The impact of corporate social responsibility on customer loyalty in hospitality business

This quantitative study addresses the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) concept and strategies in the hotel industry. It explores a business’s sustainability and ethical impact on the brand relationships with hotel guests. The present research aims to empirically evaluate the presence and degree of hotel’s CSR perception by customers and its influence on customer loyalty in the hospitality business, both directly and indirectly. For the latter, this study examines the impact of CSR on customer loyalty mediated by customer experience, customer satisfaction, customer happiness and customer trust in the hotel brand. Research data was collected using an online survey that scoped active users of travel-related social media groups in a European country. This study has employed the PLS-SEM method to analyse complex multivariate data from the completed online survey. The completed research has determined the direct CSR and indirect effects on customer loyalty via customer satisfaction and customer happiness. Meanwhile, this study has not found evidence of customer experience and customer trust influence on loyalty to the hotel brand as mediators of CSR. The findings stemming from this study improve comprehension of customer loyalty drivers in the hotel sector and build evidence for the benefits of CSR concept implementation through management strategies for the hotel. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V. 2023.