Corporate Social Responsibility and Work Engagement: A Moderated Serial Mediation Model

ABSTRACT Research on how corporate social responsibility (CSR) impacts employees at the micro level has increased rapidly in recent years. Drawing on social information processing theory, we employed a moderated serial mediation model to explore the mechanisms through which perceived CSR affects employee work engagement. We also examined how perceived CSR instrumentality moderates the relationship. Our study has utilized a two‐wave survey ( N = 354) and a scenario experiment ( N = 230). The results support both mediation and moderation effects. Perceived CSR positively affects employee work engagement, and the relationship is sequentially mediated by CSR authenticity perception and authentic living. Moreover, perceived CSR instrumentality moderates the serial mediating effect such that the indirect relationship between perceived CSR and work engagement is stronger when employees perceive the CSR instrumentality as low (vs. high). Our findings deepen understanding of the mechanism underlying the CSR work engagement relationship and offer practical implications for organizations conducting CSR initiatives.