The psychological microfoundations of corporate social responsibility: A person‐centric systematic review

TLDR

This article consolidates the psychological microfoundations of CSR by reviewing recent person‑focused research. The authors conduct a systematic review, identifying, synthesizing, and organizing three streams—drivers, evaluation processes, and reactions—into a coherent behavioral framework. The review reveals gaps, methodological issues, and imbalances across the three components, highlights the need to conceptualize interactions among multiple drivers and mechanisms, and proposes an agenda addressing six key challenges. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Abstract

Summary This article aims to consolidate the psychological microfoundations of corporate social responsibility (CSR) by taking stock and evaluating the recent surge of person‐focused CSR research. With a systematic review, the authors identify, synthesize, and organize three streams of micro‐CSR studies—focused on (i) individual drivers of CSR engagement, (ii) individual processes of CSR evaluations, and (iii) individual reactions to CSR initiatives—into a coherent behavioral framework. This review highlights significant gaps, methodological issues, and imbalances in the treatment of the three components in prior micro‐CSR research. It uncovers the need to conceptualize how multiple drivers of CSR interact and how the plurality of mechanisms and boundary conditions that can explain individual reactions to CSR might be integrated theoretically. By organizing micro‐CSR studies into a coherent framework, this review also reveals the lack of connections within and between substreams of micro‐CSR research; to tackle them, this article proposes an agenda for further research, focused on six key challenges. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.