CSR communication on social media: the impact of message source and co-creation cues on credibility, engagement, and e-WOM

Purpose Amid stakeholder skepticism and organizations' reliance on static, informational posts, this study aims to assess which configurations of message source (corporate vs. non-governmental organization (NGO)) and co-creation cues (high vs. low) stimulate source credibility, consumer engagement, and electronic word of mouth (e-WOM) in corporate social responsibility communication (CSR-C) on social media (SM), grounded in stakeholder theory. Design/methodology/approach A 2 × 2 between-subjects factorial experiment was conducted with 406 active Facebook users in India. Data were analyzed using two-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and partial least squares structural equation modeling multigroup analysis. Findings High co-creation cues significantly increased source credibility, consumer engagement, and e-WOM, diminishing the independent effect of message source. NGO-attributed posts produced higher e-WOM than corporate posts, but only under high co-creation. Consumer engagement partially mediated the effect of source credibility on e-WOM. Practical implications Practitioners should prioritize participatory message design (high co-creation cues) over source attribution, and treat NGO partnerships as effective for e-WOM only when posts invite participation. Originality/value This is among the first studies to assess which message source and co-creation cues jointly shape CSR-C outcomes on SM. It shows that co-creation cues, not source identity, are the primary driver, identifies consumer engagement as the mechanism linking credibility to e-WOM, and locates these effects in the under-examined Indian mandated-CSR context.