Corporate social responsibility and internal marketing: loyalty, job satisfaction and involvement

Purpose This study offers a novel contribution by jointly examining corporate social responsibility (CSR) and internal marketing (IM) as complementary drivers of workers’ loyalty (WL) – an approach rarely explored in existing research. It assesses how job satisfaction (JS) and workers’ involvement (WI) shape this relationship through a moderated-mediation mechanism. Design/methodology/approach A quantitative and cross-sectional research design was applied using a sample of 126 participants from a Portuguese higher education institution, selected due to its status as a public institution with active social responsibility projects and the integration of different internal marketing dimensions in its strategy. Findings CSR and IM both showed significant direct effects on WL, while JS mediated the IM–WL relationship. Moreover, WI moderated this mediation, confirming the existence of a conditional mechanism through which IM fosters loyalty differently among highly and less involved employees. Research limitations/implications The underlying mechanism relying on the moderated-mediation influence on the relation between IM and WL has revealed a conditional difference between low/highly involved workers. Interesting to find was that highly involved workers do not address the same importance over JS than a low involved workforce, implying a conditional influence of WI over the mediation effect of JS that challenges the theoretical grounds of the study. Practical implications Managers should recognize that highly involved employees respond more to purpose, recognition and value alignment than to improvements in job conditions, while less involved workers rely more on JS to feel loyal. Organizations can apply these findings to design targeted internal communication, leadership and HR strategies that balance symbolic and tangible rewards, strengthening workforce commitment and retention. Originality/value This study reveals a moderated-mediation process linking IM, JS, WI and WL, offering a fresh theoretical integration of social exchange, ecological and self-determination theories. It highlights that WL may emerge directly from shared purpose and organizational alignment, not solely from satisfaction with job conditions.