Corporate social responsibility image and emotions for the competitiveness of tourism destinations
Journal of Place Management and Development
ISSN: 1753-8335
Article publication date: 4 September 2020
Issue publication date: 28 May 2021
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the perception of tourists in relation to corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices in the city of Porto as a tourism destination in three main domains as follows: community, environment and customer’s perception on the effect of the creation of corporate social responsibility image (CSRI) and if this produces a direct effect in brand love (BL). At the same time, it evaluates the effect of tourist engagement in the BL destination.
Design/methodology/approach
A sample of 958 complete answers that were collected through a questionnaire, which was administered to tourists in the city of Porto is used. The exploratory factor analysis, the confirmatory factor analysis and the structural equation modelling are appliedto analyze the data.
Findings
Empirical results indicate that the city of Porto should invest to increase the CSR activities to develop a positive CSRI in the tourist’s perceptions, thus reinforcing their emotions and engagement. The feelings of BL and brand engagement (BE) are sensations characterized by a strong character that can increase the competitiveness of a tourism destination with favourable and unique associations.
Practical implications
This is the first time that this evaluation has been carried out for the city of Porto, providing useful information to design the destination’s brand identity so as to differentiate it from other competing destinations.
Originality/value
This research aims to fulfil the aforesaid gaps related to the effect of the three dimensions of CSR in the consumer perceptions of CSRI applied to tourism destinations and use the BE and the consumer perception of CSRI to establish a positive relationship, as a BL, with a city destination.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors are deeply grateful to ISAG – European Business School and Research Group of ISAG (NIDISAG) for all support. This work is funded by National Funds through the Foundation for Science and Technology under the project UID/GES/04752/2019.
Citation
Rodrigues, P., Borges, A.P. and Vieira, E.P. (2021), "Corporate social responsibility image and emotions for the competitiveness of tourism destinations", Journal of Place Management and Development, Vol. 14 No. 2, pp. 134-147. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPMD-01-2020-0005
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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