The Theory of Corporate Social Advocacy (CSA) Success: A Guide to CSA Success Using Moral Foundations Theory, Balance Theory, and CSA Authenticity

Corporate social advocacy (CSA) can be sometimes successful—and sometimes unsuccessful—for corporations. These conflicting outcomes of CSA place corporations and their managers in a difficult position: When a corporation engages in CSA, how will the corporation and its managers know if the CSA is going to be successful or unsuccessful? To answer this dilemma, the purpose of this article is to provide a theoretical basis for what leads to CSA being more or less successful. The article looks at how an individual is likely to react to a corporation’s CSA by combining moral foundations theory, balance theory, and CSA authenticity. The main contribution of the theory of CSA success is that it discovers and maps out the first routes by which CSA can be done successfully, as well as provides guidance on how to identify where the CSA went off course if the CSA is determined to be unsuccessful.