The relationship between environmental
CSR and organizational attractiveness
explained.
Corporate green image partially positively explains the relation between environmental CSR and organizational attractiveness.
Author: Maria Dam Student ID-card number: 10456171
Supervisor: Iina Hellsten Master thesis Graduate School of Communication Corporate communication track 30-01-2020
2 Abstract
Organizational attractiveness is vital in the “war for talent”, previous research has shown that many factors can contribute to the organizational attractiveness. In this research the relationship between environmental CSR strategy and organizational attractiveness is explored. By including the mediators: corporate general image and corporate green image, and the moderators: environmental concern and industry type, this research provides insight on an important topic. This can be profitable for organizations in search for the most suited employees.
To explore the relation between environmental CSR and organizational attractiveness, a true experiment was performed. Each of the participants were exposed to a job advertisement, containing either an oil and gas industry with an environmental CSR strategy, a sustainable energy industry with an environmental CSR strategy, an oil and gas industry with a marketing strategy or a sustainable energy industry with a marketing strategy.
The results show that an environmental CSR strategy positively affects the organizational attractiveness and that corporate green image positively mediates this relationship. The relationship between environmental CSR and organizational attractiveness is not moderated by the environmental concern and industry type. Altogether, this research has explored more background on an already known relation and therefore gives more insight into the relationship between CSR and organizational attractiveness.
3 Introduction
The theme of my master thesis is the effect of Environmental Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) on the organizational attractiveness. CSR has an important place on the corporate agenda because nowadays society shows a socially interested market (Du, Bhattacharya & Sen, 2010). Especially individuals who are born after 1982 (millennials) are really concerned about ethics and are therefore sensitive for CSR (Klimkiewicz & Oltra, 2017).
The article of Pollach (2015) explains how relevant CSR can be for an organization. It can be
used to maintain legitimacy and to differentiate from other corporations (Pollach, 2015). “CSR
is defined as the degree to which organizations embrace social and environmental considerations alongside economic ones in their business operations and relationship with stakeholders” (adapted from Duarte, Gomes & Das Neves, 2014, p. 23).
In addition, research has shown that CSR is positively related to the corporate image. “Corporate image is the mental picture of the company held by its audiences” (adapted from Gray & Balmer, 1998, p. 696). Corporate image has shown to affect job satisfaction, organizational commitment, organizational attractiveness and job choice (Duarte et al., 2014; Gatewood, Gowan & Lautenschlager, 1993). Being able to attract the most interesting and best qualified employees is vital to the success of an organization. This is also described as the “war for talent” (Bhattacharya, Sen & Korschun, 2008).
A lot has been researched on the topic CSR, and its effect on different types of
stakeholders. Duarte et al. (2014), Klimkiewicz and Oltra (2017) and Lee, Lee, Gao, Xiao and
Conklin (2018) have shown a relationship between CSR and organizational attractiveness. However, very little is known about this relationship in an environmentally focused setting. Environment is a widely discussed political topic at the moment. Even though research has shown that climate change exists, there is still a political and research discussion about the cause (Loveland, Smith & Smith, 2019). Little research has been done on explaining this
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relationship between environmental CSR and organizational attractiveness and this research gap would therefore be interesting to further study. Organizational attractiveness is defined as the degree to which an applicant is attracted to work at a certain organization (Loveland et al.,
2019). Inspiring organizational attractiveness is relevant for organizations in the “war for talent” (Bhattacharya et al., 2008).
Sweeney and Coughlan (2008) explained it is essential to incorporate the industry type in CSR research, since some type of industries are experienced as more socially responsible compared to other industries. They also explained how several industries use different types of CSR, their CSR types are differentiated by the focus on stakeholder types. Stakeholders are a group or an individual who can be affected or affect an organization (Sweeney & Coughlan, 2008). Oil and gas industry for instance mainly focus on environmental CSR (environment can be affected by an organization), while telecom companies focus on customer CSR (Sweeney & Coughlan, 2008). Since environmental CSR is widely used by oil and gas organizations, it is vital to include oil and gas industry as an industry type in the research of environmental CSR. The oil and gas industry is one of the least popular industries compared to industries like banking, advertising or accounting, however environment improving advertisement strategies have shown to improve the corporate image of this industry (Loveland et al., 2019).
The opposite of an oil and gas industry is the sustainable energy industry, like windmill or solar panels industry. Unlike the oil and gas industry they are already involved in renewable energy and sustainability. Sweeney and Coughlan (2008) explained how different type of industries even without CSR have a different social responsibility and it would be really interesting to compare these industries in an environmental CSR strategy research.
Gully, Phillips, Castellano, Han and Kim (2013) explain the importance of a job seekers fit with the organization. Employees are known to be more attracted to an organization that
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shares in their values and believes (Gully et al., 2013). To research the relationship between environmental CSR and organizational attractiveness it seems therefore important to incorporate the environmental values.
Altogether, this research will focus on whether the effect of an environmental CSR strategy on organizational attractiveness can be explained by the corporate image. Little has been researched on this topic despite its relevance for organizations to be attractive for new applicants. In addition, the inclusion of the industry type is vital since different industries are different in social responsibility because of their occupation. The environmental concern should be incorporated because a different kind of perspective on environmental change might influence the organization attractiveness. This led to the following three research questions:
Q1: To what extent does an environmental CSR strategy affect the organizational attractiveness?
Q2: To what extent can the relation between environmental CSR strategy and organizational attractiveness be described by the corporate image?
Q3: To what extent is the relation between environmental CSR strategy and organizational attractiveness (mediated by corporate image) affected by the industrial type of the organization and concern about the environment of the respondent?
Theoretical framework
This research focuses on the effect of environmental CSR strategy on the organizational attractiveness for potential job applicants. CSR is the incorporation of social and environmental practices in addition to the economic goals in an organization (Duarte et al., 2014). Research has shown that building and maintaining long-term relationships with stakeholders is profitable for an organization (Barrena‐Martínez, López‐Fernández, Márquez‐Moreno & Romero‐
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Fernández, 2015). CSR has proven to be a considerable factor in improving these relationships (Barrena‐Martínez et al., 2015; Duarte, et al., 2014; Lee et al., 2018; Sen, Bhattacharya &
Korschun, 2006). For example, CSR improves organizations associations, attitudes and
identification of the stakeholders. In addition, stakeholders are more willing to invest, buy or find employment in the organization (Sen et al., 2006). By investing in CSR, it is likely that
this will increase the ability to attract and keep employees and to increase their productivity
(Lee et al., 2018). Prospective employees consider CSR an important factor in their selection
and search for a job. Moreover, prospective employees are more attracted to organizations which are known to be more socially responsible (Duarte et al., 2014). For this reason, it seems likely that an environmental CSR strategy will have a positive effect on the organizational attractiveness and therefore the first hypothesis states;
H 1: An environmental CSR strategy is more positively related to the organizational attractiveness compared to a marketing strategy.
A lot of research has shown that CSR positively influences the corporate image (Gatewood et al., 1993;Klimkiewicz & Oltra, 2017; Lin, Zeng, Wang, Zou & Ma, 2016; Melo & Garrido-Morgado, 2012). According to Gray and Balmer (1998) the corporate identity, corporate communication and corporate image are closely related. The corporate identity can be described as the organization’s strategic choices and its expression of these choices. The corporate communication is the expression of the organization’s identity. The corporate image is the stakeholder’s mental picture of the organization (Gray & Balmer, 1998). Including a CSR strategy could be a part of the corporate identity of an organization; this can be expressed in the corporate communication and will therefore have influence on the corporate image.
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In the early job choice process many applicants have little information about the organization. Therefore, a decision is based on a general impression. The general impression is also known as the organizational image (Gatewood et al., 1993). A good corporate image has shown to attract more prospect employees (Belt & Paolillo, 1982; Fombrun & Shanley, 1990;
Gatewood et al., 1993). Duarte et al. (2014) and Klimkiewicz and Oltra (2017) have proven that the corporate image is related to the organizational attractiveness and the intention to apply for a job in the organization. Therefore, it seems likely that the effect of environmental CSR on the organizational attractiveness is mediated by the corporate image. Hence the following hypothesis;
H2: The effect of an environmental CSR strategy on the organizational attractiveness is positively mediated by the corporate image.
The occurrence of climate change is hardly denied however the involvement of humans is debated (Loveland et al., 2019). Gully et al.(2013) show in their research that employees are more attracted to organizations with same ethical values as they have. Hence, if an organization is involved in environmental CSR strategies this will probably reflect positively on individuals who are environmentally concerned. CSR strategies have been shown to have a positive effect on organizational attractiveness (Duarte et al., 2014; Gully et al., 2013). Bohlmann, Krumbholz and Zacher (2018) revealed the effect of environmental performance on the organizational attractiveness positively moderated by a positive attitude towards the environment. Since environmental performance and environmental CSR strategy are closely related, I predict that the environmental concern will also moderate the relationship between environmental CSR and the organizational attractiveness. Hence it seems plausible that environmental concern moderates the effect of environmental CSR strategy on the organizational attractiveness.
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Moreover, since I suspect that the effect of the strategy on the organizational attractiveness is mediated by the corporate image a moderated mediation effect seems plausible. The moderator environmental concern will very likely also affect de mediation interaction. Hence, the following two hypotheses;
H 3: The relation between environmental CSR strategy and organizational attractiveness is positively moderated by environmental concern.
H4: The effect of an environmental CSR strategy on the organizational attractiveness is positively mediated by the corporate image and this relationship is positively moderated by the environmental concern.
Duarte et al. (2014) revealed that an organization involved with CSR is more likely to
attract employees. However, the sincerity of the organization is an important factor to the stakeholders (Lee et al., 2018). Organizations which are perceived as insincere in their CSR strategy are punished by the stakeholders (Becker-Olsen, Cudmore & Hill, 2006; Becker-Olsen & Simmons, 2002; Brown and Dacin, 1997; Sen and Bhattacharya, 2001; Van de Ven, 2008). An environmental CSR strategy of an oil and gas organization can be seen as form of Greenwashing. Greenwashing is when an organization falsely presents itself as an environmental-friendly organization (Lee et al., 2018). Greenwashing or other forms of CSR strategy are sometimes seen as a show so the organization can continue with their business as usual (Woolfson & Beck, 2005; Du & Vieira, 2012). Since sincerity plays a role in the effect of CSR on corporate image and organizational attractiveness (Lee et al., 2018), it seems likely that an environmental CSR strategy is received as more sincere when the organization is involved in sustainable energy compared to the oil and gas industry. Godfrey, Merrill and
9 Hansen (2009) stated that organization in controversial industries, like oil and gas industries, face more difficulty in benefit from their CSR strategy compared to more neutral industries. Other research has shown that even though oil and gas companies try to improve their corporate image with environmentally friendly CSR, their stakeholders remain skeptical (Du & Vieira, 2012). According to Du and Vieira (2012) oil companies should invest more proactively in long-term sustainability and renewable energies. For this reason, it seems likely that the effect of environmental CSR on organizational attractiveness is positively related to a sustainable energy industry and negatively by an oil and gas industry type. In addition, the moderated mediation effect of both industry type and corporate image seems a likely interaction effect since industry type is likely to affect the corporate image and therefore the organizational attractiveness. Which lead to the final four hypotheses;
H 5A: The relation between environmental CSR strategy and organizational attractiveness is positively moderated by sustainable energy industry type.
H 5B: The relation between environmental CSR strategy and organizational attractiveness is negatively moderated by oil and gas industry type.
H 6A: The effect of an environmental CSR strategy on the organizational attractiveness is positively mediated by the corporate image and this relationship is positively moderated by sustainable energy industry type.
H 6B: The effect of an environmental CSR strategy on the organizational attractiveness is positively mediated by the corporate image and this relationship is negatively moderated by oil and gas industry type.
10 Method
Procedure
To answer the research question, a true experiment was performed through an online questionnaire. For this experiment respondents were gathered through convenient sampling. Only participants of 18 years and older were permitted in the experiment. The questionnaire was open for everyone. However, participants older than 67 are excluded, for they are not within the working age. For organizations it is irrelevant to attract retiree, consequently they are excluded for this research. The experiment was conducted through an internet questionnaire in Qualtrics. The questionnaire could be filled in at any place and any time as long as there was internet. The experiment could be filled in on computer, tablet or mobile phone. These conditions increased the external validity, as the conditions are comparable with the conditions individuals normally look for job advertisements. The participants got access to the questionnaire through a link, first they needed to answer some general questions like age, sex, education level and current occupation. Additionally, they were asked about their concern for the environment, this will be further elaborated in the measurements paragraph. These questions were followed by the randomization which was executed by Qualtrics. The randomization consisted of two independent variables, industry type (oil and gas vs sustainability) and organizational strategy (CSR vs marketing). The participants could only get one of these four conditions; oil and gas industry and environmental CSR strategy, oil and gas industry and marketing strategy, sustainable energy industry and environmental CSR strategy or sustainable energy industry and marketing strategy. The manipulation was followed by the survey, the survey contained questions about corporate image and organizational attractiveness, this will be further elaborated on in the next paragraphs. The questionnaire ended with the manipulation check, as explained in the manipulation check paragraph. The full extent of the questionnaire is added in appendix 1.
11 Stimulus material
The stimulus in this experiment was a job advertisement, for a job in either an oil and gas organization or a sustainable energy organization. Both industries could have had either an environmental CSR strategy or a marketing strategy. All four of the stimuli had exactly the same text except for a few words when it was absolutely necessary. For example, “Corporation X is one of the biggest players is the oil and gas industry”, this is a sentence from the oil and gas industry job offer. In the sustainability industry job over “oil and gas” is replaced by “sustainable energy”. The same held true for the environmental CSR strategy and marketing strategy. The environmental CSR strategy for instance included the following sentence; “Our main goal for the future is to become more sustainable and renewable”. While the marketing strategy included the following sentence; “Our main goal for the future is to improve our marketing strategy”. By minimizing the differences between the stimuli, this study increased its internal validity. The full texts are included in appendix 2.
Measures
Independent variable organizational strategy
In this experiment organizational strategy is the independent variable. This variable is a binary variable, the respondents could have had either the environmental CSR strategy or a marketing strategy. The moderator, industry type, is also a binary variable. The participants could either have an oil company with a job advertisement or a sustainable energy company with a job advertisement. The conditions included both a strategy and an industry which led to four different conditions; oil and gas with environmental CSR strategy, oil and gas with marketing strategy, sustainable with environmental CSR strategy and sustainable with marketing strategy.
12 Moderator environmental concern
Another moderator in this experiment is the environmental concern. This moderator is a pre-existing variable and was therefore tested in the pre-test with an existing scale (Schultz, 2001). The subjects got four statements concerning environmental concern and they answered these statements on a 7-pointed Likert scale from totally disagree to totally agree. Their concern was measured with statements like; “I am concerned about environmental problems because of the consequences for plants, marine life, birds and animals”. To check whether the four statements could be combined into one item which measures environmental concern, I used a factor analysis. The factor analysis showed that the four items could be combined to one factor (KMO=.80, p<.001). The factor had an eigenvalue of 2.88 and the factor explained 72.0% of the variance. The reliability analysis gave a Cronbach’s Alpha of 0.87 and therefore the items can be combined into one variable. After combining the variable, the overall environmental concern is M=5,76(SD=1.03).
Mediator corporate image
The mediator corporate image was tested in the survey with an existing scale, but slightly adapted for this research (Chang & Fong, 2010). The original scale measured only environmentally related corporate image. Therefore, the corporate image was measured with the same scale but without the references to the environment. Hence, the participants got eight statements on the corporate image. The statements on the corporate image related to the environment fitted with this research since the chosen industries are closely related to the environment. The corporate image scale consisted of statements like; “The products of this company are credible and stable”. An example of a statement of the corporate image more related to the environment is; “This company has sufficient abilities to meet the green needs of customers”. These statements were answered on a 7-pointed Likert scale from totally disagree to totally agree. To research whether the eight items that measure the corporate image could be
13 combined to one variable, a factor analysis was performed. The factor analysis showed that the items could not be combined to one factor. However, it could be combined to two factors (KMO=.87, p<.001). Hence, the variable had to be divided into the corporate image and the environmentally related image, henceforth the ‘corporate general image’ and the ‘corporate green image’. Two factors showed an eigenvalue above one, the corporate green image showed an eigenvalue of 4.80 and explained 59.9% of the variance. The corporate general image had an eigenvalue of 1.33 and explained 16,1% of the variance. Both factors are however correlated with a correlation of 0.52. Before combining the factors, a reliability analysis was performed. The corporate green image had a Cronbach’s Alpha of 0.94 and the corporate general image a Cronbach’s Alpha of 0.80. In conclusion, the eight items were combined to two factors. After collapsing the questions into two factors the corporate general image is M=4.55(SD=.84) and the corporate green image is M=4.16(SD=1.30).
Organizational attractiveness
The dependent variable in this research is the organizational attractiveness. This was measured with an existing scale of five statements measuring the organizational attractiveness (Highhouse, Lievens & Sinar, 2003; Klimkiewicz & Oltra, 2017). The subjects answered the statements on a 7-pointed Likert scale from totally disagree to totally agree. This variable was measured with statements like; “For me, this company would be a good place to work”. To check if the items that measure organizational attractiveness could be combined to one factor a factor analysis was performed. This analysis showed that the items can be combined to one factor (KMO=.82, p<.001). The eigenvalue is 3.39 and explains 67% of the variance. The reliability analysis showed a Cronbach’s Alpha of 0.88. Therefore, the items were combined to one factor, the organizational attractiveness mean is M=4.26(SD=1.29).
14 Manipulation check
The participants were exposed to one of the four conditions and to check whether or not the manipulation had an impact, a manipulation check was executed. The manipulation check questions are authentic. The effect of the independent variable environmental CSR strategy was checked with the following question: “What is the aim of the company”? The subjects could choose either “the company aims at sustainability” or “the company aims at brand awareness”. The effect of the moderator industry type was checked with the following question: “What type of industry is Corporation X”? The participants could select either “sustainable industry” or “oil and gas”. The manipulation check was performed by a cross tabulation analysis. The check for the strategy showed a significant result (p<.001) with the following association 0.13. Of all the participants who read a job offer from an oil and gas industry with environmental CSR strategy, 82.1% recognized it to be an environmental CSR strategy. Of all the participants that saw a sustainable energy industry with environmental CSR strategy, 85,7% recognized it to be an environmental CSR strategy. The marketing strategy was also recognized by most of the participants. In the oil and gas industry with marketing strategy, 82.6% recognized the marketing strategy. In the sustainable energy industry with marketing strategy, 68,2% recognized the marketing strategy. The manipulation check for industry also showed a significant relation (p<.001) with an association of 0.16. In the oil and gas industry with environmental CSR strategy 79.5% recognized the organization to be an oil and gas industry. This was 80.4% in the oil and gas industry with marketing strategy. In the sustainability industry with environmental CSR strategy 89,3% recognized the organization to be a sustainable industry. This was 86.4% in the sustainable industry with marketing strategy. Hence, it can be concluded that the manipulation worked.
15 Results
Main effects
The experiment obtained 248 responses; however, 46 responses were incomplete and therefore excluded from the experiment. From the remaining responses, five participants were excluded for being too old and nine for being too young. Three participants did not agree with the terms and finally a group of 185 participants remained. More than half of the subject group was female (115). The age ranged from 18 till 64 with a mean age of 33 (SD=12.9). The majority of the subject group is considered to be educated at a high level, as 102 participants a finished university degree. The other part of the group finished 41 HBO, 17 MBO and 25 finished high school. Of all the participants, 53.5% are employed, 40.5% are students and 6% is unemployed or other. The subject group overall seemed very environmentally concerned with a mean of 5.74(SD=1.03) on 7-pointed scale.
To check if the randomization had an effect on the organizational attractiveness a univariate ANOVA was performed. The analysis showed a significant result for the model F=9.71, p<.001. This means there is a difference between at least two of the randomized groups. The results show that the participants who read a job offer containing Oil and gas (M=4.67, SD=1.20) or Sustainability (M=4.73, SD=1.12) with environmental CSR strategy were significantly more attracted to the organization compared to the participants who read a marketing strategy in combination with either oil and gas (M=3.59, SD=1.12) or sustainable (M=3.99, SD=1.40)(Oil and gas: MCSR-Marketing=1.08, p<.001, Sustainable: MCSR-Marketing=.73, p=.018). There is no difference between oil and gas with environmental CSR compared to sustainable with environmental CSR (MOil & gas-Sustainable=-.05, p=1.000). Also, in the oil and gas with marketing compared to sustainable with marketing there is no significant difference (MOil &gas-Sustainable =.40, p=.710).
16 An independent sample t-test showed a tentatively significant difference between the organizational attractiveness of an oil and gas industry and a sustainable energy industry (t=-1.66, p=.098, Moil & gas-sustainable=-3.15 95% [-0.689, 0.059]. The sustainable energy organization (M=4.40, SD=1.30) on average is more attractive compared to the oil and gas organization (M=4.09, SD=1.27).
Direct effect of organizational strategy on organizational attractiveness
The first hypothesis is about the effect of organizational strategy (environmental CSR strategy vs. marketing strategy) on the organizational attractiveness. To check this hypothesis the group was randomly divided between a marketing strategy (N=90) and an environmental CSR strategy (N=95). After reading one of the strategies, the organizational attractiveness was measured. To compare the two conditions, an independent sample t-test was conducted. The results of the t-test showed that an organization with an environmental CSR strategy (M=4.70, SD=1.15) was significantly more attractive compared to an organization with a marketing strategy (M=3.79, SD=1.27) (t=-5.15, p<.001, M marketing-CSR= -.92, 95% [-1.267, -0.566]). Which means that an environmental CSR strategy has a significantly more positive effect on the organizational attractiveness compared to a marketing strategy. Hence, the first hypothesis is confirmed by these results.
Mediation effect of corporate image
The second hypothesis is about the mediation effect of organizational strategy on organizational attractiveness mediated by corporate image. In this case the organizational strategy is the independent variable, the organizational attractiveness the dependent variable and the corporate general image and the corporate green image are the mediator. A simple mediation bootstrapping procedure (Preacher, Rucker, & Hayes, 2007) in a PROCESS SPSS
17 macro (Model 4; 5,000 bootstraps; Hayes, 2012), with Marketing=0 and environmental CSR=1 was conducted. The results show that an environmental CSR strategy has a more positive effect on corporate general image (b=.26 p=.046, 95% [0.005, 0.520]) and on corporate green image (b=.78, p<0.001, 95% [0.415, 1,137]) compared to a marketing strategy. The direct effect of strategy on organizational attractiveness also showed that environmental CSR strategy has a more positive effect compared to a marketing strategy (b=.60, p<.001, 95% [0.269, 0.932]). The corporate general image showed to have a slight but not significant effect on organizational attractiveness (b=.17, p=.144, 95% [-0.057, 0.390]). The corporate green image however has a significant positive effect on organizational attractiveness (b=.35, p<.001, 95% [0.192, 0.511]). The interaction effect of strategy on organizational attractiveness mediated by corporate general image is not significant (b=.03, 95% [-0.014, 0,125]). The interaction effect of the strategy on organizational attractiveness mediated by the corporate green image is significant (b=.211, 95% [0.076, 0.385]). In addition, an environmental CSR strategy has a more positive effect on corporate general image and corporate green image compared to a marketing strategy. However, the corporate general image does not have a significant effect on the organizational attractiveness. The corporate green image on the other hand, did show to have an effect on organizational attractiveness. To conclude, the effect of organizational strategy on organizational attractiveness is not mediated by corporate general image but is mediated by the corporate green image. A summary of the results is displayed in figure 1. The second hypothesis can therefore be abandoned for the corporate general image and the hypothesis is confirmed for the corporate green image.
18 Figure 1: The relationship between organizational strategy and organizational attractiveness mediated by corporate image.
* The result is significant, p<.05.
Moderation effect of environmental concern
The third hypothesis, the effect of environmental CSR strategy on organizational attractiveness is moderated by environmental concern. In this case, the strategy is the independent variable and the organizational attractiveness is the dependent variable. The environmental concern is the moderator. For this analysis a simple moderating bootstrapping procedure was used (Preacher et al., 2007) in a PROCESS SPSS macro (Model 1; 5,000 bootstraps; Hayes, 2012), with Marketing=0 and environmental CSR=1. The analysis showed no significant interaction effect between the variables (b=.25, p=.159, 95% [-0.097, 0.589]). The results show that environmental concern has no moderating effect on the relation between organizational strategy and organizational attractiveness. Therefore, the third hypothesis can be rejected.
19 Moderated mediation effect of environmental concern and corporate image
The fourth hypothesis about the moderated mediation effect of the relationship between organizational strategy and organizational attractiveness mediated by the corporate image and moderated by the environmental concern. A moderating mediation bootstrapping procedure was used (Preacher et al., 2007) in a PROCESS SPSS macro (Model 7; 5,000 bootstraps; Hayes, 2012), with Marketing=0 and environmental CSR=1. The moderator was added on the A-path. The analysis showed that the interaction effect of the strategy on the corporate general image moderated by the environmental concern showed no significant effect (b=-.15, p=.257 95% [0.26, -0.40]). Also, the interaction effect of the strategy on the corporate green image moderated by the environmental concern showed no significant effect (b=-.08, p=.640, 95% [0.640, -0.441]). The overall indirect effect of strategy on organizational attractiveness mediated by corporate general image and moderated by environmental concern showed no effect. The same applies for the indirect effect of strategy on organizational attractiveness mediated by corporate green image and moderated by environmental concern. A summary of these results is displayed in figure 2. Therefore, we can reject the fourth hypothesis.
20 Figure 2: The relationship between organizational strategy and organizational attractiveness mediated by corporate image (corporate general image and corporate green image) and moderated by environmental concern.
*The result is significant, p<.05.
Moderation effect of industry type
For the fifth hypothesis, the moderating effect of industry type, a one-way ANOVA was conducted. In this analysis the organizational strategy was the independent variable, the organizational attractiveness the dependent variable and the industry type the moderator. The analysis showed a significant effect of organizational strategy on organizational attractiveness (F=25.664, p<.001). However, the interaction effect of organizational strategy and industry type on organizational attractiveness is not significant (F=.935, p=.335). In the environmental CSR strategy condition, there is no difference between the sustainable (M=4.72, SD=1.12) and the oil and gas (M=4.67, SD=1.20) industry types (MSustainable-oil&gas=.05, p=.833). However, in the
21 marketing strategy condition, a sustainable (M=3.99, SD=1.40) industry is more attractive compared to an oil and gas (M=3.59, SD=1.11) industry, this difference is not significant (MSustainable-oil&gas=0.400, p=.118). Hence, in both the environmental CSR strategy and the marketing strategy, the results show a significant difference between the industry types. Since there is no significant difference, the fifth hypothesis both A and B can be rejected.
Moderated mediation effect of industry type and corporate image
The sixth and final hypothesis is about the mediating effect of image and the moderating effect of industry type on the relation between organizational strategy and organizational attractiveness. For this analysis, a moderating mediation bootstrapping procedure was used (Preacher et al., 2007) in a PROCESS SPSS macro (Model 7; 5,000 bootstraps; Hayes, 2012), with Marketing=0 and environmental CSR=1. The moderator industry type was added on the A-path. The results of this analysis show that there is no significant moderating effect of industry type on the effect of organizational strategy on corporate general image (b=-.01, p=.975, 95% [-0.530, 0.514]. The interaction effect of organizational strategy on corporate green image moderated by industry type also showed no significant effect (b=-.289, p=.411, 95% [-0.972, 0.399]. The interaction effect of organizational strategy mediated by corporate green image on organizational attractiveness and moderated by industry showed no significant outcome between the industry types. The same applies to the interaction effect on strategy mediated by corporate general image on the attractiveness and moderated by industry type. A summary of these results is displayed in figure 3. Therefore, hypothesis 6A and 6B can be abandoned.
22 Figure 3: The relationship between organizational strategy and organizational attractiveness mediated by corporate image (corporate general image and corporate green image) and moderated by industry type.
*The result is significant, p<.05.
Discussion
This research tried to explore the effect of environmental CSR strategy on the organizational attractiveness. In addition, a mediation effect of the corporate image (corporate general image and corporate green image) was researched and whether this was moderated by the industry type and the environmental concern of the respondents. The, in the results presented, positive effect of an environmental CSR strategy in comparison to a marketing strategy on the organizational attractiveness is in line with the literature (Duarte et al., 2014; Klimkiewicz & Oltra, 2017; Lee et al., 2018). As this result is explained in previous research,
23 it is likely that the use of environmental CSR strategy does increase the organizational attractiveness in the society.
Another finding of this research is the effect of environmental CSR strategy mediated by the corporate green image on the organizational attractiveness. Duarte et al. (2014), Gatewood et al. (1993) and Klimkiewicz and Oltra (2017) revealed that CSR positively affects corporate image, which is confirmed by the results of this research. Klimkiwsics and Oltra (2017) discovered a mediation effect of corporate image on the relationship between CSR and organizational attractiveness. The results in this study could not explain the mediation relationship between environmental CSR strategy and organizational attractiveness with the corporate general image, but it could with the corporate green image. This is an interesting outcome, since the results in this study contradicts previous research and points to a new relationship. As far as I know the mediating relationship of corporate green image on the relationship between environmental CSR strategy and organizational attractiveness has never been researched. Amores-Salvadó, Martín-de Castro and Navas-López (2014) described the positive mediating effect of corporate green image on the relationship between the environmental product innovation and firm performance. Since this study is somewhat comparable with this study it could be indicated that the corporate green image as mediator between strategy and organizational attractiveness is likely. The industry types used in this study, oil and gas industry and sustainable energy industry, are often linked with environmental issues. This might have influenced the participants in more environmental thinking and could therefore have increased the importance of corporate green image and diminished the importance of corporate general image. The corporate general image and the corporate green image both explain what mental picture the participance have of the organization. However, corporate general image in this research focused more on the image of the product and services
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provided by the organization, while the corporate green image focused more on the product and services in regard with the environment.
As seen in the results environmental concern did not moderate the relationship between environmental CSR strategy and organizational attractiveness. This is a surprising outcome since previous research showed evidence of this moderating effect (Bohlmann et al., 2018;
Gully et al., 2013). The high environmental concern of the participants prior to the experiment might explain why environmental concern did not moderate the relation between environmental CSR strategy and organizational attractiveness.
In the environmental CSR strategy, the results showed a slight difference between the industry types on the organizational attractiveness. Which means that an environmental CSR strategy is more effective in the oil and gas industry compared to the sustainable energy industry, this is disclaimed by previous studies. Du and Vieira (2012) explain for instance that CSR is mostly ill received in oil and gas industries by the stakeholders compared to other more neutral industries. Which is interesting since the environmental CSR strategy in this research suggested to be more effective in an oil and gas industry compared to a sustainable energy industry. The research of Lee et al. (2018) emphasizes the sincerity of organizations in the effect of CSR on the organizational attractiveness. When an organization is perceived as insincere in their CSR strategy, stakeholders tend to punish these organizations. Lee et al. (2018) also explained that oil and gas organizations with an environmental CSR strategy is often seen as greenwashing and is therefore perceived as insincere. This also contradicts the outcome of this research. Even though Du and Vieira (2012) and Lee et al. (2018) would suggest that environmental CSR strategy of a sustainable energy organization would lead to more organizational attractiveness compared to an oil and gas industry, this research shows the opposite outcome. This is very interesting and might explain why CSR is used more in
25
controversial industries like the oil and gas industry compared to less controversial industries (Kilian & Hennigs, 2014).
Limitations and future research
In order to look critically at this research, it is important to know that there were some limitations in this experiment. Due to time and budget limits, the gathering of the participants was executed with the convenient sampling method. This unintendedly badly influenced the external validity, since the subject group is not representative for the overall population. This sampling method also increased the risk of contamination, for participants are not in a controlled environment and can therefore discuss everything with other participants. In addition, the aim was to gather at least 200 participants, however in the end 185 individuals participated. The gathering of the last twenty participants was with great difficulty and finding another fifteen participants would have cost too much time which could be spend more productively. The number of subjects in a research does have an effect on the outcome, therefore this is an important limitation in this research. For future research I would recommend taking more time to gather participants to increase the number of responses. Additionally, I would recommend using the random sampling method to increase the external validity.
The greater part of the subject group was highly educated and relatively young compared to the overall population. This can have had an effect on the results. For instance, environmental concern showed to be higher than expected. The literature has shown that younger people are more concerned about ethical issues and CSR issues, which indicates they are also probably more concerned about the environment compared to older individuals (Klimkiewicz & Oltra, 2017). This explains why environmental concern was so high and probably influenced the final results. Although this research showed no effect of the moderator environmental concern, in future research the environmental concern could
26 possibly be a more vital influencer on the relations between strategy and organizational
attractiveness, if there is more variety among the participants.
The corporate general image could not significantly explain the relation between strategy and organizational attractiveness. This might be due to the adjusted scale used to measure the corporate general image. The adjusted scale was not pre-tested due to limited time. However, this is recommendable for future research, since this might have influenced the results. Moreover, for future studies different type of corporate images could be researched to understand more about which type of corporate image best explains the relationship between CSR strategy and organizational attractiveness.
Furthermore, even though trying to explain the industry and strategy as clear as possible in the conditions, there were some participants who did not recognize the stimulus. Especially the sustainable industry in combination with the marketing strategy was not recognized by some individuals. This problem was even more severe in the pre-testing stage and by adjusting some lay-out details the stimulus was more clearly recognizable. However, in the experiment some participants still showed not to have recognized the stimulus. Even though the amount of recognition increased in the experiment compared to the pre-test, this might have negatively influenced the experiment. For future research I would therefore recommend to further look at the effect of industry type in combination with CSR. The results did not show a significant difference between the CSR strategy and the marketing strategy in the oil and gas industry, but it did show a difference. This difference might be more prominent in the overall population and was not detected in this experiment due to the limitations of this research. However, if such a difference did occur in the population, organizations would know if a CSR strategy is beneficial for their industry when searching for employees. Continuing on the industry, in future research organizations could also profit from research on different CSR
27 strategies in combination with a variety of industries. This would give more insight in what type of CSR strategy would be most effective in the industries the organization operates.
Conclusion
The results of this research show a positive effect of environmental CSR strategy on the organizational attractiveness. The increase in organizational attractiveness caused by environmental CSR strategy can partially be explained by the corporate green image, since the corporate green image positively mediates this relation. However, this result could be biased by the research group, since they are overall concerned about the environment. Between the political discussion about the environment and critics commenting on oil and gas organizations, participants might be triggered by the society into more green thinking. This might explain why corporate green image does mediate and the corporate general image does not mediate the relation between strategy and organizational attractiveness.
Since there was little difference between the subject’s environmental concern, this moderator did not affect the relation between the environmental CSR strategy and organizational attractiveness. Additionally, no moderated mediation effect, with environmental concern as moderator and corporate image as mediator, was found on the relation between environmental CSR strategy and organizational attractiveness.
The moderator industry type revealed a difference in organizational attractiveness, however only in the marketing condition. The sustainable energy industry was more attractive compared to the oil and gas industry; nevertheless, this difference was not significant. This was an unexpected result, since this difference indicates that an environmental CSR strategy might be more effective in an oil and gas industry in comparison with a sustainable energy organization. With a larger, more varied group, a significant difference might have occurred.
28 CSR is a common research topic, however, combining all the variables included in this research adds more depth to CSR research. How this differs among industries and whether environmental concern and corporate image could influence the effect of CSR has come together in this research. Altogether, this research has explored more background on an already known relation and therefore gives more insight into the relationship between CSR and organizational attractiveness.
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33 Appendix 1
Are you 18 or older? - Yes - No Gender - Male - Female - Gender neutral
Use the slider to fill in your age 0-100
Highest finished education level - Middle school
- High school VMBO - High school HAVO/VWO - MBO - HBO - University Bachelor - University Master - PhD Current Occupation - Employed - Unemployed - Student - Other
Environmental concern (on a 7-pointed scale form totally agree to totally disagree) - I am concerned about environmental problems
- I am concerned about environmental problems because of the consequences for plants, marine life, birds and animals.
34 - I am concerned about environmental problems because of the consequences for me,
my lifestyle, my health and my future.
- I am concerned about environmental problems because of the consequences for all people and future generations.
Corporate image/reputation (on a 7-pointed scale form totally agree to totally disagree) - The green products of this company are credible and stable.
- This company has sufficient abilities to meet the green needs of customers. - This company has a fine environmental reputation.
- This company has excellent performance with respect to environmental management and green innovation.
- The products of this company are credible and stable.
- This company has sufficient abilities to meet the needs of customers. - This company has a fine reputation.
- This company has excellent performance with respect to management and innovation
Organizational attractiveness (on a 7-pointed scale form totally agree to totally disagree) - For me, this company would be a good place to work
- I would not be interested in this company except as a last resort. - This company is attractive to me as a place for employment. - I am interested in learning more about this company.
- A job at this company is very appealing to me.
- It is important for me to find a job in a company that I consider as socially responsible. - While reviewing job offers, I pay attention to whether the company is socially
responsible.
Manipulation check
- What type of industry is Corporation X? o Sustainable energy
o Oil and gas
- What is the aim of the company?
o The company aims at sustainability o The company aims at brand awareness
35 Appendix 2
Oil and gas industry with CSR strategy Who are we?
Corporation X is one of the biggest players is the oil and gas industry. Corporation X is a platform for international collaboration, we are offering direct employment to around
thousands of people in the Netherlands alone, including roughly 2,800 non-Dutch employees from around 80 countries. Diversity is key at Corporation X, and our employees reflect the innovation that stems from a diverse workforce. By joining Corporation X, you will benefit from an unrivalled industry-leading development program that will see you tap into a pool of expert knowledge that will help propel your career. Corporation X is the holding company of most offices operating in the Netherlands. Corporation X also has an advisory and
coordinating role in numerous areas.
What is our aim?
Corporation X leading oil and gas organization, our purpose is to power progress together with more and cleaner energy solutions. Our main goal for the future is to become more sustainable and renewable. The Global Organization Development Team is at the heart of enabling Corporation X to thrive in the Energy Transition by building a world class clean energy supplier. The world is changing at increasing pace and as such the ability of
individuals and organizations to adapt, innovate, fail, learn and improve is a real competitive advantage.
What do we offer: - A great salary
36 - A diverse and dynamic team
- An opportunity to assist Corporation X in achieving a world leading position in sustainability innovation.
Sustainable energy industry with CSR strategy Who are we?
Corporation X is one of the biggest players in the sustainable energy industry. Corporation X is a platform for international collaboration, we are X offering direct employment to around thousands of people in the Netherlands alone, including roughly 2,800 non-Dutch employees from around 80 countries. Diversity is key at Corporation X, and our employees reflect the innovation that stems from a diverse workforce. By joining Corporation X, you will benefit from an unrivalled industry-leading development program that will see you tap into a pool of expert knowledge that will help propel your career. Corporation X is the holding company of most offices operating in the Netherlands. Corporation X also has an advisory and
coordinating role in numerous areas.
What is our aim?
Corporation X leading sustainable energy organization, our purpose is to power progress together with more and cleaner energy solutions. Our main goal for the future is to
become more sustainable and renewable. The Global Organization Development Team is at the heart of enabling Corporation X to thrive in the Energy Transition by building a world class clean energy supplier. The world is changing at increasing pace and as such the ability of individuals and organizations to adapt, innovate, fail, learn and improve is a real
37 What do we offer:
- A great salary
- Growth opportunities
- A diverse and dynamic team
- An opportunity to assist Corporation X in achieving a world leading position in sustainability innovation.
Oil and gas industry with a marketing strategy Who are we?
Corporation X is one of the biggest players is the oil and gas industry. Corporation X is a platform for international collaboration, we are offering direct employment to around
thousands of people in the Netherlands alone, including roughly 2,800 non-Dutch employees from around 80 countries. Diversity is key at Corporation X, and our employees reflect the innovation that stems from a diverse workforce. By joining Corporation X, you will benefit from an unrivalled industry-leading development program that will see you tap into a pool of expert knowledge that will help propel your career. Corporation X is the holding company of most offices operating in the Netherlands. Corporation X also has an advisory and
coordinating role in numerous areas.
What is our aim?
Corporation X is one of the biggest organizations in this industry, our purpose is to create even more brand awareness. Our main goal for the future is to improve our marketing strategy. The Global Organization Marketing Team is at the heart of enabling Corporation X to thrive in brand awareness throughout the world. The world is changing at increasing pace
38 and as such the ability of individuals and organizations to adapt, learn and improve in
marketing strategy is a real competitive advantage.
What do we offer: - A great salary
- Growth opportunities
- A diverse and dynamic team
- An opportunity to assist Corporation X in achieving a worldwide brand awareness.
Sustainable energy industry with a marketing strategy Who are we?
Corporation X is one of the biggest players in the sustainable energy industry. Corporation X is a platform for international collaboration, we are offering direct employment to around thousands of people in the Netherlands alone, including roughly 2,800 non-Dutch employees from around 80 countries. Diversity is key at Corporation X, and our employees reflect the innovation that stems from a diverse workforce. By joining Corporation X, you will benefit from an unrivalled industry-leading development program that will see you tap into a pool of expert knowledge that will help propel your career. Corporation X is the holding company of most offices operating in the Netherlands. Corporation X also has an advisory and
coordinating role in numerous areas.
What is our aim?
Corporation X is one of the biggest organizations in this industry, our purpose is to create even more brand awareness. Our main goal for the future is to improve our marketing strategy. The Global Organization Marketing Team is at the heart of enabling Corporation X
39 to thrive in brand awareness throughout the world. The world is changing at increasing pace and as such the ability of individuals and organizations to adapt, learn and improve in
marketing strategy is a real competitive advantage.
What do we offer: - A great salary
- Growth opportunities
- A diverse and dynamic team
