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This study answers a call for detailed models capable of addressing and describing how the function of CI attributes and practices can drive the implementation of CSR initiatives and programs, given little empirical research has examined these processes (Lindgreen et al., 2009; Polonsky & Jevons, 2009; Powell, 2011; Vallaster et al., 2012; Tourky et al., 2020). In addition, current research shows that core hindrances to CSR success are that managers have ‘little knowledge of CSR implementation processes’ an that half of all sampled managers ‘lack a clear action plan’(Moratis & Cochius 2011). Addressing this lacuna, this paper investigates the relationship between Corporate Identity (CI) dimensions and CSR.

CSR’s perceived importance has led to theoretical advances and classification schemas which assume that public relations and/or external environmental factors may be prime drivers in incorporating CSR, with little emphasis on organizations themselves (ie their internal environment)(Lindgreen et al., 2016), while research offers little guidance on implementing CSR (Vallaster et al., 2012). This has severe implications internally and externally, since a company may struggle to create the commitment among its employees to the causes it may espouse. To the employees, CSR appears not as a consequence of the core business process, but rather as a separate task that companies impose, aiming at short-term results and maximum benefits (Ligeti and Oravecz, 2009). Therefore, we argue that CI could provide the catalyst and optimal platform for developing and implementing CSR in congruence with what the company stands for. This …