Corporate social responsibility and social exchange theory: leveraging the socially responsible exchange framework

This chapter synthesizes how social exchange theory (SET) has been applied to individual-level corporate social responsibility (CSR) research (micro-CSR) by offering a framework that can further cross-fertilize micro-CSR studies and SET—the ‘Socially Responsible Exchange’ (SRE) framework. This framework integrates three mechanisms of CSR-induced reciprocation: responsive reciprocation, corresponding to dyadic economic exchange relationship triggered by internal CSR; signal-based reciprocation that refers to dyadic social exchange relationship triggered by external CSR towards primary stakeholders; and care-based reciprocation that points to generalized forms of social exchange triggered by external CSR towards secondary stakeholders. These mechanisms clarify how employees interpret and respond to CSR initiatives based on, respectively, relational, reputational, and moral cues. We then build on the SRE framework to develop a research agenda focused on rebalancing research towards more generalized forms of exchange; unpacking the nature of the exchanged resources; investigating how SRE mechanisms interact among themselves; and considering how individual-level moderators shape CSR-induced dynamics of social exchange.