The impacts of Corporate Volunteering on stakeholders’ perceptions, attitudes, and behavior

Abstract

Within the broad Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) realm, Corporate Volunteering (CV) is increasingly gaining momentum as a way for firms to put their CSR strategy into practice and generate a positive societal impact. The aim of the present work is to investigate, from a company’s point of view, the influence of CV initiatives on stakeholders’ perceptions, attitudes, and behavior. Based on Gioia et al.’s (2013) method, the concepts emerging from the interviews with three managers of a multinational corporation in the fashion industry and the relational dynamics among them are presented by means of a theoretical process model. The main research question is derived from the research gap in the CV literature, determined by comparing the existing knowledge about CSR and CV. The study shows CV to positively impact customer loyalty, purchase intentions, and word-of-mouth, to enhance firm image, attractiveness, and differentiation, and to facilitate partners and firm progress, along with the creation of win-win relationships within communities and of an improved competitive context. These results are partially mediated by the external communication of the CV initiatives. The findings also reveal a moderating effect of the support for CV, the degree of awareness about CV, the perceived authenticity of CV efforts, and the coherence between the latter and firm values. Finally, theoretical and managerial implications are discussed, and several conclusions are drawn.