Corporate social responsibility in times of need: Community support during the COVID-19 pandemics
Corporate social responsibility in times of need: Community support during the COVID-19 pandemics
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).
COVID-19, Corporate social responsibility (CSR), Crisis management, Experimental studies
Chen, Zhifeng
4c98f5ee-e403-4af1-ac24-c048e92c4709
Hang, Haiming
5473d6b2-3bb1-4c8d-b9f2-16480bc941ba
December 2021
Chen, Zhifeng
4c98f5ee-e403-4af1-ac24-c048e92c4709
Hang, Haiming
5473d6b2-3bb1-4c8d-b9f2-16480bc941ba
Chen, Zhifeng and Hang, Haiming
(2021)
Corporate social responsibility in times of need: Community support during the COVID-19 pandemics.
Tourism Management, 87, [104364].
(doi:10.1016/j.tourman.2021.104364).
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).
Text
CSR during COVID19-Final
- Accepted Manuscript
More information
Accepted/In Press date: 16 May 2021
Published date: December 2021
Additional Information:
Funding Information:
We would like to acknowledge funding from the University of Bath School of Management to the second author.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021
Keywords:
COVID-19, Corporate social responsibility (CSR), Crisis management, Experimental studies
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 449923
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/449923
ISSN: 0261-5177
PURE UUID: 2a9ea71b-6b30-42e0-bcd6-85c9fd8eb9b5
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Date deposited: 25 Jun 2021 16:32
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 06:40
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Author:
Haiming Hang
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