Corporate social responsibility in times of need: Community support during the COVID-19 pandemics

Zhifeng Chen; Haiming Hang

doi:10.1016/j.tourman.2021.104364

Corporate social responsibility in times of need: Community support during the COVID-19 pandemics

Zhifeng Chen, Haiming Hang

University of Southampton

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

38 Citations (SciVal)

149 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the hotel sector has engaged in various corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives to show solidarity with local communities. Our research examines the impact of such initiatives on tourists' intentions to spread positive word-of-mouth (WOM) and their intentions to visit when the current pandemic ends. Our experimental results suggest community support in the form of providing free accommodation to homeless people increases tourists' intentions to spread positive WOM, bringing reputational benefits. But such initiatives reduce tourists’ intentions to visit, presenting potential business risks. Our results further suggest that community support in the form of providing free accommodation to medical professionals has little impact, as it shows no significant difference to control (no CSR initiatives).

Original language	English
Article number	104364
Number of pages	5
Journal	Tourism Management
Volume	87
Early online date	3 Jun 2021
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2021.104364
Publication status	Published - 31 Dec 2021

Funding

We would like to acknowledge funding from the University of Bath School of Management to the second author.

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 12 Responsible Consumption and Production

Keywords

Corporate social responsibility (CSR)
COVID-19
Crisis management
Experimental studies

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Development
Transportation
Tourism, Leisure and Hospitality Management
Strategy and Management

Access to Document

10.1016/j.tourman.2021.104364

CSR during COVID19 (accepted author manuscript)Accepted author manuscript, 309 KBLicence: CC BY-NC-ND

Cite this

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title = "Corporate social responsibility in times of need: Community support during the COVID-19 pandemics",

abstract = "Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the hotel sector has engaged in various corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives to show solidarity with local communities. Our research examines the impact of such initiatives on tourists' intentions to spread positive word-of-mouth (WOM) and their intentions to visit when the current pandemic ends. Our experimental results suggest community support in the form of providing free accommodation to homeless people increases tourists' intentions to spread positive WOM, bringing reputational benefits. But such initiatives reduce tourists{\textquoteright} intentions to visit, presenting potential business risks. Our results further suggest that community support in the form of providing free accommodation to medical professionals has little impact, as it shows no significant difference to control (no CSR initiatives).",

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T1 - Corporate social responsibility in times of need

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AU - Chen, Zhifeng

AU - Hang, Haiming

PY - 2021/12/31

Y1 - 2021/12/31

N2 - Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the hotel sector has engaged in various corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives to show solidarity with local communities. Our research examines the impact of such initiatives on tourists' intentions to spread positive word-of-mouth (WOM) and their intentions to visit when the current pandemic ends. Our experimental results suggest community support in the form of providing free accommodation to homeless people increases tourists' intentions to spread positive WOM, bringing reputational benefits. But such initiatives reduce tourists’ intentions to visit, presenting potential business risks. Our results further suggest that community support in the form of providing free accommodation to medical professionals has little impact, as it shows no significant difference to control (no CSR initiatives).

AB - Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the hotel sector has engaged in various corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives to show solidarity with local communities. Our research examines the impact of such initiatives on tourists' intentions to spread positive word-of-mouth (WOM) and their intentions to visit when the current pandemic ends. Our experimental results suggest community support in the form of providing free accommodation to homeless people increases tourists' intentions to spread positive WOM, bringing reputational benefits. But such initiatives reduce tourists’ intentions to visit, presenting potential business risks. Our results further suggest that community support in the form of providing free accommodation to medical professionals has little impact, as it shows no significant difference to control (no CSR initiatives).

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KW - COVID-19

KW - Crisis management

KW - Experimental studies

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DO - 10.1016/j.tourman.2021.104364

M3 - Article

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SN - 0261-5177

VL - 87

JO - Tourism Management

JF - Tourism Management

M1 - 104364

ER -

Corporate social responsibility in times of need: Community support during the COVID-19 pandemics

Abstract

Funding

UN SDGs

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

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