Corporate Citizenship: Cultural Antecedents and Business Benefits Isabelle Maignan University of Groningen O. C. Ferrell Colorado State University G. Tomas M. Hult Florida State University The article explores the nature of corporate citizenship and its relevance for marketing practitioners and aca- demic researchers. Specifically, a conceptualization and operationalization of corporate citizenship are first pro- posed. Then, an empirical investigation conducted in two independent samples examines whether components of an organization's culture affect the level of commitment to corporate citizenship and whether corporate citizen- ship is conducive to business benefits. Survey results sug- gest that market-oriented cultures as welt as humanistic cultures lead to proactive corporate citizenship, which in turn is associated with improved levels of employee com- mitment, customer loyalty, and business performance. The results point to corporate citizenship as a potentially fruitful business practice both in terms of internal and ex- ternal marketing. Recent survey findings reveal that 88 percent of con- sumers are more likely to buy from a company that is socially responsible (Smith 1996), while 76 percent of them would switch to brands or stores that show concern about the community (Jones 1997). This consumer trend encourages companies to provide benefits to their various publics beyond those resulting directly from their core Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science. Volume 27, No. 4, pages 455-469. Copyright 9 1999 by Academy of Marketing Science. productive operations. With activities such as work-family policies, ethics compliance programs, corporate volun- teerism, or green marketing, an increasing number of busi- nesses show their commitment to corporate citizenship. The development of such practices is associated with the emerging idea that corporate citizenship is a good market practice (e.g., Burke and Logdson 1996; Mullen 1997). This viewpoint contrasts with the traditional perspective according to which the only responsibility of a finn is to make a profit (Friedman 1970). Consequently, many mar- keting practitioners are uncertain about the worthiness of expenditures in corporate citizenship (Brown and Dacin 1997). This skeptical position is further fueled by the lack of research on the potential marketing benefits of corpo- rate citizenship and by the inconsistent findings of past investigations of the relationship between corporate social performance and financial performance (Griffin and Mahon 1997; Waddock and Graves 1997; Wokutch and McKinney 1991). This article represents a first attempt at scrutinizing corporate citizenship from a marketing perspective, with a focus on some of its antecedents and benefits. The article (1) proposes a conceptualization and operationalization of corporate citizenship, (2) identifies the type of organiza- tional values likely to encourage decision makers to con- sider corporate citizenship in the development of market- ing strategies and tactics, and (3) identifies whether corporate citizenship is a marketing tool yielding concrete benefits in terms of employee commitment, customer loy- alty, and business performance.