Consumer Perceptions of Sustainability in the Lodging Industry: Examination of Sustainable Tourism Criteria

While the lodging industry has recognized the importance of engaging in corporate social responsibility (CSR), most hotel CSR efforts focused on sustainable development are oriented towards environmentally-oriented practices. This study examines consumer perceptions of CSR from a more holistic perspective of sustainability, utilizing the recently developed Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria. Findings reveal that while hotel green efforts impact key marketing outcomes such as satisfaction, retention, positive word of mouth, and price premiums, higher level constructs including respect for heritage and community are suggested to mediate the relationship between these green efforts and the marketing outcomes, implying a hierarchy of effects. This hierarchy of effects model is tested against a holistic CSR second order construct model. The paper suggests that hotels should implement and promote CSR efforts in a particular sequence in order to strengthen bonds with consumers.