Given the growing recognition of corporate social responsibility (CSR) as a strategic initiative, especially tied to major national events like the Olympics, this study explores how corporations’ sponsorship of national teams affects consumer-company identification (CCI) and subsequent positive and negative relational outcomes. Employing the social identity theory, the study examined how national identification can further translate into CCI via identity salience and reduce corporate hypocrisy via in-group bias, moderated by communal engagement on social media. To test the hypothesized relationships, an online survey ( N = 755) was conducted via Dynata. Results revealed that communal engagement significantly moderated the positive relationship between national identification and CCI, strengthening this link among highly engaged individuals. Moreover, elevated CCI further reduced corporate hypocrisy perceptions among those with low and moderate engagement, whereas its effect was minimal for highly engaged individuals. Those who strongly identified with companies sponsoring Team USA perceived a strong CCI, which further resulted in increase in positive word-of-mouth intentions. Lastly, the findings uncovered the double-edged role of highly engaged publics, as their heightened scrutiny weakened the mitigating effect of national identification on corporate hypocrisy. This highlighted their potential as both powerful advocates and critical evaluators of corporate actions. The findings offer practical insights into segmenting their audiences based on cause involvement on social media and adjusting CSR strategies accordingly.
Yang et al. (Wed,) studied this question.