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Abstract
Review of existing research and knowledge suggests the need of viewing the legitimacy of corporate social advocacy (CSA) from a new perspective. However, few previous studies of public relations conceptualize the construct of CSA legitimacy, empirically measure its sub-dimensions, and explore its functions given the fact that organizational advocacy is growing importantly in today’s communication and business environment. Therefore, this dissertation research attempts to define the construct of CSA legitimacy, explore and investigate its theoretical sub-dimensions, and establish corresponding measurement items. This dissertation research is guided by extensive review of literatures and following research questions: (1) What important dimensions does CSA legitimacy consist of? (2) How do antecedent situational factors influence individual’s CSA legitimacy assessment? (3) How does individual’s CSA legitimacy assessment influence its outcome factors?
To address these research questions, three surveys in a consequential order are designed and developed to collect appropriate samples. The first survey involves two steps: 1) the deductive measurement item generation through extensive literature review of existing conceptualization of the key construct, and 2) an exploratory factor analysis to establish the base of measurement model. The second survey involves model testing and comparison through confirmatory factor analysis. The third survey involves cross-validation of the measurement model through measurement invariance assessment and conducts the structural equation modeling tests of the proposed model.
Based on the research findings, a higher-order model of CSA legitimacy with multi-subdimensions is theoretically and empirically supported by strong evidence. The model achieves good overall goodness of fit, reliability, validity, and applicability. The theoretical model overall provides insights about the relationship of CSA legitimacy with its antecedent situational factors and outcome factors. Therefore, this dissertation research contributes to existing theoretical development of the key construct within public relations research. It also provides potential guidance and practical implications for public relation practice.