Does CSR Matter for Nonprofit Organizations? Testing the Link Between CSR Performance and Trustworthiness in the Nonprofit Versus For-Profit Domain

Abstract

Drawing on attribution theory and expectancy violations theory, this paper examines the relevance of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in the nonprofit domain. For this task, an analysis of the effects of positive and negative CSR performance on perceived trustworthiness was conducted for nonprofit and for for-profit organizations. The findings of a survey-based experiment indicate that in the nonprofit domain, positive CSR performance does not significantly affect trustworthiness, whereas negative CSR performance significantly destroys trustworthiness. Since negative CSR performance is the result of irresponsible behavior, the study’s findings suggest that CSR in the nonprofit domain should be centered on “avoiding bad.”