Corporate social responsibility practices in four and five-star hotels: Perspectives from Hong Kong visitors

The purpose of this study was to investigate perceptions of visitors to Hong Kong (HK) toward the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices of its four-and five-star hotels. Adopting a quantitative approach, a questionnaire was developed based on the current CSR practices of nine four-and five-star HK hotels as identified from the Forbes Travel Guide (2012). A sample of 150 HK visitors was surveyed at the Victoria Peak, Avenue of Stars, and Ladies' Market, respectively. Factor analysis was used to identify the CSR factors perceived by the respondents and a regression analysis performed to evaluate the specific relationship between them and HK visitors' attitudes toward hotels adopting such practices. The results show that respondents identified five CSR factors (community, policy, mission and vision, workforce, and environment). Among these factors, environment and mission and vision had the strongest predictive power in explaining HK visitors' preference to stay, willingness to pay, perception of service quality, and brand image. It is suggested that hotels should therefore emphasize these two areas in their CSR programs.