The effects of internal and external CSR on employees’ online ambassadorship intentions. Exploring the differences.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is becoming ever more important part of organizational conduct due to its strategic value for achieving a wide variety of beneficial outcomes through improving the relationships between the organization and its stakeholders. The underlying mechanisms through which internally and externally directed CSR initiatives (ICSR and ECSR) are interpreted at the individual level however, remain understudied. At the same time, the increasing importance of employees owed to their emergence as credible sources of organizational information urges scientists and practitioners to gain a better understanding of the organizational and individual factors that could drive online ambassadorship behaviors. Drawing from theoretical developments in social identity theory (SIT) the current study identifies organizational identification as a central mechanism linking the socially responsible organizational initiatives with the online ambassadorship intentions of employees. It further argues employees evaluate internal and external CSR differently in accordance to the differing self-enhancement needs these organizational actions satisfy – through perceived internal respect (PIR) and perceived external prestige (PEP) respectively. Finally, building on the understanding of PEP as a superior predictor of organizational identification, the study suggests that ECSR practices would impact online ambassadorship intentions more strongly in comparison to ICSR initiatives. An online survey was conducted amongst 151 representatives of the general working population. It was designed to measure employees’ levels of perceived CSR, their levels of organizational identification, the external prestige and internal respect they derive from being organizational members, and the extent to which they would be willing to engage in online ambassadorship behaviors. The results obtained indicated that contrary to hypothesized, ICSR initiatives predict online ambassadorship intentions significantly better that ECSR practices. Further analyses supported the findings by providing additional insight regarding the different ways through which internal and external CSR are perceived and interpreted at the individual level.