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Frontline Employees as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Ambassadors: A Quasi-Field Experiment

Author

Listed:
  • Laura Marie Edinger-Schons

    (Mannheim University)

  • Lars Lengler-Graiff

    (Ruhr University of Bochum)

  • Sabrina Scheidler

    (Ruhr University of Bochum)

  • Jan Wieseke

    (Ruhr University of Bochum)

Abstract

As past research has identified frontline employees as the primary communicators of a company’s CSR, this paper reports on a large-scale quasi-field experiment aimed at gaining a deeper understanding of the levers of successful in-store, point-of-sale, CSR communication. In cooperation with a large international retailer, the authors analyzed the effects of varying in-store CSR communication strategies in 48 unique stores, combining data from a customer survey (N = 38,999), company records of customers’ real visits and purchases, and interviews with store managers. Taking into account the nested structure of the data, the authors reveal that CSR-related training of frontline employees bestows its favorable effect on customers and customer behavior only if it is accompanied by the store managers’ personal support for CSR.

Suggested Citation

  • Laura Marie Edinger-Schons & Lars Lengler-Graiff & Sabrina Scheidler & Jan Wieseke, 2019. "Frontline Employees as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Ambassadors: A Quasi-Field Experiment," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 157(2), pages 359-373, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:157:y:2019:i:2:d:10.1007_s10551-018-3790-9
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-018-3790-9
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    3. Castaldo, Sandro & Ciacci, Andrea & Penco, Lara, 2023. "Perceived corporate social responsibility and job satisfaction in grocery retail: A comparison between low- and high-productivity stores," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    4. Qiang Wu & Jacob Cherian & Sarminah Samad & Ubaldo Comite & Huajie Hu & Stefan B. Gunnlaugsson & Judit Oláh & Muhammad Safdar Sial, 2021. "The Role of CSR and Ethical Leadership to Shape Employees’ Pro-Environmental Behavior in the Era of Industry 4.0. A Case of the Banking Sector," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-20, August.
    5. Yi Luo & Hua Jiang & Linzhi Zeng, 2023. "Linking Informative and Factual CSR Communication to Reputation: Understanding CSR Motives and Organizational Identification," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-22, March.
    6. Zhe Li & Bo Wang & Dan Zhou, 2022. "Financial experts of top management teams and corporate social responsibility: evidence from China," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 59(4), pages 1335-1386, November.
    7. Appel Mahmud & Donghong Ding & Md. Morshadul Hasan, 2021. "Corporate Social Responsibility: Business Responses to Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(1), pages 21582440209, January.
    8. François Maon & Valérie Swaen & Kenneth de Roeck, 2021. "Coporate branding and corporate social responsibility: Toward a multi-stakeholder interpretive perspective," Post-Print hal-03275858, HAL.
    9. Hemant C. Sashittal & Avan R. Jassawalla & Ruchika Sachdeva, 2023. "The influence of COVID-19 pandemic on consumer–brand relationships: evidence of brand evangelism behaviors," Journal of Brand Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 30(3), pages 245-260, May.
    10. Ranya Saeed Alhmoudi & Sanjay Kumar Singh & Francesco Caputo & Teresa Riso & Francesca Iandolo, 2022. "Corporate social responsibility and innovative work behavior: Is it a matter of perceptions?," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(6), pages 2030-2037, November.
    11. Jenni Sipilä & Sascha Alavi & Laura Marie Edinger-Schons & Sabrina Dörfer & Christian Schmitz, 2021. "Corporate social responsibility in luxury contexts: potential pitfalls and how to overcome them," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 49(2), pages 280-303, March.
    12. Afonso Vieira, Valter & Wolter, Jeremy S. & Falcão Araujo, Clécio & Saraiva Frio, Ricardo, 2023. "What makes the corporate social responsibility impact on Customer–Company identification stronger? A meta-analysis," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 40(2), pages 475-492.
    13. Erifili-Christina Chatzopoulou & Dimitris Manolopoulos & Vasia Agapitou, 2022. "Corporate Social Responsibility and Employee Outcomes: Interrelations of External and Internal Orientations with Job Satisfaction and Organizational Commitment," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 179(3), pages 795-817, September.
    14. Pangarkar, Aniruddha & Fleischman, Gary M. & Iacobucci, Dawn, 2022. "Enhancing frontline employee support during a product-harm crisis: Evidence and strategic managerial implications for firms," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    15. Olukorede Adewole, 2024. "‘Leveraging on CSR as a tool of brand communication based on consumer’s perception with extrapolation from a novel 3-factor model," International Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility, Springer, vol. 9(1), pages 1-23, December.

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