Effect of corporate social responsibility disclosure on firms' sales performance: A perspective of stakeholder engagement and theory

Abstract Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is receiving a supreme interest, and several experts have revealed the outcomes of CSR disclosure (CSRD) toward organizational performance across the globe. Nevertheless, less attention has been paid to empirical contribution with respect to marketing and sales management, especially from developing nations. This study investigates the impact of CSRD practices, that is, internal (ICSRD) and external (ECSRD) to organizational sales performance (OSP). Data were collected from 450 managers within Small and Medium Size Enterprises (SMEs) of Pakistan and analyzed using structural equation modeling. The findings revealed the positive relationships between OSP and disclosure of CSR activities both ICSRD and ECSRD, that is, responsibility to the environment (ER), community (CR), customers (CCR), suppliers (SR), employees (EER), and responsibility to government rules & regulations (GR). The comprehensive analysis unveiled the higher significant effect of ECSRD than ICSRD. The study provides multidimensional insights for strategic management to support CSR notion and to engage stakeholders pursuing such practices to augment OSP dynamically. This study furnishes research possibilities for practitioners and academicians.