Employee attitudes towards corporate social responsibility: a study on gender, age and educational level differences

Previous studies show that individual characteristics can influence stakeholder attitudes towards corporate social responsibility (CSR). This study analyses employee attitudes such as CSR demandingness, trust and satisfaction, to determine whether they vary according to differences in gender, age, and educational level. The analysis was carried out by surveying 153 employees of 11 Italian banks, and by performing a content analysis of the banks' sustainability reports. The Italian banking sector was chosen because of recent financial and CSR scandals. The findings suggest that, on average, male employees are slightly more trusting in and satisfied with CSR performance than their female counterparts. Graduates are slightly more demanding, largely more trusting, and generally more satisfied than non‐graduates. Interestingly, the difference between older and younger employees is not significant. The proposed approach can be useful in designing tailored CSR activities and communication avenues by shedding light on employees' CSR attitudes.