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The Demotivating Effects of Communicating a Social-Political Stance: Field Experimental Evidence from an Online Labor Market Platform

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  • Vanessa C. Burbano

    (Columbia Business School, New York, New York 10027)

Abstract

Despite a recent surge in corporate activism, with firm leaders communicating about social-political issues unrelated to their core businesses, we know little about its strategic implications. This paper examines the effect of an employer communicating a stance about a social-political issue on employee motivation, using a two-phase, preregistered field experiment in an online labor market platform. Results demonstrate an asymmetric treatment effect of taking a stance depending on whether the employee agrees or disagrees with that stance. Namely, I observe a demotivating effect of taking a stance on a social-political issue with which employees disagree and no statistically significant motivating effect of taking a stance on a social-political issue with which employees agree. This study has important implications for the nascent scholarship on corporate activism, as well as the scholarship on strategic human capital management. This paper was accepted by Greta Hsu, organizations.

Suggested Citation

  • Vanessa C. Burbano, 2021. "The Demotivating Effects of Communicating a Social-Political Stance: Field Experimental Evidence from an Online Labor Market Platform," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 67(2), pages 1004-1025, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ormnsc:v:67:y:2021:i:2:p:1004-1025
    DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.2019.3562
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    2. Aharon Mohliver & Donal Crilly & Aseem Kaul, 2023. "Corporate social counterpositioning: How attributes of social issues influence competitive response," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(5), pages 1199-1217, May.
    3. Constance E. Helfat & Aseem Kaul & David J. Ketchen & Jay B. Barney & Olivier Chatain & Harbir Singh, 2023. "Renewing the resource‐based view: New contexts, new concepts, and new methods," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(6), pages 1357-1390, June.
    4. Aseem Kaul, 2021. "Putting the horse back before the cart: designing strategic social enterprises," Journal of Organization Design, Springer;Organizational Design Community, vol. 10(3), pages 103-108, December.
    5. Aurélien Feix & Georg Wernicke, 2024. "When Is CEO Activism Conducive to the Democratic Process?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 190(4), pages 755-774, April.
    6. Brownen-Trinh, Ruby & Orujov, Ayan, 2023. "Corporate socio-political activism and retail investors: Evidence from the Black Lives Matter campaign," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    7. Young Hou & Christopher W. Poliquin, 2023. "The effects of CEO activism: Partisan consumer behavior and its duration," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(3), pages 672-703, March.

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