Introduction

Often thought of as an organization’s engagement with society that goes beyond the narrow economic, technical, and legal requirements of the firm, corporate social responsibility (CSR) has been defined as corporate philanthropy and any discretionary corporate activity that reflects a company’s ethical stance towards consumers and other external stakeholders (Carroll 1979). CSR has been conceptualized as a firm’s macro-level socially responsible business practices that produce macro-level outcomes (Orlitzky et al. 2003). Yet once CSR issues are linked to employees’ perceptions and interpretations of their firms’ CSR activities, it is no longer only a macro-level organizational issue but also a micro-level issue which has a bearing on employee outcomes.

Among the many employee outcomes that are influenced by employees’ perceptions of their firms’ CSR, such as organizational commitment, job satisfaction, organizational citizenship behavior, employee deviance and job performance (Aguilera et al. 2007; Evans et al. 2010; Lin et al. 2010; Maignan et al. 1999), employees’ organizational citizenship behaviors (OCB) may be heavily affected by their perceptions of their firms’ CSR since the concepts of CSR and OCB are parallel, though applied at a different level. Thus, while CSR works at the macro-level to encompass those corporate voluntary activities for social welfare that go beyond the narrow economic, technical, and legal interests of the firm (Aguilera et al. 2007), OCB operates at the micro-level of employees’ discretionary behaviors that go beyond formal role requirements and responses to formal reward systems (Organ 1988).

Prior research suggests that there is a relationship between employees’ perceptions as to whether their firm exhibits socially responsible behaviors and their own engagement in OCB (Evans et al. 2011). However, while recent research has established a positive link between employees’ perceptions of their firms’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) and OCB (Evans et al. 2010; Lin et al. 2010; Newman et al. 2015; Swaen and Maignan 2003), the goal of these studies has been to examine the direct relationship between the CSR perceptions of employees and OCB. In contrast, other researchers have suggested that the impact of CSR on organizational outcomes might be better explained through mediating variables which have ramifications for employees (Bhattacharya et al. 2009; Perrini and Castaldo 2008; Pivato et al. 2008). The contention here, therefore, is that consideration of these potential mediating variables may clarify the unaddressed question of causality, and provide a concrete framework linking firms’ macro-level CSR activities and employees’ micro-level OCB.

A suitable bridge to mediate between CSR at the macro-level and OCB at the micro-level may be found in organizational identification, which has been defined as the degree to which employees identify themselves as organizational members and believe that they and the organization are inseparable (Ashforth and Mael 1989; Dutton et al. 1994). The existing literature on organizational identification suggests that the self-identity of organizational members is linked to their organization through an organizational identification process (Albert and Whetten 1985; Ashforth and Mael 1996; Dutton and Dukerich 1991). This organizational identification binds employees with the organization both psychologically and sociologically, even when employees are dispersed. The process of organizational identification can be conceptualized as a transitional process from self-identity at the micro-level to organizational identity at the macro-level, or vice versa. Drawing on social identity theory (Tajfel 1974, 1975), positive sense-making toward an organization due to its CSR engagement results in changes in individual attitudes and behaviors (Ellemers et al. 2004). More specifically, employees who perceive their firm positively for its CSR activities tend to have a more positive identity association with regard to their membership of the organization through the process of organizational identification, which may develop the intrinsic motivation to raise their OCB. Thus, the primary aim of our study is to examine the mediating effect of organizational identification on the relationship between employees’ perceptions of CSR and OCB.

Another purpose of our study is to examine the role of three employee demographic features, namely gender, age, and work experience, in the formation process between employees’ CSR perceptions and organizational identification. These personal factors are especially important in explaining the extent to which employees are assimilated into their organization in response to its CSR activities (Arlow 1991; Borkowski and Ugras 1992; Maignan and Ferrell 2001), as yet unexamined in the literature. Thus we examine the moderated mediation effects of gender, age, and work experience on the relationship between employees’ perceptions of CSR and OCB as mediated by organizational identification. In other words, we argue that the treatment effect of CSR perceptions on OCB via organizational identification differs depending on gender, age, and work experience.

In sum, our study makes contributions to the CSR, OCB and service marketing literature streams. The main contribution of our study is to provide an empirical framework of how employees’ perceptions of CSR influence employees’ OCB by incorporating the mediating variables of organizational identification. In addition, we attempt to investigate the moderated mediation effects of employee demographic features on our mediated model (see Fig. 1). In this way, our findings that demographic features could influence the strength of the indirect relationship between employees’ perceptions of CSR and employees’ OCB through organizational identification provides a powerful lens to assess when and how employees are motivated to engage in OCB in response to the firm’s CSR, marking our study out as being distinct from the extant CSR and OCB literature. Finally, since our study uses a sample of service employees in hotels, our findings may have implications for how service employees could increase service behaviors like OCBs in response to a service climate such as the firms’ CSR. Bowen and Schneider (2014) suggest that the service climate, referred to as a ‘positive’ and ‘strong’ shared perception about a firm’s service policies, practices, procedures, and behaviors, has a predominant influence over service behaviors, such as employees’ in-role behaviors and customer-focused OCBs. Thus, our study confirms that service employees are quite attuned to a service climate that is reflected by their firm’s CSR, which can lead to changes in their service behaviors.

Fig. 1
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Conceptual model

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Conceptual Background and Hypotheses Development

Linking CSR and OCB Through Sense-Making

While CSR has been of great interest to the macro organizational behavior (OB) literature for decades, OCB has been discussed predominantly within the micro OB literature. While CSR refers to discretionary corporate activities in relation to individuals, groups of individuals, and environments external to the organization (Aguilera et al. 2007), OCB encompasses the discretionary behaviors of employees that are not directly recognized by any formal reward system, but which are closely linked with the promotion of employee functioning within the organization (Organ 1988). The primary purpose of this study is to discern whether employees demonstrate similar behaviors in their treatment of internal parties as they have sense-making of their firm’s treatment of external parties.

In order to explain the effect of employees’ CSR perceptions on their attitudes and behaviors, it is necessary to understand the psychological mechanisms that drive their response to CSR initiatives (Bhattacharya et al. 2009). Previous studies have shown that employee attitudes and behaviors are heavily influenced by how they perceive their organization’s actions (Cropanzano et al. 2001). Employees who make sense of their organization positively in terms of its CSR activities tend to possess a more positive identity toward their organization, which boosts the intrinsic motivation to enhance their prosocial behaviors within the organization (Baruch and Bozionelos 2010).

Based on social identity theory, employee perceptions of CSR promote a sense of pride and self-esteem among employees due to their belief that they belong to a socially responsible organization, which in turn engenders favorable attitudes and behaviors such as affective organizational commitment or OCB for the further development of organizational identity (Ellemers et al. 2004). Social identity theory suggests that individuals tend to identify themselves from others by categorizing them into a range of salient demographic and social groups (Ashforth and Mael 1989; Ellemers et al. 2004; Tajfel 1974, 1975). When employees identify themselves as members of socially desirable in-groups, self-esteem is developed, subsequently leading to more favorable attitudes and behaviors for promoting their organization’s identity (Ellemers et al. 2004). In other words, organizational identification allows members of one group to favor the in-group at the expense of the out-group, which encourages employees to increase their prosocial behaviors (Dutton et al. 2010; Ellemers et al. 2004). Indeed, prior studies suggest that organizational identification shapes employees’ self-identity and determines their positive or negative relationships with an organization (Berger et al. 2006; Elsbach 1999), thus substantially influencing job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and desirable work-related behaviors, such as intra-organizational cooperation, lower turnover, and OCB (Brown et al. 2006).

An emerging body of empirical literature has demonstrated a positive link between employees’ CSR perceptions and OCB. For example, Rupp et al. (2013) and Zhang et al. (2014) found that internal employees’ perceptions of CSR are positively associated with employees’ OCB. Jones (2010) found that employees who participate in volunteer programs are more likely to have a higher level of organizational identification via organizational pride, which ultimately increases intentions to stay and OCB. The positive perceptions of an organization’s identity due to its CSR activities overwhelmingly influence the degree to which its employees identify with their organization, as well as their subsequent citizenship behavior inside the organization (Dutton et al. 1994). More specifically, employees whose organizations actively engage in CSR may be proud to identify themselves with their organization, which in turn enhances their attitudes and behaviors at work.

In the service management literature, the majority of research has found a positive association between corporate engagement in CSR and customer assessments of service quality, customer loyalty, customer orientation, consumer response, brand identification, and brand equity (Bolton and Mattila 2015; Calabrese and Lancioni 2008; He and Li 2011; Korschun et al. 2014; Liu et al. 2014; Poolthong and Mandhachitara 2009; Salmones et al. 2005), but few studies have examined the effects of a firm’s CSR on its service employees’ OCB. Instead, the service industry literature has tended to focus on the effect of a service climate on service employees’ customer-focused OCBs, such as behaving in a conscientious manner in activities surrounding service delivery to customers or the effect of the firm’s CSR initiatives on consumer citizenship behaviors, such as customers’ voluntary behaviors that position them as partial employees, such as cooperating with a firm and helping other customers (Bettencourt et al. 2001; Groth 2005). For example, Bettencourt and Brown (1997) found a positive relationship between service climate and customer-focused OCB. Schneider et al. (2005) found that customer-focused OCB mediates the relationship between service climate and customer experience. Lii and Lee (2012) found that corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives influence consumer citizenship behaviors through consumer-company identification (C–C identification) and brand attitude.

Effects of CSR Perceptions on Organizational Identification

Engagement with CSR is the most common way for a firm to promote its reputation and improve its identity within an organization (Turban and Greening 1997). Improved corporate reputation through CSR activities is positively related to constructed external image (CEI), namely the reputation employees believe outsiders have of their organization (Dutton et al. 1994). Thus employees’ perceptions about their organization are largely affected by how the organization is evaluated by external audiences (Dutton et al. 1994), so that CEI functions as a medium for transmitting the perceptions of outsiders (i.e., the general public) about the organization into the perceptions of insiders (i.e., employees) by mirroring corporate images. Employees are more likely to identify themselves with their organization through positive CEI when outsiders view their organization more positively than other organizations due to its CSR activities.

According to social identity theory, a firm’s engagement in CSR directly affects employees’ organizational identification. Employees attempt to sustain the positive identity bestowed by their membership in different groups (Ashforth and Mael 1989). Since employees use their firm’s status or social reputation to evaluate their self-worth, they are more likely to identify with organizations with a prestigious image, which promotes their self-worth and meets their need for self-enhancement (Tajfel and Turner 1985). Recent research has demonstrated that employees’ engagement in CSR is positively associated with their organizational identification (Kim et al. 2010; Jones 2010). A firm’s CSR can endow it with distinctive and attractive positive organizational attributes, which in turn fosters its employees’ organizational identification (Bhattacharya et al. 2009). In other words, the firm’s CSR involvement encourages employees to perceive their firm as an institution that shares their moral values and philanthropic wishes for society, so that they are more likely to identify with their organization (Bhattacharya et al. 2009). Based on the preceding discussion, we advance the following hypothesis:

  • H1: Employees’ perceptions of CSR are positively related to organizational identification.

Effects of Organizational Identification on OCB

Organizational identification makes employees elicit a strong and enduring relationship with their organization, such that they develop a sense of oneness with it (Ashforth and Mael 1989; Bhattacharya et al. 2009). These employees become emotionally and cognitively attached to, and commit to their organization (Bhattacharya et al. 2009; Dutton et al. 1994), which results in more positive attitudes and behaviors such as OCB (Van Dick et al. 2006). Organizational concern is considered to be the motive most closely associated with OCB (Van Dick et al. 2006). Rioux and Penner (2001) argued that organizational concern motives “appear to have two interrelated components: a desire to help the organization because one identifies with and takes pride in the organization . . .” (p. 1312). Van Knippenberg (2000) suggested that organizational identification develops a feeling of belongingness to the organization, which enables employees to perceive the organization’s goal as their own and subsequently improves work performance. Since employees with a strong level of organizational identification tend to define themselves in terms of their organization’s identity, the other members of the organization, including coworkers, supervisors, and subordinates, play a great role in an individual’s definition of self (Van Dick et al. 2006). Thus, they are more likely to help the other members in terms of extra-role or citizenship behaviors. Based on the preceding discussion, we advance the following hypothesis:

  • H2: Employees’ organizational identification is positively related to OCB.

The Mediation Role of Organizational Identification

As mentioned earlier, our article attempts to understand the relationship between employees’ perceptions of CSR and OCB through organizational identification based on social identity theory. Organizational identification plays an important role in bridging macro-level corporate CSR activities and micro-level employee OCB by providing employees with a feeling of oneness with an organization (Ashforth and Mael 1989). Employees who identify strongly with their organization make more contributions to promote positive responses toward their employing organization since it makes them evaluate themselves in terms of the firm’s organizational characteristics (Van Knippenberg et al. 2000, 2004). Employees who witness and experience their firm’s CSR activities are more likely to perceive their organizations in positive terms, which results in high organizational identification and in turn increases their OCB on behalf of the organization. In short, the effect of employees’ CSR perceptions on their OCB will be mediated through organizational identification. Specifically, employees are likely to increase their OCB due to their perceptions of the firm’s CSR enhancing their organizational identification. Based on the preceding discussion, we advance the following hypothesis:

  • H3: The positive relationship between employees’ perceptions of CSR and OCB is mediated by organizational identification.

The Moderating Roles of Gender, Age, and Work Experience

Our study considers individual difference characteristics such as gender, age and work experience as moderators in the current research model. We postulate these individual difference variables as moderators affecting the links between employees’ perceptions of CSR and organizational identification based on person-organization fit theory, which suggests that different types of individuals are attracted to different kinds of organizations (Kristof 1996; Schneider 1987). Thus, we expect that individual difference characteristics predominantly affect an individual’s perceptions regarding his or her firm’s CSR activities, which may increase or decrease organizational identification. For instance, employees with a tendency for favoring prosocial behaviors are more likely to fit with a firm actively engaged in CSR, leading to a stronger identification with their organization. In this respect, we suggest that individual difference characteristics would moderate the relationship between employees’ perceptions of CSR and organizational identification.

Pervious research has suggested that gender differences preponderantly influence an individual’s attitudes and values (Greening and Turban 2000; Tajfel and Turner 1985). In particular, the existing studies suggest that a firm’s CSR is perceived differently by men and women. For example, men are more likely to be concerned with instrumental or economic issues while women place more emphasis on a firm’s discretionary behavior (Ibrahim and Angelidis 1994; Smith et al. 2001). Peterson (2004) found that the relationship between organizational commitment and corporate citizenship is stronger among female employees than male employees. Roberts (1993) found that a firm’s CSR activities are considered more favorably by women than men. Russ and McNeilly (1995) also found that gender functions as a moderator between organizational commitment and turnover intentions. Panwar et al. (2010) found that men and women have different perceptions with regard to social responsibilities. Davidson and Freudenburg (1996) found that women pay more attention to environmental issues, and thus engage more often in environmentally friendly behaviors than men. Smith et al. (2001) found that women pay more attention to corporate ethical responsibilities than men. Since men and women differ in terms of the way they perceive a firm’s CSR, gender difference may also influence the degree to which employees’ perceptions of CSR are related to organizational identification. Thus, we predict that gender may play a role as a moderator on the relationship between employees’ perceptions of CSR and organizational identification:

  • H4: The positive relationship between employees’ perceptions of CSR and organizational identification is moderated by gender. In particular, the positive effect of employees’ perceptions of CSR on corporate organizational identification will be stronger among women than men.

The other important moderators on the relationship between employees’ perceptions of CSR and organizational identification are age and work experience. Riketta’s (2005) meta-analysis found that age and job tenure are both closely associated with organizational identification. Most research regarding the link between CSR perception and other dependent variables, such as organizational identification and commitment, has used age and tenure as control variables (Evans et al. 2010; Lin et al. 2010; Maignan et al. 1999; Peterson 2004). However, it is important to clarify the precise effects of age and tenure on the relationship between CSR perception and organizational identification due to their being the major indicators of side-bets (Becker 1960), namely the perceived accumulation of investments by employees which would be lost if they were to leave the organization. Employees are more likely to identify with their organization and stay longer if they calculate that it would in some way cost them to leave the company; in other words, if the side-bets are too large (Becker 1960). Increased age and the job tenure of employees are among the most deep-seated connections within the organization and often represent considerable investments of time and effort, which makes it more difficult for employees to leave the organization (Meyer and Allen 1984). Therefore, age and tenure play a role as the best indicators of the stake individuals build up in an organization, and help employees stay longer in those organizations with which they identify.

Although a positive correlation between age and work experience exists, they are conceptually two distinct constructs (Ng and Feldman 2009). Thus while ‘age’ denotes a person’s chronological age and serves as a proxy for age-related processes, ‘organizational age’ like work experience indicates an individual’s time spent in jobs or organizations, what is often referred to as job tenure (Sterns and Doverspike 1989). Thus, age is not always proportional to chronological age, which implies that these two constructs may have distinct effects on work-related attitudes and behaviors. For example, Cleveland and Shore (1992) found that several understandings of an employee’s age, specifically chronological age, the employee’s subjective age, the employee’s social age, and the employee’s relative age compared with the employee’s work group, differentially affect job involvement, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment.

Research indicates that employees with lengthier work experience are more likely to develop a stronger emotional attachment to an organization, leading to long-term employment in an organization. For example, long-serving employees tend to build up stronger relationships with their coworkers, and generally identify themselves more deeply with their company (Mitchell et al. 2001). Since both age and work experience influence employees’ organizational identification response to a firm’s CSR, they may affect the degree to which employees’ perceptions of CSR is related to organizational identification. Thus, we predict that both age and work experience may perform a role as moderators on the relationship between employees’ perceptions of CSR and organizational identification:

  • H5: The positive relationship between employees’ perceptions of CSR and organizational identification is moderated by age. In particular, the positive effect of employees’ perceptions of CSR on organizational identification will be stronger among older employees.

  • H6: The positive relationship between employees’ perceptions of CSR and organizational identification is moderated by work experience. In particular, the positive effect of employees’ perceptions of CSR on organizational identification will be stronger among those with more extensive work experience.

Method

Data Collection and Participant Characteristics

A total of four hundred and eighty frontline employees in four five-star hotels were invited to participate in the study. In selecting the hotels, consideration was made as to whether they actually and explicitly implemented a range of regular CSR activities, such as greening, greater efforts for energy efficiency, water conservation, climate change awareness campaigns, and donations to the community. As most of the 1, 2, and 3-star hotels in South Korea are small and have limited capabilities and resources with which to participate in CSR activities, the decision was taken to focus on the employees of 4 or 5-star hotels. In addition, larger firms such as 4 or 5-star hotels generally have the means to invest more in pursuing their CSR objectives such as CSR-consistent product innovation and improving the education and loyalty of their employees (Liu et al. 2014; Luo and Bhattacharya 2006). Accordingly, checks were made to establish whether or not the hotels in the research sample implemented various CSR activities. All of the five-star hotels explicitly communicated their CSR activities, such as protecting the environment, procuring recycled supplies, and supporting and developing communities on their homepages and through media such as newspapers, television and social networking services. To ensure confidentially, the respondents were instructed to seal the completed questionnaires in pre-addressed envelopes and return them directly to the researchers by mail. Two hundred and fifty-five questionnaires were returned and a total of 250 usable questionnaires were obtained after five cases were discarded, for a 52.1% response rate. Five cases were discarded because they came from new employees who had less than 6 months’ work experience, this being considered insufficient time for those employees to have gained sufficient experience of their hotels’ CSR activities. The average age and organizational tenure of the respondents were 33.65 (SD = 8.07) years and 8.93 years (SD = 6.47) respectively, and 61.8% of the respondents were male employees. The education levels of the respondents varied: graduate school (8.2%), four-year university (45.4%), two-year vocational college (43.4%), and high school (1.6%).

Measurement Scales

Existing scales were used in the questionnaire. The scales selected were English-based and required double translation. Translation of the English questionnaire into Korean followed the process recommended by Brislin (1970). Five-point Likert-type scales were used to measure the constructs (see Table 1). The employees’ perception of CSR was measured using three items adjusted from Hur et al. (2016) and Wagner et al. (2009). This scale, when applied to employees, measures employees’ perceptions of their organization’s overall external CSR management. This scale has been widely used in prior studies (Brammer et al. 2015; Kim et al. 2010; Vlachos et al. 2014). Organizational identification was measured using five items adapted from Ahearne et al. (2013) and Mael and Ashforth (1992). OCB was measured using four items from King and Grace (2010).

Table 1 Scale items and construct evaluation
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Data Analysis and Results

Reliability, Validity, and Common Method Bias

The resulting measurement scales were subjected to a commonly used validation process to assess their reliability, validity, and unidimensionality. First, the reliability of the constructs was evaluated using Cronbach’s alpha coefficients (see Table 1). The reliability coefficients for the variables range from .82 to .87, which is considered satisfactory (Nunnally 1978). Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), using M-plus 7.4 software, was used to verify the convergent and discriminant validity of the measures.

In the CFA model, the measurement model fit well with the data as seen in the fit statistics for the model (χ 2 (51) = 77.09; p < .05, CFI = .98, TLI = .98, RMSEA = .05, SRMR = .03). Across our measurement models, the factor and item loadings all exceeded .68, with all the t-values greater than 2.58, providing evidence of convergent validity among our measures. All the measures exhibit strong reliability, with composite reliabilities ranging from .82 to .87 (see Table 1). We checked the condition for discriminant validity among constructs suggested by Fornell and Larcker (1981). All AVE were larger than the squared correlation between the construct and any others (see Table 2). Overall, our constructs therefore exhibit sound measurement properties.

Table 2 Construct means, standard deviations, and correlations
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Most researchers agree that common method variance (CMV) has a potentially serious threat for bias in behavioral research, especially with single-informative surveys (Podsakoff et al. 2012). According to the method of Podsakoff et al. (2012), bias can be controlled through both procedural and statistical remedies. We introduced procedural remedies by protecting respondent anonymity, reducing evaluation apprehension, improving item wording and separating the measurement of the predictor and outcome variables. We also applied the following statistical remedy. We used a confirmatory factor-analytic approach to Herman’s one-factor analysis. All measures of goodness of fit indicated a worse fit for the one-factor model for the original measurement model data (χ 2 (54) = 400.52; p < .05, CFI = .75, TLI = .70, RMSEA = .16, SRMR = .09). In addition, we employed the ex post procedure recommended by Podsakoff et al. (2012) in which an additional common method factor is introduced to the measurement model. This factor did not account for any substantial variance in the indicator variables (12.3%). In line with the empirical findings of Podsakoff et al. (2012) that an average of 18–32% of the variance in a typical measure is attributable to method variance, we were satisfied that common method bias was non-problematic in the case of this dataset.

Preliminary Analyses

The data have a nested structure (i.e., all employees are nested by their respective hotels), and it seems reasonable that employees belonging to the same hotel might tend to have similar attitudes and behaviors (Sacco et al. 2003). An indicator of the clustering effect, embedded at the organizational (hotel) level, can be obtained with the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), a measure often used to determine the degree of group homogeneity. We computed the ICC to assess the percentage of variance explained by the individual variables in the model due to differences across groups (Caprara et al. 2006; Hox 2002). The ICCs for the four measures used in this study were as follows: ICC employees’ perceptions of CSR = .05, ICC organizational identification = .02, and ICC OCB = .01. According to Hox (2002), coefficients .05 ~ .09 indicate a low effect, .10–.14 represent a moderate effect, and .15 and above indicate a large effect. The ICCs of all the variables were less than .05, so we can conclude that the group variances of these variables were small. This being the case, we followed the suggestion by Dyer et al. (2005) and conducted a simple structural equation model (SEM), instead of a multilevel SEM, to test the hypotheses.

Hypothesis Testing

In the structural model analysis, we estimated all the path coefficients. Our structural model fit the model reasonably well (χ 2 (52) = 98.55; p < .05, CFI = .97, TLI = .96, RMSEA = .06, SRMR = .06). Overall, the hypothesized structural model did a very good job of explaining variance (R2 (organizational identification) = 35.9%, and R2 (OCB) = 42.3%). As predicted in Hypothesis 1, employees’ perceptions of CSR were positively related to organizational identification (b = .66, p < .01). Hypothesis 2 stated that organizational identification was positively related to OCB, and this hypothesis was supported (b = .52, p < .01). In addition, Hypothesis 3 stated that organizational identification mediates the relationship between employees’ perceptions of CSR and OCB. To test our mediation hypothesis, we used an analytical approach outlined by Hayes (2013) and Shrout and Bolger (2002). This mediation approach directly tests the indirect effect between the predictor and the criterion variables through the mediator via a bootstrapping procedure (N = 5000, Hayes 2013; Shrout and Bolger 2002). We formally tested Hypothesis 3 and found that the employees’ perceptions of CSR were associated with higher organizational identification and OCB (b = .21, 95% CI [.12, .34]). (see Table 3)

Table 3 Indirect effects for mediation model
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Hypotheses 4 to 6 predicted that gender, age and work experience would moderate the relationship between employees’ perceptions of CSR and organizational identification respectively. Prior to the main analyses, all continuous variables were mean-centered (Aiken and West 1991). Hypothesis 4 stated that gender would moderate the relationship between employees’ perceptions of CSR and organizational identification, and that this effect would be stronger among female rather than male employees. As can be seen in Table 4, the addition of the interaction terms resulted in a significant increase in variance, which explained organizational identification (b = .36, p < .01). The results were inconsistent with our prediction that the positive relationship between employees’ perceptions of CSR and organizational identification would be stronger among women than men. We ran simple slope analysis testing to see whether the simple slopes of the interactions were significantly different from zero. Using the Simple Slopes Syntax provided by Schubert and Jacoby (2004), we calculated stand-in variables for moderate by dichotomous variable (0: female, 1: male). The effect for employees’ perceptions of CSR and organizational identification was significant, indicating that two simple slopes were different from zero. The employees’ perceptions of CSR were associated with higher organizational identification for both men and women (see Table 5), but this association was stronger for men (b = .68, p < .01) than for women (b = .32, p < .01). Therefore, Hypothesis 4 was not supported (see Table 5 and Fig. 2).

Table 4 Moderated regression analyses predicting organizational identification
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Table 5 Conditional effect of focal predictor at personal trait values
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Fig. 2
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The moderating effect of gender on the CSR-OI relationship

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As Table 4 also shows, age and work experience moderates the relationship between employees’ perceptions of CSR and organizational identification. The significant regression coefficient of the interaction term suggests that the strength of the relationship between employees’ perceptions of CSR and organizational identification differed depending on the employees’ age (b = .02, p < .05) and work experience (b = .02, p < .05). Specifically, the relationship between employees’ perceptions of CSR and organizational identification was stronger for employees who were older or had greater work experience (see Table 5). A follow up simple slope analysis (plotting simple slopes at ±1 SD of the moderator means) showed that employees’ perceptions of CSR were related to organizational identification for employees at the low or average levels of age (low: b = .39, p < .01; middle: b = .53, p < .01; high: b = .67, p < .01) and work experience (low: b = .42, p < .01; middle: b = .55, p < .01; high: b = .70, p < .01). Thus, there was support for Hypothesis 5 and 6 (see Figs. 3 and 4).

Fig. 3
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The moderating effect of age on the CSR-OI relationship

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Fig. 4
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The moderating effect of work experience on the CSR-OI relationship

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Post Hoc Analysis of Moderated Mediation Effects

Since the mediation hypothesis and moderation hypotheses were supported, we further analyzed a moderated mediation model using SPSS Process Macro 2.15 (Hayes 2015). In this additional analysis, we examined the conditional indirect effects of employees’ perceptions of CSR on OCB through organizational identification at the value of gender type (0: women, 1: men). The conditional indirect effects of employees’ perceptions of CSR on OCB through organizational identification was significant across gender type (indirect effect b female = .11, 95%[04, 22], indirect effect b male = .21, 95%[12, 35]). Taken together, this result suggests that gender would moderate the mediation relationship between employees’ perceptions of CSR on OCB through organizational identification. In addition, we found that the conditional indirect effects of employees’ perceptions of CSR on OCB through organizational identification was significant across age (indirect effect b low = .16, 95%[.08, 27], indirect effect b middle = .18, 95%[10, 29], indirect effect b high = .21, 95%[11, 34]) and work experience (indirect effect b low = .16, 95%[.09, 29], indirect effect b middle = .18, 95%[10, 29], indirect effect b high = .20, 95%[,11, 34]). From this, we confirmed that age and work experience would moderate the mediation relationship between employees’ perceptions of CSR on OCB via organizational identification.

Discussion

Our study explored how the macro concept of firms’ CSR affects the micro concept of OCB within an organization drawing upon social identity theory. Beyond examining the direct effect, our goal was to provide an underlying mechanism through which employees’ perceptions of CSR positively influence their OCB at work. That is, we suggested that the relationship between employees’ perceptions of CSR and OCB was mediated by organizational identification. Our study found that the CSR perceptions of employees are positively related to organizational identification, organizational identification positively influences OCB, organizational identification partially mediates the relationship between employees’ perceptions of CSR and OCB, and the three personal traits of gender, age, and work experience moderate the mediation relationship between the CSR perceptions of employees on OCB via organizational identification.

Although gender moderated the relationship between employees’ perceptions of CSR and organizational identification, the direction of the moderation was contrary to our hypothesis that the positive effect of employees’ perceptions of CSR on corporate organizational identification would be stronger among women than men. In fact, the results of our study showed that the positive relationship between employees’ perceptions of CSR and organizational identification is stronger among men than women. Our study did not support previous research which found that women place greater emphasis on the discretionary activities of corporate socially responsible behavior than men do (Peterson 2004; Ibrahim and Angelidis 1994; Smith et al. 2001). This failure to meet our prediction was not completely unexpected since some of the existing studies regarding gender differences on CSR perception have provided conflicting results (Ford and Richardson 1994). Leonidou et al. (2013) found that men tend to respond to unethical corporate behaviors more sensitively than woman. Hur et al. (2016) also showed that the positive effect of consumers’ CSR perceptions on corporate brand equity was stronger among men than women. According to Meyers-Levy’s (1989) selectivity model, men are more likely to be sensitive and selective in their evaluation of their firm’s strategies, practices, and products by using the most salient information at hand while women are more flexible and generally less concerned in their evaluations by using a greater number of heuristics (Brown and Dacin 1997). In this respect, male employees may be likely to respond more frequently and positively to their firm’s CSR than female employees.

Theoretical Implications

Our study contributes to several streams of research. First, our study extends research in both the CSR and the OCB literature since we attempt to bridge the macro concept of CSR with the micro concept of OCB. Due to the fact CSR is generally considered a macro-level activity that generates macro-level outcomes (Orlitzky et al. 2003), it has obtained little attention within the micro research field. Our research suggests that positive perceptions among employees of their firm’s CSR activities can positively affect their own attitudes and behaviors, which thus makes CSR of interest to micro researchers. A major contribution of our study is the confirmation that a firm’s CSR plays an important role as an antecedent variable of employees’ OCB, which may enrich the OCB literature. In contrast, research elsewhere has to date been restricted to the study of job satisfaction, perceptions of organizational justice, organizational commitment, personality characteristics, task characteristics, and leadership behavior (Organ and Ryan 1995) as influential factors on OCB. In short, our study has crucial implications for both the micro and macro fields of study by suggesting that a firm’s CSR involvement is not only a macro/corporate level activity for external audiences in society, but also a micro/individual level concern that has ramifications for employees’ behaviors.

Second, our study extends prior research by identifying a mechanism for how employees’ perceptions toward their firm’s CSR influence their OCB by explaining the key role of organizational identification as a mediator on the relationship between the two variables. That is, our study found that employees’ perceptions about their firm’s CSR greatly affect the extent to which they identify themselves with their organization, which ultimately shapes their OCB within the organization. Our findings are consistent with previous findings that employees respond positively to their firm’s societal investments, in line with social identity theory (Peterson 2004). While Jones’s (2010) research found that employees who participate in their firm’s volunteer programs are more likely to identify themselves with their firm and ultimately boost OCB, our study shows that all employees who perceive and witness but do not necessarily engage in their firm’s CSR activities also tend to identify themselves with the firm, with the corresponding increase in OCB.

Third, while the effects of personal traits on employees’ perceptions of CSR have been a topic of great interest, little research has examined their relationships with it. In particular, although much research has investigated the relationship between employees’ perceptions of CSR and employee outcomes, such as organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and job performance (Evans et al. 2010; Lin et al. 2010; Maignan et al. 1999), few studies have examined the moderating effects of individual traits on the relationship between employees’ perceptions of CSR and employee outcomes (Hofman and Newman 2014). Most of the previous CSR research has tended to examine the role of customers’ personal traits in relation to their CSR perceptions, but our study extends the research on CSR beyond its predominant focus on external stakeholders (Waddock et al. 2002). Thus, our study contributes to the literature relating to employees’ perceptions of CSR and organizational identification by revealing the moderating effects of gender, age, and work experience on the link between the two. We consider this to be a very important yet largely overlooked area in the literature. The discovery of the moderating role of work experience on the relationship between employees’ CSR perceptions and employee outcomes such as organizational identification is of particular significance.

Finally, we contribute to the current paucity in the service marketing literature in this particular area by empirically demonstrating that a service employee’s perception about a firm’s CSR can affect his or her OCB in terms of organizational identification. Prior research has focused on the relationship between corporate engagement in CSR and variables associated with customer domains, but there have been no previous studies that highlight the behaviors of service employees in response to a firm’s CSR. This research, therefore, sheds light on the crucial role of firms’ CSR activities on service employees within an organization as well as customers outside the organization.

Practical Implications

Our paper has several important implications for practitioners. First, when applied practically within the hotel industry, the findings of our study suggest that hotel operators should let their service employees know in detail about company CSR activities in order to promote customer-oriented OCBs. The narratives of a hotel’s CSR activities, as they circulate through the hotel, develop a shared recognition of corporate value, such as an overall sense of social justice, compassion, virtue, and equity toward society, that directly strengthens service employees’ positive sense-making about their firm. Seeing their organization as a care-providing system and a source of social support and healing (Kahn 1993) leads to stronger organizational identification and better customer-oriented OCB. Thus, a variety of communication channels, such as an intranet, staff letters, employee meetings, and team briefings, should be used to heighten awareness of the hotel’s engagement in CSR, which may encourage frontline employees in the hotel to act in a conscientious manner in activities associated with service delivery to customers. Furthermore, a hotel’s communication efforts through its corporate website or advertisements could be an effective communication tool for promoting a positive CSR image amongst its employees as much as the general public (Gröschl 2011).

Second, hoteliers can extend their traditional target market analyses by highlighting CSR activities in the hotel. Our model has the potential to help hotel operators seeking to devise CSR strategies which will not only procure favorable employee attitudes and behaviors, but will also attract customers with high environmental and societal concerns. Our study encourages hotel operators to build environments that embed CSR in every aspect of HR work, including recruitment, career and talent management, and incentive design, leading to a potential return on CSR activities both in terms of employees’ positive behaviors and customers’ positive reactions. For instance, socially-conscious customers are more likely to build up deeper interactions with hotels (Kang et al. 2012), since they are not only seeking to satisfy luxurious or hedonic needs but are also looking for emotional satisfaction through a sense of good citizenship by selecting a hotel engaged in CSR. Thus, our study provides hoteliers with grounds to reconsider the role of CSR as a tool for expanding the traditional target market, which can attract hotel guests with higher degrees of environmental concern who are willing to pay a premium for a hotel’s green initiatives.

Finally, our study helps managers in hotels understand the important role of frontline employees’ personal traits such as gender, age, and work experience on the relationship between their perceptions of CSR and organizational identification. The issue of different individual traits raises the question of how to motivate service employees in the workplace and how to make them identify with the hotel (Brimeyer et al. 2010). Thus, hoteliers responsible for determining the strategic approach to CSR should consider the different effects of service employees’ CSR perceptions on their organizational identification according to personal traits. Specifically, it is in the interests of these hotel operators to implement CSR strategies and initiatives which are differentiated by service employees’ individual traits in order to maximize their organizational identification. For example, the results of our study show that hotels which target male employees, elderly workers, and staff with extensive work experience probably put themselves in a more advantageous position when investing in social initiatives as a way to build and further deepen organizational identification.

Limitations and Future Research

This research has several limitations that may have affected the results. First, we used self-reported scales for all the analyses. The use of self-reports potentially raises concerns about common method bias (Podsakoff et al. 2012). For example, self-reported data from a single source can inflate the relationship between predictor and dependent variables. Future research may strive to avoid the common method bias problem by collecting data from different sources or by using longitudinal designs. Second, the measurement items of this study are likely to be influenced by participants’ social desirability. Podsakoff and Organ (1986) suggested that shared method variance can be due to social desirability. Therefore, future research should directly measure social desirability and control for its effect. Specifically, social desirability can be used as a marker variable and used for partial correlation analysis to conclude whether common method variance is serious or not (Williams et al. 2010). Third, future research is needed to replicate our findings as well as examine whether our results generalize to employee behavioral outcomes. Fourth, our study did not separate the specific dimensions of CSR (Wang 2013); future research needs to identify each different effect of the specific dimensions of CSR, such as the economic, legal, ethical, and philanthropic effects, to see whether these dimensions have similar or different effects on employee outcomes.

Fifth, for the purpose of model parsimony, we did not incorporate boundary conditions at the organizational level that may influence the CSR-OCB relationship. In particular, organizational characteristics or context such as perceived organizational support and leader-member exchange may be potential moderators of the CSR-employee outcomes relationship. Therefore, future studies incorporating organizational characteristics or context would provide a better understanding of boundary conditions. Sixth, this study focused on hotel employees in South Korea. Future research which examined employees of other industries or involved cross-national studies would usefully validate our findings. Seventh, although a company’s behavior is built up of the behaviors of its individual employees, our study did not include the organizational effect that presumably underlies the organization-level differences in our statistical model. In order to avoid a methodological confusion, future research might usefully adopt a multilevel model, which may clarify the interplay of individual level and organizational-level characteristics in predicting the effects of CSR perceptions on OCB. Finally, since our current research used a questionnaire which was developed in a western culture, there is the likelihood of a degree of conceptual vagueness that is not congruent with the Korean samples. Thus, future research in this particular context would be advised to develop a questionnaire which reflects specific Korean issues, perhaps by conducting qualitative interviews with frontline hotel employees and managers in order to discover what they think about the relationship between CSR and OCB through their identification with the hotel.