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Article

Corporate Social Responsibility as a Sustainable Business Practice: A Study among Generation Z Customers of Indian Luxury Hotels

by
George Thomas
Department of Marketing, College of Business Administration, Prince Sultan University, Riyadh 11586, Saudi Arabia
Sustainability 2022, 14(24), 16813; https://doi.org/10.3390/su142416813
Submission received: 18 November 2022 / Revised: 7 December 2022 / Accepted: 13 December 2022 / Published: 14 December 2022
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Business Practices and Theories in Leadership, Innovation and Organizational Behaviour)
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Abstract

:
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has attained great interest among academicians and practitioners alike. However, the underlying mechanisms and theoretical boundaries that amplify customers’ willingness to pay a higher price towards environmentally conscious hotel brands is under researched. Thus, to accelerate this discourse, the current study explores the relationship between perceived CSR, green image of a hotel brand, and customers’ willingness to pay a higher price. Drawing insights from the stakeholder theory, this study proposes a model and empirically validates how a positive CSR perception helps Generation Z customers perceive a green image of the company and drive positive responses like willingness to pay higher price towards socially responsible luxury hotels. The study further examines the moderating role of gender on the proposed relationships. Data collected from 302 Gen Z customers from 4 and 5 star (luxury) hotels in the capital city of India were analyzed through structural equation modelling. The results of this study confirm the significant direct impacts of perceived CSR on green image of a hotel brand as well as customers’ willingness to pay higher price. Moreover, the study also demonstrates the significant positive effect of perceived CSR on customers’ willingness to pay higher price. The results also confirm the moderating influence of gender on the proposed relationships. This study has important implication for managers of luxury hotels.

1. Introduction

Over the years, researchers have been exploring the different facets of customers’ willingness to pay for market offerings (products and services; [1,2]. Previous research on the subject has identified factors both that explain why customers are reluctant to pay a higher price for some products and when they may pay a premium price for others [3]. However, recent research suggests that the social, generational, and cultural shifts occurring across the world have introduced new factors that affect customer evaluations of how much and why they will pay for a product or boycott a service [4]. Given the increasing activism by companies and celebrities, customers are evaluating brand value propositions from different vantage points. The brand value proposition now includes the efforts the organization is making towards environmental sustainability through its products, services, and campaigns [5]. A respect for multiple stakeholders through green image and a genuine solution to customer needs is the new brand profile customers are increasingly searching for [6]. This is truer specifically for Generation Z (Gen Z; born between 1997–2012), which is both the present and a futuristic customer segment. The technologies, social problems, and the consequent activist behavior by Gen Z has operated even in their consumption behavior [7]. As a result, marketers are latching onto innovations and value propositions that help them capture the attention and regard of Gen Z.
Despite the staggering practitioner interest towards sustainable environmentally friendly initiatives, a proportionately lesser scholarly attention has been paid towards travelers’ pursuit for hotels that have an active involvement in community and environmental initiatives [8]. Prior studies have examined the relationships between customers’ attitudes and their behavioral intentions to stay in environmental active hotels, but such studies have generated inconsistent findings. For instance, some studies revealed that customers have a positive attitude towards hotels that adopt green initiatives [9,10], while other studies have empirically proven that customers prefer enjoyment over paying to green hotels during their vacations/holidays [11]. For such reasons, studies have consistently suggested to dig deeper for a detailed understanding of customers’ attitude and behavior towards green hotels [12,13].
Recent research has shown authoritatively that the perceived corporate social responsibility (CSR) image of a company influences customer purchase criteria [12,14]. However, a lacuna in academic research prevails in terms of our knowledge about the attitude and perception of Gen Z towards organizational CSR activities [15,16]. Besides, surveys and conceptual models highlight the need to empirically validate models that particularly examine Gen Z customers’ green consumption behavior [17,18]. Although, there is some evidence in the current literature demonstrating that marketers tend to overestimate the willingness of a customer to pay a higher price for its products [19]. However, a post-Corona world means customers, especially the Gen Z, understand more than ever the broader responsibility they have while advocating a brand; thus, they tend to see a higher price as an investment into the brand for a better future rather than an outcome of post-Corona inflation [20]. Furthermore, customers share a close association with brands and see those as closely related to their personal identity [21,22]. Similarly, extant research on the domain has remained limited to relating customers’ perceptions of organizational CSR activities with constructs such as customer loyalty, repeat purchase behavior and specific green outcomes [23,24], thereby limiting our understanding of CSR and green image with some strategically imperative constructs such as willingness to pay a higher price. Furthermore, prior studies have examined such relationships in general category of hotels, and have excluded luxury hotels, who implement strong who might also be implementing green management programs, thereby restricting the generalizability of the findings of such studies [25]. Additionally, researchers are emphasizing the importance of gender differences in various behavioral processes [22,26]. However, not much is known about this demographic feature in relation to CSR [27], especially in terms of green hotel settings [28], except for some contradictory findings [29,30], which, therefore, merits further investigation.
Responding to the above highlighted lacuna in the literature, using the doctrine of stakeholder theory, this study showcases, through a conceptual model (as show in Figure 1), how a positive CSR profile helps Gen Z perceive a green image of the company and elicit positive responses like willingness to pay higher price for their respective market offerings, while considering the moderating role of gender. This study has chosen luxury hotels as its study context. Luxury hotels must maintain a particular ‘pricing’ for their service to show uniqueness and ‘luxury’ [31]. As such, there is research which shows that CSR in luxury hotels fails to entice customer behavior [32]. This research shows that in case of Generation Z, CSR may be a panacea. Furthermore, the behavior of Asian Gen Z customers has remained somewhat of an enigma due to an extraordinary focus on consumers from the western world [33]. By showcasing the positive response of Indian Gen Z towards CSR, we help universalize the impact of CSR to emerging market contexts. Additionally, some researchers have alleged that CSR may not be important to Asian consumers, however, our results contradict such findings [34]; hence, contributes to the body of knowledge. As this research validates, embedded CSR to Gen Z may help hotels justify price and, at the same time, assist Gen Z justify their purchases. Given that prior attempts to predict consumer behavior towards environmentally friendly products and services largely varied across demographic variables [35,36,37]. Therefore, by incorporating gender as a moderating variable to the proposed model, this study further strengthens the claims of prior studies in this direction and generalizes those to an age group which represents and present and future target market for businesses. Moreover, In India, hotels have been accused of harming the environment and wasting resources, hence, CSR interventions aimed at recycling, conserving and protecting the environment can help the firm differentiate among its competitors [24].
The remaining sections of the paper flow as below. The next station introduces stakeholder theory as the background of the proposed conceptual model, followed by hypotheses development. The paper then demonstrates the data collection and analysis, and discuss the results and findings. The paper concludes by highlighting the key theoretical and managerial implications that arise from this study.

2. Theoretical Background

The theoretical background of the current study relies on the tenets of stakeholder theory [38]. The core proposition of stakeholder theory is that firms should generate value for all their stakeholders-customers, employees, suppliers, shareholders, communities, and the environment at large [39]. According to the proponents of this theory, a business will be successful when it understands that the trade-offs among different stakeholders should be avoided. The core interests of one stakeholder should, therefore, not be prioritized over the interests of other stakeholders [40]. Consequently, it’s the responsibility of firms to pursue mutual benefits for all stakeholders-rather than trade-offs. Lastly, stakeholder theory proposes that ‘reciprocity’ governs the relationship between a firm and its stakeholders [41]. In other words, the nature of relationship between a firm and stakeholders will involve mutual reciprocation and exchange of benefits to create value for all parties involved [42].
The current study demonstrates that an integrated stakeholder approach allows a firm to enhance its brand image among customers. Specifically, by managing customer perceptions about the brand via CSR activities, the firm is able to generate a positive green image among a new generation of customers. As a result of an embedded CSR program, the firm is able to command customers’ higher willingness to pay for its products.
In the context of luxury hotels, CSR activities help a firm generate social power and influence among stakeholders [43]. By designing and implanting CSR specific policies and green initiatives to help protect the environment, the firm is able to incorporate an integrated stakeholder management strategy that enables it to connect to customers through unconventional means [44]. Since, the firm shows concern towards the environment and societies, it enables the customers perceive a green image of the firm; in return, the customers are willing to pay a higher price. To Gen Z, a higher willingness to pay for luxury services means luxury customers will demand exclusive premium services, yet they want to invest in responsible and stakeholder-friendly firms.

3. Hypotheses Development

3.1. Perceived CSR and Green Hotel Image

Corporates now-a days are becoming more conscious of the fact that integrating CSR activities with green image is necessary and strategically beneficial [45]. Being environmentally conscious serves as a head-on for corporates, and offers an edge over their competitors, enabling them to charge more for the green products, as well as reduce waste and various other operating costs [46,47]. Therefore, the benefit of investing in CSR activities with a green mind is twofold; first the organization gives back what it takes from nature; second, the share we owe to the future generation is left undisturbed [48]. As Generation Z customers are becoming more and more concerned about the nature around, requiring authors and researchers to focus on issues and topics related to green image [49,50]. This change in consumer mindset has compelled corporates to shift their focus towards making green products and building green image within consumers’ minds [51]. CSR initiatives of the corporates often serve as means to build a positive green image and also allow them to follow environmental regulations, thereby making them think beyond profits [52]. For present day environmentally pioneering customers and investors, price and service are not the only criteria to choose a firm, they want their money to be utilized in ways beneficial to nature and society as a whole [53]. Built on the stakeholder theory that firms will be successful when only they seriously consider the trade-offs among multiple stakeholders. In line with this, CSR initiatives of corporates help them build a green image among nature sensitive customers along with strong (positive) customer opinion of the firms’ values and ethics [49]. Therefore:
Hypothesis 1 (H1).
Perceived CSR positively affects green image of a hotel brand.

3.2. Green Hotel Image and Willingness to Pay a Higher Price

Past studies reveal that customers are positively engaged to organizations reflecting a green image [51,54]. This change in customer mindset towards environmental consciousness will largely affect the future of hotel industry; especially the demand for green hotels and the customers’ willingness to pay a premium price for those. Ref. [55] put forward some of the green practices that the hotel management should incorporate in their daily business activities, viz. waste reduction, recycling, reducing energy consumption and chemical usage, water efficiency, and sustainable furnishings, among others. However, a lot remains unexplored regarding practices and outcomes of green image, and whether the willingness to pay a higher price is actually one of the outcomes of green image; and therefore, merits a scholarly pursuit [56,57]. In line with the recent practical relevance of green hotels, Hilton-hotels determined to contribute towards saving the nature, are using efficient operations and have incorporated green image in their partnerships across the entire value chain [58,59]. Similarly, Ritz-Carlton, while maintaining their quality standards, are investing in green image initiatives by offering guests the chemical-free pools and providing their customers hybrid vehicles [60]. Previous studies reveal that customers’ decision to visit green hotels and their perception of value is greatly influenced by the green image of the hotels [61,62]. These arguments are also backed up by stakeholder theory which propounds that the relationship between business organizations and stakeholders involves mutual reciprocation and exchange of benefits to create value for all stakeholders involved Furthermore, corporates involved in green activities are more likely to succeed in drawing positive outcomes by mirroring customers’ psyche of environmental consciousness [63]. Such customers are likely to pay a higher price for their hotel stay as environmental issues are core to their persona and reveal their identity as being nature conscious citizens [57,61]. Therefore:
Hypothesis 2 (H2).
Green image of a hotel brand positively affects customers’ willingness to pay a higher price.

3.3. Perceived CSR and Customers’ Willingness to Pay a Higher Price

Customers tend to be emotionally attached with organizations they deem inclusive in their approach and social consciousness, reflected through their CSR initiatives [64]. Researchers argue that organizations involved in CSR activities create a sense of trust among their customers and such organizations are perceived to be seeking welfare of all the direct and indirect stakeholders [65]. This trust enables customers to maintain strong relationship with such organizations [66]. Based on the postulates of stakeholder theory, when an organization is perceived to be socially conscious, customers tend to remain loyal to that, support its products, protect its reputation, and help the organization achieve its long term goals [67]. Thus, CSR perception shapes customers’ affective responses towards companies; which reflects their value, allowing them to identify their own values with that of such socially responsible companies [68]. When firm’s values mirror with those of the customers’, it makes customers willing to pay a higher price for their offerings [69]. Socially responsible organizations are more likely to drive customers to a greater satisfaction and higher perceived value, which ultimately drives customers to pay a premium price for the products/services offered by such firms [70].
Gen Z represents a transformational generational shift that permeates socioeconomic brackets and the traditional 4P’s of marketing. When customers of Gen Z perceive the firm positively on its CSR initiatives, they develop positive moral capital with that firm, which elicits a positive response from them in the form of a willingness to pay higher price [70,71]. Therefore:
Hypothesis 3 (H3).
Perceived CSR positively affects customers’ willingness to pay a higher price.

3.4. Moderating Role of Gender

In the customer decision making process, gender plays a key role [35,72]. The gender schema theory reveals various decision making styles based on the unique value sets possessed by men and women individually [73,74]. Researchers opine that when involved in purchase activities, women, as compared to men, are keener to personal interactions and interpersonal relationships [35,75]. Eagly revealed that women are more empathetic than men towards the wellbeing of others [76]. Based on the social role theory, women seem to be extra responsible and compliant whereas men tend to be more independent and aggressive [28,77]. In a recent study, Ref [78] revealed that women are concerned towards protecting the environment and prefer to travel more through environmentally friendly airlines than men do. In another study, Ref [79] revealed that gender moderates the relationship between word-of-mouth intentions and drone food delivery services. Similarly many other related studies indicated that women, because of their warm nature and concern for others, especially the nature show environmentally friendly behavior and prefer green products than men do [36,37]. Based on the above discussion, this study proposes a set of gender-based moderating hypotheses as below:
Hypothesis 4 (H4a).
The effect of perceived CSR on green image of a hotel brand is stronger for women than men.
Hypothesis 4 (H4b).
The effect of green image of a hotel brand on customers’ willingness to pay a higher price is stronger for women than men.
Hypothesis 4 (H4c).
The effect of perceived CSR on customers’ willingness to pay a higher price is stronger for women than men.

4. Methodology

4.1. Measures

This study used the multi-item scales of various constructs under study developed by previous researchers. The items were adapted from previous studies with some minor modifications to suit the luxury hotel context of India. Before circulating, the clarity of the questionnaire was ascertained by pilot testing it on a sample of 25 respondents (comprising of 8 bachelors and 4 masters students) who had a prior experience of staying in a luxury hotel. Besides, the questionnaire was evaluated by two professors with expertise on the subject. Based on their feedback, some minor edits to the questionnaire were made to improve its overall accuracy and readability. All the items were rated on the seven-point Likert scale ranging from ‘1’ strongly agree to ‘7’ strongly disagree. Customers’ CSR perceptions were assessed by adapting four items from [80]. This study used items from [81] to assess green image. To measure willingness to pay higher price, items were adapted from [82].

4.2. Sample and Data Collection

To test the proposed model, this study collected data using a questionnaire survey from 302 Gen Z customers from 4 and 5 star (luxury) hotels in the capital city (New Delhi) of India. To collect responses, managers of the selected hotels were contacted to discuss the purpose of this study with them. After their due consent, customers were requested during their free time (in the common areas and hotel cafeterias) to participate in the survey. Those who agreed to participate were briefed about the rationale of this study and assured about maintaining the anonymity and confidentiality of their responses. Only those customers were allowed to participate in the survey who were born after 1997. This questionnaire was divided into two sections. The first section collected information about the demography of the respondents and the second section comprised items of the constructs under study. A total of 500 questionnaires were circulated among the customers of 10 luxury hotels (50 each). Out of the 500, only 338 Gen Z customers returned the completed survey. Of the 338, 302 responses (167 males and 135 females) were considered for data analysis, and the remaining responses were excluded either due to missing values in the questionnaire or due to responses which were not filled in with care and the respondents had tick marked multiple or all options on a rating scale of 1 to 7.

5. Data Analysis and Results

5.1. Reliability and Validity

The “confirmatory factor analysis” (CFA) and “structural equation modelling” was followed to analyze the proposed hypotheses. CFA confirmed the reliability and validity of the constructs. As presented in Table 1, each of the Cronbach’s alpha values as well as the composite reliability values are higher than the minimum threshold of 0.70, confirming adequate scale reliability. The average variance extracted (AVE) values of the constructs and the item loadings are above 0.50, which confirmed the questionnaire’s convergent validity [83].
This study compared the shared variance between the constructs to the AVE values of the discrete items. The squared root of each construct’s AVE surpassed its corresponding inter-construct correlations (see Table 2), that confirmed discriminant validity among constructs [83].

5.2. Structural Model

The model fit was measured using “χ2 statistic, Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA), Comparative Fit Index (CFI), Normed Fit Index (NFI)” [84]. The model presented an adequate overall fit: χ2 = 327.237, df = 112, χ2/df = 2.921, CFI = 0.916, TLI = 0.907, and RMSEA = 0.064 [85]. Regarding the hypotheses testing, as shown in Table 3, perceived CSR had a positive impact on green image (β = 0.23, t = 4.576, p < 0.01) as well as willingness to pay a higher price (β = 0.31, t = 7.334, p < 0.01); green image also had a positive impact on willingness to pay a higher price (β = 0.29, t = 5.863, p < 0.01), thereby supporting all the three hypotheses (H1, H2 and H3).

5.3. Moderation Analysis Results

The moderation analysis was done using multi-group analysis in SEM, for which the entire data were split into two groups (167 males and 135 females). Thereafter, following [86], the SEM was applied on both subgroups. The effects of gender as a moderator were examined using pairwise comparisons of the two sub-groups.
As shown in Table 4 below, the impact of perceived CSR on green image was stronger for females (β = 0.29; t = 3.957, p < 0.05) than males (β = 0.18; t = 2.132, p < 0.05), supporting H4a. Similarly, the effect of green image on willingness to pay a higher price was greater for females (β = 0.31, t = 6.331, p < 0.01) compared to males (β = 0.20, t = 3.011, p < 0.01), accepting H4b; and the effect of perceived CSR on willingness to pay a higher price was higher for females (β = 0.17, t = 2.379, p = 0.05) than males (β = 0.10, t = 2.012, p = 0.05), hence supporting H4c.

6. Discussion

Given that Gen Z are suave customers, they wish to showcase their affiliations and identity through their preferred socially responsible brands [87]. However, prior research has not enthusiastically covered the mechanisms that drive this generation’s attitude towards the brands they advocate [9,88]. Research on perceived CSR and customer behavior has generated equivocal findings from researchers [89]. While there is research that showcases a positive implication of perceived CSR on desirable customer behaviors, there is also research that negates any relationship between CSR and customer purchase behavior [32,89]. This study addresses this contradiction by evaluating perceived CSR from a generic perspective instead of a domain perspective, as has been increasingly suggested by recent studies on the study. This study examined the underlying mechanism influencing Gen Z customers’ willingness to pay a higher price for luxury hotels in India. In addition, this study also investigated the moderating role gender on the proposed relationships. Though perceived CSR and green image have been the subjects of extensive research in recent service research, little remains known regarding the relational dynamics between these constructs among Gen Z customers [90,91], as therefore investigated in this study.
The empirical results corroborate perceived CSR and green image as critical drivers of Gen Z customers’ willingness to pay higher prices for luxury hotels. Such results support the key tenant of the stakeholder theory that the interests of one stakeholder (company) should not be preferred over the interests of other stakeholders (customers), but a holistic and an integrative approach should be adopted through corporate community initiative to gain return from customers. These results support and generalize some prior findings to a different geographic context of an emerging market (e.g., [21]. These findings further conform that both CSR perception and green image of a hotel brand leaves remarkable impressions on customers’ minds and develops long lasting emotional connections with them; thereby positively affecting their willingness to pay a higher price [54,92].
Regarding the moderating effect of gender, the results revealed that the effect of CSR perception on green image of a hotel brand as well as the on customers’ willingness to pay a higher price is stronger for women as compared to men. These results support prior scholarly arguments that females are more inclined towards protecting the environment [36] price is also stronger for women as compared to men, these results are in sync with prior arguments that women are more environmentally conscious, prefer greener products, and are willing to even pay more for such products [74,93]. Therefore, these results further generalize prior conceptual claims to a new geographic and contextual setting. These results offer some important implications that are outlined in the following section.

7. Implications

This work has some important theoretical implications. First, the results of the study demonstrate that CSR perceptions positively impact consumer’s perception about the green image of luxury hotels. The result represents an important contribution to the academic literature on green marketing because very little is known about the factors that enhance green image of customers especially in the luxury hotel sector. Second, the results show that green image perceptions of customer consequently influence their willingness to pay a higher price. Given that a lot remains unexplored regarding practices and outcomes of green image, and whether the willingness to pay a higher price is actually one of the outcomes of green image, this study helps bridge an important gap in the scholarly literature on customer willingness to pay for products [57]. Third, although, there is academic research on the subject of CSR and its influence on consumers, there is a lacunae in literature in terms of studies that explain the theoretical underpinnings and boundary conditions of the relationship [46]. As such, the study helps explain why and when CSR perceptions positively impact customers. Additionally, the past decade has seen CSR receive considerable attention among researchers [94]. However, many such studies have labelled micro-CSR research as “undertheorized” [95]. Therefore, by studying the relationships from a stakeholder theory perspective, the current study respond to research calls that stress on employing novel theoretical backgrounds to examine whether and how does CSR impact different stakeholders’ attitudes and behavior [27,96]. By focusing on the stakeholder theory to explain why CSR perception influences customers and their willingness to pay a higher price; this study addresses the prevalent lacunae in academic literature on the subject.
Moreover, the study validates the role of gender in moderating the relationship between CSR perceptions, green image perceptions and willingness to pay a higher price. Given that females showcase a more pronounced green behavior in luxury contexts, the work thus presents empirical support to further generalize the findings of prior studies which are conducted primarily in the developed economies. Next, the sample of the current study is respondents of the Gen Z. Although, a lot of conceptual research and surveys recognize the importance and uniqueness of Gen Z behavior, however, there are very few empirical studies that actually validate the importance of CSR to Gen Z customers, especially in luxury contexts. Moreover, this work by validating and contextualizing why, when and how CSR perceptions successfully entice Gen Z customers to display behaviors such as willingness to pay a higher price, contributes to the literature on pricing in luxury contexts, where such research is still rare and plagued by accusations of overestimating customers’ willingness to pay. This work thus, represents an important contribution to the nascent but growing body of literature on Gen Z behavior in luxury hospitality contexts. Lastly, the study was conducted in India. Given that most research on the subject of CSR and customer willingness to pay has been conducted in western countries, it helps unveil the factors that drive luxury consumption behavior in emerging countries like India.
CSR as a managerial tool to entice positive customer perceptions has remained the subject of theoretical debate among recent scholars. However, practically, given the huge impact of luxury hotels, due to the nature of their service operations on surrounding communities, employees and especially customers, the creation of a green luxury hotel is a major goal of hotel associations across the world. The results of the study suggest that managers can develop green luxury hotels if they judiciously use CSR interventions to manage green image perceptions of the hotel among consumers. The statement is especially true for Gen Z, since it is the sample of the current study.
Moreover, the results of the study suggest that CSR interventions, when based on a stakeholder approach, can contribute to the long term triple bottom-line sustainability of hotels. This is so, because the results reveal that CSR perceptions can enhance both qualitative green image perceptions of the luxury hotel and also entice willingness to pay a higher price for luxury services. Maintaining ‘pricings’ while also contributing to the environment has remained a major challenger in luxury services, the results suggest that a proactive and stakeholder-oriented CSR strategy when combined with a zealous and environmentally conscious Gen Z customer segment may provide the ultimate panacea the hospitality sector so dearly needs. The results also suggest that in emerging countries with a large young population may mean that managers have to cater to the social and environmental consciousness of the Gen Z customers via their luxury services and brand positioning.

8. Limitations and Future Research Direction

This study acknowledges several limitations. First, cross-sectional data were used to test the proposed model, which may not establish true causality among the constructs, and has its own limitations. Second, to test the proposed hypotheses, data were collected only from four and five-star hotels in India. Future researcher may take responses from different hotel categories to check how the results vary across hotel types. Future researchers may also consider incorporating customers belonging to different generations into particular empirical models to identify how people belonging to different generational cohorts respond to environmentally friendly organizational practices. Lastly, future studies may explore whether and how does CSR perception impact customer engagement, which is a hot research domain to look into [97,98].

Funding

This research received no external funding.

Institutional Review Board Statement

Not applicable.

Informed Consent Statement

Not applicable.

Data Availability Statement

Data will be shared on a personal request.

Acknowledgments

The author would like to acknowledge Prince Sultan University, Saudi Arabia for its financial and academic support to publish this paper in “Sustainability”.

Conflicts of Interest

The author declares no conflict of interest.

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Sustainability 14 16813 g001 550
Figure 1. Conceptual model.
Figure 1. Conceptual model.
Sustainability 14 16813 g001
Table
Table 1. The results of CFA for the measurement model.
Table 1. The results of CFA for the measurement model.
Constructs and ItemsItem Factor Loadings
Perceived CSR. Adapted from [80]
Chronbach’s α = 0.911; CR = 0.917; AVE = 0.635
“In my opinion, this hotel brand is committed to helping the environment.”0.752
“In my opinion, this hotel brand is making a difference.”0.610
“In my opinion, this hotel brand is doing environmentally friendly practices.”0.643
“In my opinion, this hotel brand is committed to sustainability.”0.710
Green image. Adapted from [81]
Chronbach’s α = 0.900; CR = 0.900; AVE = 0.600
“This hotel brand is regarded as the point of reference of environmental commitments.”0.694
“This hotel brand has a strong environmental reputation.”0.714
“This hotel brand is successful about its environmental protection.”0.632
“This hotel brand is well-established about its environmental concerns.”0.681
“This hotel company is trustworthy about its environmental promises.”0.703
Willingness to pay higher price. Adapted from [82]
Chronbach’s α = 0.822; CR = 0.828; AVE = 0.616
“I am willing to pay more for this hotel brand than others.”0.661
“The price of this hotel brand would have to go up quite a bit before I would switch to other hotels.”0.650
“I am willing to pay a higher price for this hotel brand than for other hotels.”0.677
Note: “CR = Composite reliability; AVE = Average variance extracted”.
Table
Table 2. Descriptive statistics.
Table 2. Descriptive statistics.
VariableMeanStandard DeviationCSR PerceptionGreen ImageWillingness to Pay Higher Price
CSR perception 3.501.725 0.796
Green image 3.890.9820.511 * 0.774
Willingness to pay higher price3.381.6530.598 *0.462 * 0.784
Note: “The figures in bold depict the square root of AVE; * Correlation is significant at 0.05 level; N = 302”.
Table
Table 3. Results of the Structural Model.
Table 3. Results of the Structural Model.
S. No.HypothesesPath Coefficient (β)t-ValuesTest Results
H1Perceived CSR-Green image0.234.576Supported
H2Perceived CSR-Willingness to pay higher price0.317.334Supported
H3Green image-Willingness to pay higher price0.295.863Supported
Table
Table 4. Path comparison results across gender.
Table 4. Path comparison results across gender.
S. No.HypothesesMaleFemaleTest Results
βt-Valuesβt-Values
H4aPerceived CSR-Green image0.182.1320.293.957Supported
H4bPerceived CSR-Willingness to pay higher price0.203.0110.316.331Supported
H4cGreen image-Willingness to pay higher price0.102.0120.172.379Supported
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Thomas, G. Corporate Social Responsibility as a Sustainable Business Practice: A Study among Generation Z Customers of Indian Luxury Hotels. Sustainability 2022, 14, 16813. https://doi.org/10.3390/su142416813

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Thomas G. Corporate Social Responsibility as a Sustainable Business Practice: A Study among Generation Z Customers of Indian Luxury Hotels. Sustainability. 2022; 14(24):16813. https://doi.org/10.3390/su142416813

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Thomas, George. 2022. "Corporate Social Responsibility as a Sustainable Business Practice: A Study among Generation Z Customers of Indian Luxury Hotels" Sustainability 14, no. 24: 16813. https://doi.org/10.3390/su142416813

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Thomas, G. (2022). Corporate Social Responsibility as a Sustainable Business Practice: A Study among Generation Z Customers of Indian Luxury Hotels. Sustainability, 14(24), 16813. https://doi.org/10.3390/su142416813

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