Corporate Social Responsibility and Green Innovation: The Moderating Roles of Unabsorbed Slack Resources and Media Evaluation

Research on the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and green innovation has long been inconclusive. In this article, CSR is conceptualized as CSR conformity and CSR differentiation based on optimal distinctiveness theory, and their respective impacts on exploratory green innovation and exploitative green innovation are explored. The moderating effects of unabsorbed slack resources and media evaluation on these relationships are also investigated. Drawing on a dataset collected from manufacturing firms publicly listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges in a period between 2011 and 2021, the results reveal the following: (1) CSR conformity has an inverted U-shaped relationship with exploratory green innovation; (2) CSR differentiation positively impacts exploitative green innovation; (3) unabsorbed slack resources positively moderate the relationship between CSR conformity and exploratory green innovation; (4) media evaluation positively moderates the relationship between CSR differentiation and green exploitative innovation. These findings enrich the understanding of CSR conceptualization, and also contribute to the application of optimal distinctiveness theory in the strategic management field.