How and when employees' attributions of their employers' CSR activities affect their extra‐role work behavior

The objective of this research is to examine how and when employees' attributions of corporate social responsibility (CSR) affect their extra‐role service behaviors. The research analyses the mediating role of work meaningfulness in the employees' CSR attributions–extra‐role behaviors relationships. The moderating role of employees' attitudes toward CSR in both the relationships between CSR attributions and work meaningfulness and in the mediated relationship is also studied. The hypotheses were tested on a sample of 204 frontline employees of four‐ and five‐star hotels in Spain using structural equations and the PROCESS macro. The results indicate that only substantive CSR attributions positively influenced employees' extra‐role service behaviors and that the relationship occurs through the work meaningfulness experienced by employees. While substantive CSR attributions boosted work meaningfulness and subsequent extra‐role service behavior regardless of personal attitudes toward CSR, the link between symbolic CSR attributions and work meaningfulness as well as the mediated relationship with extra‐role service behaviors were found to be moderated by employees' personal attitudes toward CSR. When employees had lower personal attitudes toward CSR, symbolic CSR attributions positively affected work meaningfulness and extra‐role service behavior; when attitudes toward CSR were higher, the relationships were not significant. Interesting theoretical contributions and practical insights follow from these findings.