Employing the Houseless as Corporate Social Responsibility

Purpose Many hospitality organizations see the benefits of engaging in corporate social responsibility (CSR), which can take many forms. This study aims to examine one relatively unique form of CSR: hiring individuals experiencing houselessness. This research aimed to investigate the impact of hiring individuals experiencing houselessness on customers’ behavioral intentions, attitudes toward an organization and perceptions of CSR actions. Design/methodology/approach Across two experiments, this study investigated the impact of employing individuals experiencing houselessness on customers’ perceptions of the employee and organization using organizational legitimacy theory. Findings Results demonstrate that employees known to be houseless elicited more positive employee and organizational perceptions from the customers, mediated by CSR perceptions. In addition, the gender of the employees or the quality of the organization did not impact these findings. Practical implications Hospitality and tourism organizations should consider using available resources or tax benefits to make a deliberate effort to employ those experiencing houselessness. Originality/value Using organizational legitimacy theory, this study examines CSR perceptions as a potential explanatory mechanism between houselessness and customers’ reactions

The Effect of Perceived Error Stability, Brand Perception, and Relationship Norms on Consumer Reaction to Data Breaches

The issue of data breaches has received increasing attention in the hospitality industry. Companies’ efforts to fix such errors affect consumers’ evaluations and behavioral intentions toward those companies. This study investigates the impact of perceived error stability on hotel guests’ intentions to spread positive word-of-mouth (WOM) about a hotel. The findings reveal that when a data breach occurs, consumers are likely to spread positive WOM about a company that is typically considered competent if the consumers perceive the error stability to be low rather than high. Consumers have similar reactions to companies with which they have communal relationships. This research suggests that hotels should strategically allocate their resources on the basis of brand perception in the minds of their target consumers as well as their relationships with their target markets