Do consumers care about CSR in their online reviews? An empirical analysis

This research investigates how consumers assess hotels’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices when writing online reviews. The study explores the CSR discourse in online reviews over a 10-year period, highlighting how CSR’s social and environmental dimensions relate to the main hospitality topics (experience, amenities, location, transactions, value). Based on a longitudinal automated text analysis covering 480,000 reviews across six European cities, the findings reveal that hotel customers have gradually begun paying more attention to CSR factors, particularly to social and environmental ones. However, the aggregate results suggest that the overall CSR consumer discourse is still very limited, although it does have important implications in terms of consumer emotions and hospitality dimensions.     

Hotel job burnout: The role of personality characteristics

In hospitality and tourism academia, most research focuses on the work domain as a major source of hospitality job stress, with little attention given to employee characteristics. This study examines the effect of the Big Five personality dimensions (extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness to experience) on hotel employees’ job burnout. After controlling for two commonly known job burnout antecedents (autonomy and quantitative workload), study results indicate that personality attributes explain significant proportions of three job burnout factors. The most noteworthy finding is the predictability of the agreeableness trait in hotel employees’ job burnout. Because of the mixed results reported on the relationship between this trait and job stress in other disciplines, more vigorous future research is recommended to validate the value of this personality to the hospitality industry.     

Exploring the connections among CSR performance,reporting, and external assurance: Evidence from the hospitality and tourism industry

This study explores the connections among corporate social responsibility performance, reporting, and external assurance in the hospitality and tourism industry by incorporating the Global Reporting Initiative framework. The originality of the study is that it tests signaling theory and the greenwashing tendency by examining different facets of corporate social responsibility engagement using a holistic approach with a cross-country sample. The data for the study were derived from the Thomson Reuters Eikon database for the years between 2012 and 2018. A panel data analysis with a Random-Effects estimator was run to test the hypothesized associations. Several conclusions were drawn based on the study. First, higher corporate social responsibility performers among hospitality and tourism companies have a higher propensity to publish corporate social responsibility reports. Second, higher corporate social responsibility achievements are a significant driving force behind the Global Reporting Initiative framework adoption. Third, among corporate social responsibility reporters, higher corporate social responsibility performers are more likely to assure their corporate social responsibility reports externally. Fourth, among corporate social responsibility reporters, Global Reporting Initiative framework adopters are more likely to assure their corporate social responsibility reports externally. Overall, the results verified the signaling theory but reject a greenwashing tendency in the hospitality and tourism sector. The proven links among the four dimensions of CSR incorporated into the study models indicate complementarity among the indicators. Besides, it should be noted that there is still a gap for improvement, particularly for non-corporate social responsibility reporters and for non-Global Reporting Initiative adopters.     

Educators' Perceptions of Business Ethics in Hospitality

ABSTRACT

Business ethics has become a popular topic in both the academic arena and the business setting within the hospitality industry. This research investigates the perceptions of hospitality educators regarding business ethics in contemporary hospitality programs and the hospitality industry (Damitio & Schmidgall, 1993; Dunfee & Donaldson, 1999). This study provides some pivotal educational findings as to how hospitality educators perceive the preparation of hospitality students relative to business ethics. There are three distinctive findings. Female educators have a significantly higher level of agreement toward statements about business ethics in the hospitality industry than do male educators. Educators whose own level of education was a doctorate degree were significantly less concerned about ethics education than educators whose own level of education was a two-year college degree or a master's degree. And, educators who were employed in institutions offering graduate degrees were significantly less concerned about ethics education than educators who were employed in institutions offering undergraduate degrees. In addition to those three significant findings, this study also showed that educators perceive that organizations should not only practice business ethics with customers but also with employees. Additionally, this study showed that educators are concerned about multinational companies (MNC) and students' ability to understand ethical issues while operating businesses in foreign countries. Educators are also concerned about the strong influence of business organizational leadership and management on business ethical practices.     

Student perceptions of ethics,CSR, and sustainability (ECSRS) in hospitality management education

This study examines how hospitality students perceive ethics, corporate social responsibility (CSR), and sustainability (ECSRS) with regard to their current academic program and future career. Previous literature has shown an evolution in higher education institutions to implement ECSRS topics into their curriculum. This quantitative study measured 202 first-year students’ levels of interest, perceived importance, and potential implementation of ECSRS in a hospitality management program. Based on student responses, there is a high expectation that courses on ECSRS will be taught during their academic program to better prepare them for their future ambitions and the future of the planet.     

Opportunity and necessity entrepreneurship in the hospitality sector: Examining the institutional environment influences

This study combined three different data sources, the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), Index of Economic Freedom (IEF) and World Development Indicator (WDI) to examine the relationships between three dimensions of the country-level institutional environment (i.e., regulatory, cognitive, and normative) and two types of hospitality entrepreneurship (opportunity-based vs. necessity-driven). Logit regression analyses on a multi-sourced dataset indicate that the three dimensions of institutional environment had different effects on hospitality entrepreneurship. Specifically, the regulatory dimension positively affected opportunity-based entrepreneurship; however, its effect on necessity entrepreneurship was negative. In contrast, the normative dimension had a negative effect on opportunity entrepreneurship and a positive effect on necessity entrepreneurship. The cognitive dimension had no significant relationship with either opportunity or necessity entrepreneurship in the hospitality sector.     

Ethics, trust and expectations regarding the treatment of disabled staff within a tourism/hospitality industry context

Whilst it has long been recognized that disabled employees can be the recipients of discrimination in the workplace, occasioned by many factors including physical appearance, relatively little is known regarding the ethical conceptualizations, trust responses and also problem-solving architecture that potential employees bring to such contexts, particularly in service industries such as tourism/hospitality. This study has examined discrimination shown to a disabled hospitality industry employee within an ethical framework, investigating personal ethical beliefs, individual ethical influences upon behaviour and also perceived management problem-solving response influences in the face of disability discrimination. The study has been conducted among a sample of university management students in a major Australian tourism destination, many of whom on graduation would seek employment within the tourism/hospitality industry.Three personal ethical belief types were identified: equity or procedural justice, competence and integrity, with both competence and integrity ethics being regarded as of higher value than equity. Major individual ethical influences included one's own values and also those of the ambient society; the most highly rated perceived management response involved the protection of company image whereas the least expected involved a management perspective focusing on justice of all people involved in the ethical dilemma.The competence ethical belief was found to predict the individual who would be influenced by a legal perspective; the justice for all management perspective was employed as a measure of respondent trust in management, with analyses revealing that the competence ethical belief, the career and societal influences and also gender being found associated with lower levels of trust in management's willingness to respond to disability discrimination in a just manner. The protection of company image as a management response, employed as a measure of mistrust, was associated with integrity personal ethical values, and also with career, societal and own ethical influences upon responses to an incident of disability discrimination. Implications for future research in this domain together with implications for the tourism/hospitality industry are examined.     

How effective are your CSR messages? The moderating role of processing fluency and construal level

This study explores effective ways for hospitality companies to communicate their corporate social responsibility activities with customers. The moderating role of processing fluency and psychological distance has been examined. The findings suggest that when customers are making a decision for the distant future (e.g., three months later), they are more likely to engage in abstract thinking and rely on metacognitive cues such as processing fluency. As such, a CSR message with high processing fluency will be preferred. On contrary, when customers are making a decision for the near future (e.g., next week), their information processing strategies are influenced by their concrete mental representation of the events. Under such circumstance, customers tend to have a more positive attitude and purchase intention after reading a CSR message with low processing fluency. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed as well.     

Perceived corporate social responsibility and customers’ behaviors in the ridesharing service industry

This study aimed to investigate how a firm’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices affect customers’ attitudes, their self-brand connection, and, in turn, brand preference with ridesharing services (e.g., Uber). Adopting a second-order construct of perceived corporate social responsibility (PCSR) reflected from three CSR dimensions—environment, economy, and ethics—this study posited PCSR influences customers’ brand attitudes, self-brand connection, and brand preference. A total of 300 valid responses was collected from a convenience sample. Results revealed PCSR showed significant impacts on customers’ brand attitudes and self-brand connection. However, no direct impact of PCSR on customers’ brand preference was identified, while mediation effects were detected between PCSR and brand preference by brand attitudes and self-brand connection. This study also discussed the managerial and theoretical implications of PCSR practices for a ridesharing service industry.     

Designing a Hospitality Ethics Course Content from the Students' Perspective

ABSTRACT

In managing a curriculum, it is important to solicit students' perspective to ensure that it is relevant to their interest and needs. Therefore, in an attempt to develop content for a hospitality ethics course, this study conducts a questionnaire survey with 520 hospitality students to help identify the importance of 39 ethical issues in the hospitality industry. As suggested by Thomas, Clermont, and Maimbolwa-Sinyangwe (1984) and DuFrene, Elliott-Howard, and Daniel (1990), if an ethical issue is judged to be important, it can serve as a topic around which part of the course is to be developed. The top three most important issues are found to be “Disposal of hazardous waste,” “Acceptance of bribes or gifts by employees” and “Sexual harassment on the job.”     

Factors Influencing Intercultural Sensitivity of Hospitality Employees

ABSTRACT

This study investigates the factors influencing the development of intercultural sensitivity among hospitality employees. The study particularly looks at the relationship between intercultural sensitivity levels of hospitality employees and their previous educational work experiences. Based on a survey (Intercultural Sensitivity Scale) scale with 443 hospitality employees overall means were calculated. Results of the analysis show that exposure to other cultures by participating previously in student exchange programs (e.g. ERASMUS), work and travel programs, and spending long periods of time abroad increased people’s intercultural sensitivity. Interestingly though, the study found that having formal tourism and hospitality education did not have any influence on the level of intercultural sensitivity of hospitality employees.     

The link among board characteristics,corporate social responsibility performance,and financial performance: Evidence from the hospitality and tourism industry

The aim of this study is twofold: to explore whether board characteristics (i.e. a sustainability committee, board independence, board diversity, and board diligence) lead to greater corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance, and to test whether CSR performance enhances firms' financial performance in the hospitality and tourism (H&T) industry. Data were collected from the Thomson Reuters Eikon database for the H&T firms listed there between 2011 and 2018. We employed panel data analysis, after which we ran robustness tests. The results indicated that having a CSR committee and female directors on the board are robust factors driving firms to show superior CSR performance in all dimensions, including environmental, social, and governance (ESG). Independent directors and directors' diligence selectively enhance the overall CSR score and individual pillars of CSR. Investigating the relationship between CSR performance and firms' financial performance did not produce a significant outcome. The findings propose a straightforward roadmap for H&T firms and policymakers to identify characteristics of CSR-friendly boards.     

Tour Booking: Do Travelers Respond to Tourism Accreditation and Codes of Ethics Initiatives?

Tourism and hospitality organizations are spending more time and money on corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives, but at the same time not fully understanding how such initiatives enhance travelers’ responses. This study investigates the impact of two CSR initiatives that have been widely adopted by many travel organizations: tourism accreditation and codes of ethics. A large-scale survey collected data on how potential travelers responded to an online tour brochure. The results showed that both accreditation and code of ethics information in a brochure have significant but varying impacts on perceived tour value, trust, and tour booking intention.     

Interaction between hotel service robots and humans: A hotel-specific Service Robot Acceptance Model (sRAM)

The growing implementation of robotics in hospitality and tourism requires broader research into customers' experience with service robots. This study explores human-robot interaction (HRI) in the context of tourists interacting with hotel service robots. The data, 7994 online TripAdvisor reviews of 74 hotels, were subjected to a content analysis based on the Service Robot Acceptance Model (sRAM) and its dimensions (functional, social-emotional and relational). A sentiment analysis was also carried out. The results identify the principal dimensions and variables involved in HRI and the feelings robots inspire in different types of travellers. Guests most often comment on the functional dimension. Robots' functions determine this experience and influence the interaction between robots and hotel guests.     

Influence of institutional economics on firm birth and death: A comparative analysis of hospitality and other industries

This paper investigates how public policies, such as taxes and regulations influence firm formation (birth) and closure (death) in the hospitality and other industries in the United States (US), using an institutional economics approach and the dimensions of the Economic Freedom of North America (EFNA) index. The literature has been scant when it comes to examining the effects of policies of formal institutions on firms’ birth and death in the hospitality industry, and whether these effects in hospitality differ from those of other sectors. The study uses panel data from government sources and the EFNA dimensions and applies cross-sectional dependence and unit root tests, followed by a panel generalized least square approach for the analysis. Our findings show that components of economic freedom have varying effects on firms’ birth and death. The study provides practical contributions for policymakers and managers by improving the understanding of firm births and deaths in the US.     

Contribution of corporate social responsibility studies to the intellectual structure of the hospitality and tourism literature

This study aims to identify the role of corporate social responsibility (CSR) studies in formulating the intellectual structure of the hospitality and tourism literature by conducting a bibliometric analysis. A total of 8049 articles published in the top six hospitality and tourism journals between 1973 and 2019 and 401,473 listed references are extracted from Scopus. BibExcel and VOSviewer are used to develop and visualize bibliometric mapping and indicate the level of contribution of the CSR studies. Findings show that environmental responsibility outweighs the other CSR-related topics. In addition, stakeholder theory is the most commonly applied theory in the CSR literature, and five research clusters are identified. Furthermore, CSR-related studies remain in the emerging stage in the hospitality and tourism literature, and studies examining the perspectives of local communities are scarce. Finally, a holistic approach is necessary in CSR-related studies to connect and consolidate current CSR knowledge.     

Progress in Hospitality Ethics Research: A Review and Implications for Future Research

This study presents a comprehensive review of recent developments in hospitality ethics research articles published in major hospitality journals as well as in other fields in the period from 2006 to 2015. A total of 62 articles were analyzed and the results were presented with the discussion of research articles by journal and period, geographical locations of study, research method and data analysis, and research subject areas. Conclusions and implications for future research are offered.     

Dimensions and correlates of consumer value: An application to the timeshare industry

The concept of consumer value has been hailed as the “very underpinning” of marketing, yet the concept has been subjected to limited empirical research, particularly in the hospitality industry. This study investigates the value that consumers derive from ownership of timeshare holiday products. A total of 785 people answered questions regarding their background, timeshare ownership, valuing of timeshare, and satisfaction with timeshare. Confirmatory factor analyses showed consumer value to be a multi-dimensional construct comprising opportunities for relaxation, gift-giving, status, quality, flexibility, fun, new experiences, and financial benefits. These value dimensions varied with other factors such as type of timeshare ownership (e.g., weeks, points).     

Customer mistreatment and service performance: A self-consistency perspective

The service encounter is an important social context for hospitality service providers who strive to satisfy their need for job competence by delivering excellent customer service. Customer mistreatment may be perceived as a sign of work-related goal failure by hospitality service providers. Building on the literature of goal attainment and failure in the workplace, we propose that hospitality employees, who experience customer mistreatment, undergo diminished organization-based self-esteem (OBSE), decreasing service performance. Moreover, employees’ locus of control is proposed to interact with customer mistreatment and predict service performance through the mediation of OBSE. The results of a multi-wave and multi-source survey, administered to a sample of hotel frontline employees (N = 180) and their direct supervisors (N = 38), show that customer mistreatment has a negative influence on service performance through OBSE, but only among employees with an external locus of control.