CSR and identification: the contingencies of employees’ personal traits and desire

Purpose - Micro corporate social responsibility (CSR) is an emerging concept in management that relates to the examination of employees’ reaction to CSR initiatives. In this stream of literature, this study aims to investigate the underlying mechanism and boundary conditions of CSR and employees’ organizational identification relationship. Design/methodology/approach - The data of middle managers (n = 187) were collected from a large hospitality and real estate organization actively involved in CSR activities in Pakistan. The authors conducted two surveys using the self-administered questionnaire with a temporal break. Structural equation modeling was run using AMOS to analyze the data. Findings - The authors found that organizational pride meditates while desire to have a significant impact through work (DSIW), gender and organizational tenure moderates the relationship between CSR and organizational identification. Practical implications - The study implies that the management can take the opportunity to make use of the positive response of the employees by investing in social and environmental causes. Originality/value - The study contributes to CSR, organizational behavior literature, and person-organization fit theory by explaining the complete path of CSR and identification. It unfolds the underlying mechanism and contingencies of CSR-Identification link that are overlooked in the literature .