Although prior research has shown the positive effects of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on job applicants’ seeking intentions with an organization, it has not thoroughly examined whether these effects vary with different types of CSR practices or how individual applicants respond differently. This study aims to advance this stream of research by dividing CSR practices into two categories—internal and external CSR—and examining their distinct influences on applicants’ job-seeking intentions. Drawing on signaling theory and moral principle theory, we propose that internal CSR influences applicants’ job-seeking intentions by influencing their perceived justice within an organization, while the effect of external CSR operates through job applicants’ perceived empathy of an organization. Moreover, we introduce job applicants’ exchange ideology as a moderator that can further differentiate the effects of internal and external CSR. The findings from two experimental studies largely supported our hypotheses. In particular, we found that internal and external CSR practices influenced job applicants’ job-seeking intentions via perceived justice and empathy, respectively. Moreover, our results showed that an applicant’s exchange ideology strengthened the effect of external CSR on job-seeking intentions through empathy, but did not moderate the effect of internal CSR.
