The moderating role of national philanthropic environment in the relationship between advertising intensity and corporate social responsibility

Research concerning the relationship between advertising intensity and corporate social responsibility has yielded mixed results. Some scholars have found a positive link, supporting a complementary perspective, while others have found a negative link, supporting a substitute perspective. The authors of this current study employ a contingency perspective to propose that the focal relationship is moderated by national philanthropic environments, which reflects the propensity of a nation to be philanthropic. With a sample of 271 firms from 13 countries, a hierarchical linear model analysis was conducted, and the findings support the contingency perspective. Specifically, the results showed that in countries with high levels of national philanthropic environments there is a positive link between advertising intensity and corporate social responsibility, while in countries with lower national philanthropic environments, there is a negative link.