Rainbow Fatigue: The Effect of LGBTQIA+ Corporate Social Advocacy-Communication on Organizational Legitimacy

Organizations increasingly communicate about LGBTQIA+ themes, especially during Pride month. However, such corporate social advocacy-communication (CSA-communication) about LGBTQIA+ communities is often received with skepticism, as the public tends to doubt the authenticity of such engagement. This can eventually influence the perceived legitimacy of the communicating organizations negatively. The current study investigates public perceptions of CSA-communication on LGBTQIA+ themes and tests the effects on perceived legitimacy. A 2×2 factorial mixed-method experiment with a CSR control-condition has been conducted among the general Dutch public (N = 895) that compares the effect of timing (during Pride vs. Valentine’s Day) and organization’s effort (words-only support vs. support including a donation) in LGBTQIA+ communication on perceived legitimacy. The legitimacy perceptions were measured both with closed items and an open-ended answer option. Surprisingly, findings indicate that CSA-communication involving low effort caused higher levels of legitimacy than when more effort was invested. Timing of the LGBTQIA+ event did not impact the perceived legitimacy. Notably, generic CSR-communication predicted higher levels of legitimacy compared to CSA-communication on the LGBTQIA+ theme. This effect could be explained by a significant moderation effect of (negative) attitudes towards LGBTQIA+ people. The quantitative findings are contextualized by a qualitative analysis of the answers to an open-ended question about legitimacy.