ADVOCACY-INTEGRATED CSR: CONCEPTUALIZING AND EXAMINING THE INTEGRATION OF CSR AND SOCIAL ADVOCACY CALL-TO-ACTION IN ORGANIC SOCIAL MEDIA COMMUNICATION

Corporate engagement with human rights (HR) issues has become a market norm, with companies increasingly taking strong stances on such issues via Corporate Social Advocacy (CSA) in addition to their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) efforts. This study provides original systematization to CSR-CSA integration, referred to as advocacy-integrated CSR (AICSR), in organic social media (SM) communication. We focus on answering a crucial question with theoretical and practical ramifications: Does incorporating CSA into CSR communication introduce additional risks, or is it more likely to enhance communication effectiveness than CSR alone? Using an experimental design (N=408), we statistically test how four CSR-AICSR communication strategies affect perceptions of corporate altruism and egoism and, in turn, influence moral legitimacy building and SM engagement. Our findings reveal that AICSR communication enhances perceptions of corporate altruism relative to CSR alone, but only when coupled with concrete evidence of corporate issue commitment (substantive AICSR). However, this integration can also provoke stronger negative reactions from hostile audiences, emphasizing the need for corporations to weigh the risks and benefits of adopting AICSR in HR communications taking into account audience's attitude toward issues.