Giving the benefit of the doubt: Investigating the insurance-like effect of CSR in mitigating negative employee reactions to psychological contract breach

Kenneth de Roeck, Nicolas Raineri (), David Jones and Sabrina Scheidler
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Kenneth de Roeck: University of Vermont [Burlington]
Nicolas Raineri: ICN Business School, CEREFIGE - Centre Européen de Recherche en Economie Financière et Gestion des Entreprises - UL - Université de Lorraine
David Jones: UCL - University College of London [London]
Sabrina Scheidler: FH Dortmund - Fachhochschule Dortmund - University of Applied Sciences and Arts

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Abstract: Many studies document employees' value-creating reactions to perceptions of their organization's corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives. Unknown, however, is whether perceived CSR can have value-protecting effects by mitigating employees' negative responses when they believe the organization's other actions harm their interests, as proposed by theory on the insurance-like effect of CSR. In this respect, we develop hypotheses about the moderating role of CSR-based moral capital, such that higher levels mitigate the effect of psychological contract breach (PCB) on employees' negative assessment of the organization (i.e., corporate hypocrisy) and associated value-eroding responses (i.e., lower loyal boosterism and higher turnover intentions). In Study 1, we use data from time-lagged employee surveys. In Study 2, we conduct two experiments in a causal-chain design. The findings support nuanced hypotheses from our theorized model and provide new insights that contribute to the broader CSR literature on value-protection and insurance-like effects, micro-CSR scholarship, and PCB research.

Date: 2024
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-04238140v2
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Published in Journal of Management Studies, 2024, 61 (7), pp.3226-3259. ⟨10.1111/joms.13006⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04238140

DOI: 10.1111/joms.13006

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