The Multiple Pathways through which Internal and External Corporate Social Responsibility Influence Organizational Identification and Multifoci Outcomes: The Moderating Role of Cultural and Social Orientations

In this paper, we use a social identity theory perspective to study the mechanisms through which internal and external corporate social responsibility (CSR) influence employee identification and its subsequent outcomes, as well as the boundary conditions on these effects. We posit that CSR actions focusing on external stakeholders enhance perceived prestige whereas CSR actions focusing on employee welfare enhance perceived respect—both of which are argued to influence employee organizational identification but differentially impact different forms of employee citizenship. These relationships were predicted to vary in strength, however, due to individual differences in social (local vs. cosmopolitan) and cultural (individualist vs. collectivist) orientations. Data are presented from 408 employees of a fast-moving consumer goods conglomerate operating in South Asia (Study 1) and from 415 employees spanning nine companies in two culturally distinct regions (France and Pakistan, Study 2). The results, which largely support our theoretical framework, are discussed in terms of their implications for both our understanding of the psychology of CSR as well as social identity theory more generally.