The moderating role of message framing on the links between organizational identification and unethical pro-organizational behavior

Purpose - The purpose of this study is to examine how – if any – does message framing moderates the previously documented positive effect of organizational identification on unethical pro-organizational behavior (UPB). Design/methodology/approach - The authors used vignette methodology to manipulate message framing and organizational identification in a 2 × 2 between-subjects experimental design to test research hypotheses. In total, 332 undergraduate students in the senior year of banking and management participated in the experiment. Two-way analysis of variance was used for data analyses. Findings - Message framing is found to moderate the effect of organizational identification on UPB. Organizational identification posed a stronger effect on intentions to engage UPB when a supervisor announces a critical situation by using a positively framed message than (s)he frames it negatively. Research limitations/implications - Using undergraduate students as subjects is an important limitation to external validity and generalizability of the findings. More realistic field experiments can be conducted by using real employees and factual firms in future studies. Practical implications - Managers should be careful when using over-motivating language to employees on critical issues. Under intense stress, a managerial message over-emphasizing “gain” can prompt highly identified employees to conduct misbehavior. Social implications - Unethical behavior brings negative consequences for organizations, even if it is conducted for the benefit of the organization. To prevent any tendency toward UPB, management communication must clearly highlight the delicate boundary between being attached to the organization and going beyond the rules for the organizational goals. Originality/value - The study findings shed more light on the relationship between organizational identification and UPB, allowing us to see that the relationship is not always linear. In addition to over-identification, reciprocity and neutralization processes, the framing may be another explanation to varying effect of organizational identification on UPB. Supervisors’ communication style can influence employee behavior in controversial issues linked to UPB.