Gen Z and Social Change: Examining the Effect of Corporate Social Advocacy Expectancy Violations on Positive and Negative Behavioral Intentions

This study tests arguments from expectancy violations theory (EVT) to examine the effect of corporate social advocacy (CSA) expectancy, company actions, and employee pressure on companies to take a stance, on positive and negative behavioral intentions among Gen Zs using a 2 (CSA expectancy: higher vs. lower) × 2 (Company action: supportive vs. against) × 2 (Employee pressure: present vs. absent) factorial between-subjects online experiment ( N = 387). Results reveal a significant interaction effect between company actions and CSA expectancy on positive word-of-mouth (PWOM) intention and career intention, but not boycott intention. Positive expectancy conformity yielded more positive and less negative responses than negative expectancy violation. Negative conformity led to more negative and less positive responses than when the company’s actions positively violated Gen Z’s lower CSA expectancy. Employee pressure moderated the impact of company actions on career intention. Results offer theoretical and practical guidance for business communication.