How and When Perceived CSR Communication Fosters Employees' Meaningful Work Through Regulatory Pathways

ABSTRACT Organizations invest heavily in CSR communication to inspire employees, yet often face “deaf ears” or backlash when messages are dismissed as mere window‐dressing. This creates a practical challenge: how can managers ensure CSR dialogue genuinely fosters meaningful work instead of being perceived as corporate rhetoric? While prior research has examined a variety of CSR communication outcomes, it has given limited empirical attention to their implications for employees' meaningful work. Drawing on expectancy‐confirmation theory and attitude‐behavior‐context theory, this paper examines the boundary conditions shaping how perceived CSR communication relates to employees' meaningful work. We evaluate these relationships across two distinct empirical designs: a three‐wave survey of employees in Malaysia (Study 1) and a scenario‐based experiment in China (Study 2). While both studies demonstrate a positive baseline relationship between CSR communication and meaningful work, they reveal distinct boundary conditions. Study 1 highlights that this relationship is independently strengthened by CSR‐specific relative autonomy (i.e., employees' internalized, self‐determined motivation to engage in CSR) and weakened by CSR skepticism. In practical terms, this highlights that CSR communication is most effective when organizations grant employees the choice and autonomy to self‐endorse CSR initiatives, rather than applying top‐down organizational pressure. Moving further, Study 2 uncovers a joint contingency, showing how these individual and situational factors interact to shape employee perceptions. These findings extend CSR communication research by identifying meaningful work as an employee outcome and by clarifying the nuanced, context‐specific boundaries under which CSR communication translates into meaningful work.