The Effect of Perceived Corporate Social Responsibility Initiatives Towards Loyalty Intention Among Four and Five Star Hotels in Malaysia: The Mediating Effect of Brand Preference

摘要

Hotels are interested to implement CSR programs because they are facing intense competition in the industry and because of the idea that CSR influence loyalty intention among consumers. In an ideal world, a common assumption is that companies that are internally or externally motivatedwill act in a socially responsible manner. In Malaysia context, there is still relatively few number of adequate researches done on CSR programs and its influence on customer loyalty in four and five star hotels in this country. This study attempts to explore the relationship between perceivedCSR initiatives, brand preference and loyalty intention by doing survey in four-and-five star hotels in Kuala Lumpur. 300 sets of questionnaire were distributed to guests of these hotels and the data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 21.0. 236 usefuldata was analyzed and results from this survey obtained were discussed in the form of tables. The results indicate that there is significant and positive relationship between perceive CSR initiatives and brand preference, significant and positive relationship between brand preference and loyaltyintention, significant and positive relationship between perceived CSR initiatives and brand preference and brand preference partially mediate the relationship between perceived CSR initiatives and loyalty intention. The implications of the study will be useful for hotel managers and policymakers to design a proper CSR program in the organization and improvise their current CSR efforts in order to gain a good brand reputation.