Abstract
This study examined employees’ self-serving and genuine attributions of CEO activism as mediators, focusing on how they explain the process through which CEO’s transparent leadership communication impacts employees’ company advocacy and issue advocacy behaviors. With a survey of U.S. full-time employees, results showed that genuine attribution mediated the influence of transparent leadership communication on both advocacy variables. However, self-serving attribution was not identified as a significant mediator. Furthermore, though transparent leadership communication was not significantly associated with self-serving attribution, the latter was positively related to both issue advocacy intention and company advocacy intention. Highlighting the mediating roles of employee attributions, the findings of this study provide an advanced understanding of employee advocacy behaviors as impacted by transparent leadership communication in CEO activism.
•Transparent leadership communication increased genuine attribution.•Transparent leadership communication did not impact self-serving attribution.•Genuine attribution mediated the impact of transparent communication on advocacy.•Genuine and self-serving attributions influenced employee advocacy positively.