Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): Investigating Impacts on Customer Response at Two Stages of the Tour Experience

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Author(s)
Primary Supervisor
Butcher, Ken
Other Supervisors
Watkins, Mike
Year published
2012
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Recently, there has been increasing interest in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
among governments, business, and consumers (Beckmann, 2007; Carroll & Shabana,
2010). In particular, consumers are already making day to day decisions based on
environmental/social considerations and are moving to extend this purchase behaviour
into tourism products (Miller, 2003). This interest has spurred on greater investment in
CSR related activities, more visibility of CSR activities in the media and more
questioning about the worth of such initiatives. As a result, tourism and hospitality
organisations are spending more time and money ...
View more >Recently, there has been increasing interest in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) among governments, business, and consumers (Beckmann, 2007; Carroll & Shabana, 2010). In particular, consumers are already making day to day decisions based on environmental/social considerations and are moving to extend this purchase behaviour into tourism products (Miller, 2003). This interest has spurred on greater investment in CSR related activities, more visibility of CSR activities in the media and more questioning about the worth of such initiatives. As a result, tourism and hospitality organisations are spending more time and money on CSR initiatives including marketing communications (Sheldon & Park, 2011). A critical issue for firms is the selection of appropriate responsible marketing tools that best match the firm’s business interests (Piercy & Lane, 2009) and are influential in creating more positive customer response. To date, little is known about which type of responsible marketing tools work more effectively to influence customer evaluations and behavioural outcomes, and under what conditions this influence occurs. This thesis aims to investigate: how does the ethical responsibility of tour operators influence customer evaluations and behavioural outcomes at different stages of the tour experience?
View less >
View more >Recently, there has been increasing interest in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) among governments, business, and consumers (Beckmann, 2007; Carroll & Shabana, 2010). In particular, consumers are already making day to day decisions based on environmental/social considerations and are moving to extend this purchase behaviour into tourism products (Miller, 2003). This interest has spurred on greater investment in CSR related activities, more visibility of CSR activities in the media and more questioning about the worth of such initiatives. As a result, tourism and hospitality organisations are spending more time and money on CSR initiatives including marketing communications (Sheldon & Park, 2011). A critical issue for firms is the selection of appropriate responsible marketing tools that best match the firm’s business interests (Piercy & Lane, 2009) and are influential in creating more positive customer response. To date, little is known about which type of responsible marketing tools work more effectively to influence customer evaluations and behavioural outcomes, and under what conditions this influence occurs. This thesis aims to investigate: how does the ethical responsibility of tour operators influence customer evaluations and behavioural outcomes at different stages of the tour experience?
View less >
Thesis Type
Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Degree Program
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
School
Griffith Business School
Copyright Statement
The author owns the copyright in this thesis, unless stated otherwise.
Item Access Status
Public
Subject
Corporate social responsibility
World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC)
Tour operators
Tourism accreditation