When external CSR outweighs internal CSR: the effects of CSR imbalance on employee word-of-mouth through identity incongruence and ambivalent identification

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) encompasses diverse initiatives oriented towards both external stakeholders (e.g., society) and internal stakeholders (e.g., employees). These initiatives are often not equally prioritized, as organizations may allocate more resources to one area at the expense of another, resulting in an inconsistent CSR strategy where there is a surplus of organizational investments in externally-oriented initiatives compared to internally-oriented ones. This study aims to uncover the mechanisms by which these discrepancies impact employees’ word-of-mouth communication about their organizations. Through a two-wave time-lagged survey involving 196 employees, our study finds that when external CSR outweighs internal CSR, this increases employees’ negative word-of-mouth about the organization while decreasing their positive word-of-mouth. These relationships are serially mediated by heightened employee perceptions of organizational identity incongruence and their ambivalent identification with the organization. This study contributes to the micro-CSR literature by demonstrating that CSR practices do not universally lead to positive outcomes among employees.