Effects of message appeal and service type in CSR communication strategies

Studies highlight the importance of corporate social responsibility (CSR) for companies' stakeholders. Consumers, however, are often unaware of such initiatives. Understanding how to effectively communicate socially responsible initiatives is an important challenge for both researchers and managers, who invest considerable resources in CSR initiatives. This study examines consumers' responses to two types of CSR initiatives (environment-related and employee-based) using two types of message appeals (emotional and rational) across two service types (hedonic and utilitarian). Responses provide data on consumers' awareness of CSR initiatives, attitudes toward the company, perceived company uniqueness, emotional response, and attributions of company motives to engage in CSR activities. Rational appeals more effectively communicate environment-related CSR initiatives, whereas emotional appeals more effectively communicate employee-based CSR initiatives. Effects on consumers' attributions of company motives to engage in CSR are significant in both service types. Finally, rational message appeals affect consumers' CSR awareness and emotional responses in utilitarian service

The negative effects of failed service recoveries

Research has shown that more than half of attempted recovery efforts fail, producing a ‘double deviation’ effect. Surprisingly, these double deviation effects have received little attention in marketing literature. This paper examines what happens after these critical encounters, which behavior or set of behaviors the customers are prone to follow and how customers’ perceptions of the firm’s recovery efforts influence these behaviors. For the analysis of choice of the type of response (complaining, exit, complaining and exit, and no-switching), we estimate multinomial Logit models with random coefficients (RCL). The results of our study show that magnitude of service failure, explanations, apologies, perceived justice, angry and frustration felt by the customer, and satisfaction with service recovery have a significant effect on customers’ choice of the type of response. Implications from the findings are offered.La investigación ha mostrado que más de la mitad de los intentos de recuperación tras el fallo de un servicio fracasan, lo que produce un efecto de ‘desviación doble’. Sorprendentemente, estos efectos de desviación doble han recibido muy poca atención en la literatura de marketing. Este trabajo analiza qué ocurre tras estos encuentros críticos, ¿qué comportamiento o conjunto de comportamientos tienden a seguir lo clientes? y ¿cómo afectan a estos comportamientos las percepciones de los clientes acerca del problema y de los esfuerzos de recuperación de la empresa?. Para el análisis del tipo de respuesta (queja, abandono, queja y abandono, y no cambiar de entidad), estimamos modelos Logit multinomiales con coeficientes aleatorios (RCL). Los resultados de nuestro estudio muestran que la magnitud del fallo inicial, las explicaciones y disculpas recibidas tras el mismo, la justicia percibida en la gestión de la queja, la frustración y el enfado que siente el cliente y la satisfacción con el proceso de recuperación, tienen un efecto significativo en la elección de los clientes del tipo de respuesta de queja. Finalmente, se ofrecen implicaciones para la gestión.This research was financed by the Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Económicas (IVIE), Spain

The differentiated effects of CSR actions in the service industry

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to attempt to explain why the impact of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives may be different and/or more important in service firms compared to manufacturing firms. CSR is becoming a common strategy, hence its extensive research. Central to it is the analysis of the effect of CSR on a firm’s performance, whose outcome depends on firm-specific and industry-related factors. Design/methodology/approach – The event study methodology is applied to all the 248 companies that have ever traded on the Spanish Stock Market between 1990 and 2007. A regression analysis examines potential different effects of CSR on service and goods firms. Findings – The results show that CSR activities have a positive impact on firm performance that is higher for service firms than for manufacturing firms. Actions related to the environment, responsible labor relationships and good corporate governance are especially important in the service context. Research limitations/implications – This research is focused on shareholders’ performance, but it does not consider other stakeholders, such as real consumer behavior or employees’ commitment and productivity. Practical implications – Service firms are likely to gain from focusing on some CSR activities (environment, employees and good corporate governance) and should use their responsible behavior as a valuable tool for public relations and differentiation in the market. Originality/value – This article is the first attempt to empirically test and explain why the relationship between CSR and firm performance may be different (more positive) for service vs manufacturing firms.The authors would like to thank the Spanish Ministry of Science for financially supporting this research under Contract No. ECO2008-05487

Smart tourism city governance: exploring the impact on stakeholder networks

Purpose – Building on new trends in tourism and smart city governance, this study aims to examine the degree of interrelation between stakeholder networks involved in tourism governance and smart city development. A model describing the transition towards smart tourism city governance is proposed. Design/methodology/approach – The proposed model is tested through a multiple case study of seven European cities. This choice of sample makes the study highly representative. Data collection is based on an exhaustive search and analysis of available data on smart city initiatives, destination management organisations and tourism plans. Social network analysis using Gephi software is used to build stakeholder networks. Findings – Analysis of the stakeholder networks that shape tourism governance and smart initiatives in several cities reveals a disconnection between the two types of networks. The results show limited progress towards the expected synergies of true smart tourism city governance. Practical implications – Theoretically, the study contributes to the debate on new forms of governance for the complex evolution of urban tourism. In practice, the relationship between tourism governance and smart city initiatives needs to be redefined to achieve synergies that increase the inclusiveness and efficiency of urban tourism policies. Originality/value – This study examines the under-researched topic of the interrelation between tourism governance and smart city initiatives. By comparing the networks of actors resulting from these two processes, it assesses the extent to which this interrelation helps the emergence of new governance models (smart tourism city governance)

Predictors of willingness to pay a price premium for hotels’ water-saving initiatives

This study examines customers’ willingness to pay a premium to support hotels’ water-saving initiatives and the effect of different explanatory variables: attitude toward water conservation, water problem awareness, willingness to sacrifice, reported water-saving behavior, and frugality. A Heckit model is applied to a sample of 681 tourists. Results show that 44.3% of tourists would pay a premium to stay in a hotel that had installed water-saving devices in rooms. The average price premium they would pay is 4.29 euros. These findings help hotel managers identify tourists who could contribute to reducing the costs of going green.This work was partially supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities under research project INTETUR (RTI2018-099467-B-I00) and Emerging Project grant of the University of Alicante (GRE17-15)

Expanding our understanding of cruise visitors' expenditure at destinations: The role of spatial patterns, onshore visit choice and cruise category

Cruise tourism is an important and growing source of visitors to destinations. To expand our knowledge of this phenomenon, this study incorporates three new drivers into the analysis of the expenditure patterns of cruise passengers at destinations, namely, spatial intra-destination behavior (single node, multiple node, or hinterland), onshore visit choice (independent or guided), and cruise category (standard, premium, luxury, or exclusive). The study uses quantile regression to unearth the intricacies of the proposed relationships and a dataset that combines GPS tracking technologies and traditional surveys. Results suggest that the mobility pattern, onshore visit choice, and time spent at a destination of cruise visitors have significant effects on their expenditures. However, these effects vary along with the level of expenditure, whereas cruise category does not exert a clear effect on expenditure. The implications for destination management organizations are also discussed.Research carried out within the project “Analysis of planning processes applied to smart cities and smart tourism destinations. Balance and methodological proposal for tourist spaces: Smart Tourism Planning” (CSO2017-82592-R) under the Spanish National R&D&I Plan funded by the Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness/[UAFPU2016-014]

Evaluación de la Presencia de los Sitios Web de Turismo de Costa de España en los Motores de Búsqueda

The websites of destination marketing organizations are very frequently the first contact between the tourist and the destination. This paper analyses the search engine optimization of these websites and proposes an index of visibility for them. The analysis is carried out in three differentiated geographical frameworks: the province of Alicante, the Valencian Community and the coastal destinations of the rest of the Spanish regions. The results show significant differences in search engine optimization of the websites examined.Las webs de las organizaciones de promoción del destino turístico suponen en muchos casos el primer contacto entre el turista y el destino. El presente trabajo analiza el posicionamiento en buscadores de dichas webs y propone un índice de visibilidad para las mismas. El análisis se lleva a cabo en tres marcos geográficos diferenciados: la provincia de Alicante, la Comunidad Valenciana y los destinos de costa del resto de regiones españolas. Los resultados muestran diferencias significativas en el posicionamiento en buscadores de las webs examinadas

Análisis del comportamiento espacio-temporal intradestino mediante GPS : Una aproximación de los visitantes independientes de crucero en la ciudad de València

El presente trabajo tiene como objetivo profundizar en el análisis de los patrones de comportamiento espacio-temporal de los visitantes en destino, una escala de trabajo insuficientemente desarrollada. La investigación aplica un enfoque multimétodo, que combina el uso de GPS con una encuesta, al conocimiento de los patrones espaciales de los cruceristas que visitan la ciudad de Valencia de manera independiente. Los resultados obtenidos evidencian la polarización de los flujos en el centro histórico de la ciudad, dentro de un patrón mayoritario de único nodo, una dinámica que conviene gestionar adecuadamente para prevenir la congestión y poner en valor otros atractivos urbanos. La redistribución de flujos resulta aconsejable pero no es sencilla. Medidas como la redistribución mediante una oferta variada de excursiones plantea dificultades mientras que una mejor adaptación de las líneas de la red de transporte más utilizadas por los cruceristas puede tener efectos más positivos

Linking tourism, retirement migration and social capital

A general trend in the study of international retirement migration has been the increased attention paid to the social contacts and network connections of the migrants in both the destination and the origin areas. These studies have examined the extent to which migrants build social relationships with their neighbours and the host society while also maintaining social links with their countries of origin, addressing the central role that leisure travel plays in sustaining increasingly dispersed social networks and maintaining the social capital of these networks and of the individuals involved in them. Using a case study approach to examine British retirement migration to Spain, we explore the relevance of transnational social networks in the context of international retirement migration, particularly the intensity of bidirectional visiting friends and relatives (VFR) tourism flows and the migrants' social contacts with friends and/or family back in their home country. Building on the concept of social capital and Putnam's distinction between bonding and bridging social capital, we propose a framework for the analysis of the migrants' international social networks. The results of a study conducted based on a sample of 365 British retirees living in the coast of Alicante (Spain) show both the strength of the retirees' international bonding social capital and the role of 'VFR's travel and communication technologies in sustaining the migrants' transnational social practices and, ultimately, their international bonding social capital. It also provides evidence for the reinforcing links between tourism-related mobility and amenity-seeking migration in later life. © 2013 © 2013 Taylor & Francis