Linking CSR Communication to Corporate Reputation: Understanding Hypocrisy, Employees’ Social Media Engagement and CSR-Related Work Engagement

Hua Jiang, Yang Cheng, Keonyoung Park and Wei Zhu
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Hua Jiang: S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY 13210, USA
Yang Cheng: Department of Communication, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA
Keonyoung Park: Department of Communication Studies, School of Communication, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon Tong, Kowloon, Hong Kong
Wei Zhu: School of Government, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210033, China

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 4, 1-24

Abstract: Based on the social exchange theory and the signaling theory, we proposed a conceptual model of effective CSR communication and corporate reputation integrating employees’ hypocrisy toward their employers’ corporate behavior, employees’ CSR-related social media engagement and work engagement. We tested our proposed model based on an employee survey (n = 811). Structural equational modeling (SEM) analyses were conducted while controlling variables that could exert confounding effects on our proposed model. All the hypotheses were supported by our collected data. Effective CSR communication factors turned out to be significant predictors for hypocrisy, employees’ social media engagement and CSR-related work engagement, and corporate reputation. Hypocrisy and engagement were also significant mediators in our proposed model. The key findings of the study made theoretical contributions to CSR and employee communication scholarship. Practical implications of the findings of this study were also discussed.

Keywords: CSR communication; corporate reputation; employee communication; corporate hypocrisy; social media engagement; CSR work engagement (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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