The effect of corporate socio-political activism on employees’ organizational identification, organizational citizenship behavior, and employee advocacy

Although corporate socio-political activism (CSA) may appear relatively novel when compared to corporate social responsibility (CSR), it has emerged as a momentous interest within modern society and the professional landscape, underscoring its inherent importance. Stakeholders expect organizations to take a stand on socio-political issues such as LGBTQIA+ rights, immigration, political ideology, and racism. As this pressure from stakeholders continues, organizations are increasingly engaging in CSA by publicly taking a stance on often polarizing and emotionally loaded socio-political issues. However, taking a stand on socio-political issues as an organization does not come without risks as it can either enhance or deteriorate stakeholder ties. Therefore, caution needs to be taken when an organization chooses to engage in CSA practices since it can negatively or positively alter the stakeholder’s perception of the organization. While more management literature is emerging on CSA and its implications on the firm itself or its external stakeholders, very limited research has been done on the effect of CSA on employees and how this might alter employees’ attitudes and behaviors. Hence, this study aims to gain more insights into the attitudinal and behavioral responses of employees when their employing organization engages in CSA. In order to fill this research gap, an online survey was conducted to examine the impact of organizational CSA involvement on employees’ organizational identification, organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), and employee advocacy. The moderator variable PO fit was also included in the survey and was expected to strengthen the relationship between perceived CSA and the outcome variables. A regression analysis was used to examine both the direct effects of perceived CSA on the outcome variables as well as the moderation effects of PO fit. The findings indicated that perceived CSA has a positive and significant effect on employees’ organization identification, OCB, and employee advocacy. Further, PO fit proved to strengthen the relationship between perceived CSA and employee advocacy but did not strengthen the relationship between perceived CSA and organizational identification or OCB. Overall, this study shows the importance of organizational CSA practices and the beneficial effects they can have on employees’ attitudes and behaviors. It confirms the growing relevance CSA involvement has on organizational performance and the need for employee alignment with the CSA goals and practices of an organization.