Institutional context and hotel social responsibility

Abstract

Purpose -The authors want to study the connection between institutional theory and corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the set of hotels with three, four and five star situated in Galicia (Spain) and in the Northern region of Portugal. The authors aim to see whether there is a contrast of isomorphic behaviour in the institutional context of both regions. Design/methodology/approach -A quantitative study in which the authors apply the partial least square (PLS) technique, a methodology based on structural equations models using the software Visual-PLS. The authors intend to study the relationships between the pressures of institutional context and CSR practices, together with the relationship between legitimacy and these practices. The focus of the proposed model is based on the system theory. Findings -The main findings of this research clearly show that hotels are incorporated into an institutional context marked by enforced and regulatory pressures.Research limitations/implications -The proposed research model can be replicated using other units of study, sectors, geographic areas, among others, due to the explanatory capacity of the theoretical framework used. Originality/value -The originality of this work derives from the main contributions based on the theoretical framework (institutional theory and CSR), the object of study and geographical area (three, four and five star hotels located in Galicia and in the North of Portugal), the context (economic crisis), the field of study (private sphere) and the type of organizations (profit making).

Why and how hotel groups in luxury segments give back to their communities

“…• A firm's legitimacy in hotels situated in Spain and Portugal (Sánchez-Fernández et al, 2014). Authors found that hotels use philanthropy to improve their image and be seen as responsible firms, thus attracting more customers (Hallak et al, 2012) and consequently increasing customer trust and loyalty (Martínez García de Leaniz & Rodríguez Del Bosque Rodríguez, 2015).…”

“…Chen & Lin, 2015a), customer satisfaction that results in trust and loyalty (Martínez García de Leaniz & Rodríguez Del Bosque Rodríguez, 2015), employee identification with the hotel's responsible behaviour, which involves higher motivation and lower turnover (Park & Levy, 2014), and the legitimacy of the hotel as being a responsible organization from the customer perspective, which also results in trust and loyalty (Sánchez-Fernández, Vargas-Sánchez, & Remoaldo, 2014).…”

Achieving Competitive Advantage through Quality Management

“…Sánchez-Fernández et al ( 2014 ) and Glover et al ( 2014 ) developed their research related to responsibility and sustainability. Within the main academic literature, in terms of quality and taking institutional theory as a framework, is the investigation of Sila ( 2007 ).…”

“…Nicolau and Sellers (2010) support the role of quality certifications as signals because they found evidence of an increase in the share value of a Spanish hotel chain after it gained the Spanish Quality Q for Tourism. Peiró-Signes, Segarra-Oña, Verma, Mondéjar-Jiménez, and Vargas-Vargas (2014) analyse the influence of ISO 14001 on hotel guests' ratings. Overall, their results provide evidence of the positive influence of environmental certification on customer ratings, but, as the authors highlighted, they fail to demonstrate causality between being certified and improving hotel ratings.…”

“…In the fi eld of social responsibility under this framework, recent investigations by Sánchez-Fernández, Vargas-Sánchez, and Remoaldo ( 2014 ) and sustainable practices by Glover, Champion, Daniels, and Dainty ( 2014 ) can be highlighted.…”