial. In this article, we examine the articulation of motives for CSR among different stakeholders in Germany historically. On the basis of reports of German business associations, state agencies, unions, and nongovernmental organizations from 1970 to 2014, we show how the business case came to be a dominant motive for CSR by acting as a coalition magnet: the vocabulary was used strategically by key policy entrepreneurs, while being ambiguous for flexible interpretations by different stakeholders, and thereby growing in attractiveness. As a resulting discourse coalition emerged among business, state, and civil society actors, the moral and relational motives for CSR became increasingly marginalized. The article offers a new approach to studying motives and contributes to understanding the complementary or competing nature of different motives for CSR.

Influence of substantive corporate social responsibility attribution on salespeople’s value-based selling: a resource perspective

PurposeDrawing upon the conservation of resources theory, this study aims to investigate whether, how and when salespeople’s substantive attribution of the organization’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) affects value-based selling (VBS). The authors argue that salespeople’s substantive CSR attribution increase value-based selling through two mechanisms (i.e. by lowering emotional exhaustion and increasing empathy), and treatment by customers can increase or decrease the strength of these relationships.Design/methodology/approachB2B salespeople working in various industries in China were recruited through snowball sampling to participate in the study. There were 462 volunteers (57.58% women; aged 30–55; tenure ranging from six months to 15 years) who provided valid self-report questionnaires.FindingsHierarchical multiple regression supported the association between salespeople’s substantive CSR attribution and VBS. The results showed that salespeople’s emotional state (i.e. emotional exhaustion and empathy) mediated the association between substantive CSR attribution and VBS. As expected, salespeople’s experiences of customer incivility weakened the mediating effect of emotional exhaustion; contrary to expectations, customer-initiated interpersonal justice weakened the mediation effect of empathy.Originality/valueThis study makes a unique contribution to the existing marketing literature by first investigating the role of salespeople’s attribution of CSR motives in facilitating their VBS, which answers the call to identify factors that predict VBS. In addition, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, the authors are the first to test salespeople’s emotions as a mechanism of the link between their CSR attributions and selling behaviors.

Linking Informative and Factual CSR Communication to Reputation: Understanding CSR Motives and Organizational Identification

The way corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication relates to corporate reputation has attracted an increasing amount of attention from communication and business researchers and practitioners. To place our study in the context of CSR and employee communication, we proposed a CSR communication—motives—organizational identification—corporate reputation model. Data collected from an online Qualtrics survey (n = 811) supported all the proposed hypotheses linking informativeness and factual tone in CSR communication, employee-perceived intrinsic/other-serving motives of their organizations’ CSR activities, organizational identification, and corporate reputation. Specifically, informativeness and a factual tone in CSR communication were positively related to employee-perceived intrinsic/other-serving motives of their organizations’ CSR activities. Employee-perceived intrinsic/other-serving motives of their organizations’ CSR activities were positively associated with employee organizational identification. Employee organizational identification was positively related to corporate reputation. In addition, employee-perceived intrinsic/other-serving motives of their organizations’ CSR activities and employee organizational identification turned out to be two significant mediators in the proposed model between CSR communication and corporate reputation. We conducted a two-step structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis to analyze the collected data. The theoretical and practical implications of the study were discussed.

Examining the moderating role of principle-based entity of luxury brands and its effects on perceived CSR motives, consumer situational scepticism and brand resonance

PurposeThis study aims to examine the moderating role of principle-based entity (PBE) of luxury brands and its effect on perceived corporate social responsibility (CSR) motives, consumer situational scepticism and brand resonance.Design/methodology/approachStructural equation modelling using multigroup analysis was used. Data were collected through a consumer panel.FindingsValues-driven motives lowered consumer situational scepticism (CSS) significantly more in PBE than non-PBE. However, egoistic-driven motives increased CSS significantly more in PBE than non-PBE. Stakeholder-driven motives and strategic-driven motives did not elicit CSS, contrary to prior studies in non-luxury brands. PBE status also weakens the relationship between CSS and brand resonance more than non-PBE status.Originality/valueThis study is the first to provide empirical insights into PBE status and its effects on perceived motives, CSS of CSR initiatives and its influence in consumer and management outcomes in luxury brands.

The effects of consideration of future consequences and CSR fit in stigmatized industries: Perceived CSR motives as mediators

This study explored the effects of fit between corporations and their corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives in stigmatized industries. Specifically, it examined how these effects vary depending on stakeholders’ consideration of future consequences (CFC) in influencing individuals’ attitudes toward CSR and corporations and purchase intentions; further, it explored whether such interaction effects are mediated by three underlying perceived motives. The study involved a between-subjects experiment with 144 college students. The results showed that high-CFC individuals perceived corporations with strong fit to their CSR initiatives as more stakeholder- and self-serving. The interaction effect also was mediated by stakeholder-serving motives in influencing purchase intentions and by self-serving motives in influencing CSR and corporation-related attitudes.

Supply Chains and Corporate Social Responsibility Orientation: An Interpretive Structural Modeling Approach

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) operations are becoming increasingly important for businesses throughout the world. It is critical to understand how stakeholders perceive these actions to achieve the intended CSR advantages. The nature of CSR motivation has been extensively discussed, yet there are still gaps in the literature, including CSR orientation. Individual enterprises are no longer pitted against one another in modern global competitiveness; instead, a company’s supply chains (SCs) are opposed to those of its competitors. To be competitive, SC partners must be aware of stakeholders’ expectations, which are increasingly focused on sustainable practices. Apart from financial performance, organizations are increasingly held liable for the environmental and social impacts of not just their own operations, but also the operations of their whole SCs, which may include second, third, or higher-tier suppliers. As a result, from raw material extraction through product recycling, an integrated approach to SC management necessitates the development and maintenance of relational capacities across SC partners. In SC collaborations, a company’s commitment to CSR can be a critical aspect. Managing CSR becomes more difficult as SCs get more sophisticated and multitiered, and it attracts greater attention. In this paper, the key drivers that shape CSR orientation are identified based on the literature and are classified into three categories: internal, external, and SC related. A conceptual model is formulated using interpretative structural modeling and MICMAC to identify interrelationships among these drivers, based on the opinions of experts from the Greek market and academia.
 Keywords: supply chain, corporate social responsibility, drivers, interpretive structural modeling, Greece