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CSR Strategies for (Re)gaining Legitimacy

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Values and Corporate Responsibility

Abstract

In times when numerous scandals have challenged companies’ social legitimacy, CSR might serve as a legitimacy booster. But which is the most effective CSR strategy for improving legitimacy? This study examines how corporate social responsibility activity (CSRA) and corporate social responsibility communication (CSRC) impact legitimacy. The empirical results indicate that neither CSRA nor CSRC has a standalone effect; nonetheless, CSR is important for legitimacy: A CSR strategy that combines high levels of CSRA with low levels of CSRC emerges as the most effective for (re)gaining legitimacy, while an opposite strategy that combines low levels of CSRA with high levels of CSRC emerges as the worst.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Karlsruhe Institute of Management, Karlsruhe, Germany

    Florian Weber

  2. Vlerick Business School, Brussels, Belgium

    Kerstin Fehre

Authors
  1. Florian Weber
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  2. Kerstin Fehre
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Correspondence to Florian Weber .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Brighton Business School, University of Brighton, Brighton, UK

    Francisca Farache

  2. School of Business, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK

    Georgiana Grigore

  3. Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Bucharest, Romania

    Alin Stancu

  4. Bournemouth University, Bournemouth, UK

    David McQueen

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Weber, F., Fehre, K. (2020). CSR Strategies for (Re)gaining Legitimacy. In: Farache, F., Grigore, G., Stancu, A., McQueen, D. (eds) Values and Corporate Responsibility. Palgrave Studies in Governance, Leadership and Responsibility. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-52466-1_8

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