Employing the Houseless as Corporate Social Responsibility

Authors

Nicholas A. Smith, Portland State University
Larry R. Martinez, Portland State UniversityFollow
Shi (Tracy) Xu, University of Surrey
Anna Mattila, Pennsylvania State University
Lisa Yixing Gao, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Sponsor

This research was financially supported by the Marriott Foundation

Published In

International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management

Document Type

Pre-Print

Publication Date

2023

Abstract

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.

Rights

This article is © Emerald Group Publishing and permission has been granted for this version to appear here . Emerald does not grant permission for this article to be further copied/distributed or hosted elsewhere without the express permission from Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

Locate the Document

The definitive version published by Emerald. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-05-2022-0649

DOI

10.1108/IJCHM-05-2022-0649

Persistent Identifier

https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/39719

Citation Details

Smith, N.A., Martinez, L.R., Xu, S.(T)., Mattila, A. and Gao, L.Y. (2023), "Employing the houseless as corporate social responsibility", International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print.