The influence of volunteering on Chinese firm reputation
ISSN: 0025-1747
Article publication date: 17 April 2023
Issue publication date: 24 October 2023
Abstract
Purpose
This study empirically explores how firms configure the strength and the temporal and spatial features of corporate volunteering (CV) events to promote corporate reputation (CR).
Design/methodology/approach
Using event system theory as a framework and applying fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to 385 firms and 2,783 public respondents, this study explores the configurational effects of five elements of CV events—employee engagement, customer engagement, meagre incentive, duration and scope of influence—on two types of CR: capability reputation (CAR) and character reputation (CHR).
Findings
The results indicate that (1) the impact of volunteering on CR is not only configurational in nature, but also characterised by equifinality (i.e. the presence of multiple paths to success); (2) with meagre incentive and in the absence of scope-of-influence support, long-term employee and customer engagement in CV is sufficient to achieve high CAR; (3) adequate and diverse incentives, high employee engagement and a sufficiently broad scope of influence work well with either high customer engagement or long duration to achieve high CAR and CHR, respectively; (4) there are identical configurations that can achieve high CAR and CHR.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the CV and CR literature by extending the application of event system theory to proactive events.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Funding: This research was supported by The National Social Science Foundation of China (18ZDA052).
Data availability statement: The data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due to privacy or ethical restrictions.
Citation
Yu, J., Liu, J. and Xu, Q. (2023), "The influence of volunteering on Chinese firm reputation", Management Decision, Vol. 61 No. 10, pp. 3195-3214. https://doi.org/10.1108/MD-10-2022-1392
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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