CSR Motive Attributions (Egoistic)

What it measures

A three-item scale measuring the degree to which a consumer attributes a company's corporate social responsibility activities to self-serving, egoistic motivations — the belief that CSR is pursued for competitive advantage and organisational benefit rather than genuine social concern. Items assess perceptions of egoistic purpose, self-interest orientation, and private benefit motivation behind CSR engagement. Theoretically paired with altruistic motive attribution measures.

Response format

7-point Likert

Scale items

• The company engages in social projects for egoistic reasons.
• The company engages in social projects for their own sake, but not for the greater good.
• The company engages in social projects for their own benefits.

Full scale items shown. Always cite the original source when using this scale in research.

Usage notes & scoring

Alpha = .88 across all three studies — Sipilä et al. (2021). VALIDITY: Convergent and discriminant validity evidence provided. Data collected across Germany and Finland; scale administered in English (Study 3, n = 102 business school students), German (Study 4, n = 275), and Finnish (Study 5, n = 113). Cross-linguistic reliability appears consistent. Companion to the Cause-Related Marketing Motive Attributions (Serving Society) scale (CRMSS, ID 1995), which measures the altruistic pole.

Recommended companion scales

Citation

Sipilä, Jenni, et al. (2021). Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 49(2), 293–310.

Keywords