Stakeholder-driven ESG perceptions and employee willingness to engage in sustainable practices: evidence from hospitality businesses
Akkhaporn Kokkhangplu, Supawat Meeprom, Parichat SinlapatesPurpose
This study examined how employees' perceptions of environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives impacted their willingness to engage in ESG practices in the hospitality industry.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from 396 full-time employees working in hospitality businesses in Thailand to test the study's hypotheses using partial least squares structural equation modelling, necessary condition analysis (NCA), and importance-performance map analysis (IPMA).
Findings
The social and governance dimensions of ESG perceptions significantly enhanced perceived ESG benefits, while the environmental dimension did not yield a direct effect. Surprisingly, employee awareness of ESG weakened the relationship between perceived benefits and willingness to engage, suggesting that cognitive dissonance or scepticism may emerge at higher awareness levels. The results of the NCA indicated that the social and governance dimensions show bottleneck levels, whereas the environmental dimension had negligible necessity effects on perceived ESG benefits.
Practical implications
The study recommends that hospitality managers prioritise governance and social practices before they institutionalise ethical reporting structures. It supports the idea that managers should reframe environmental initiatives when building firms that operate in environmentally friendly ways.
Originality/value
The study contributes to the hospitality literature by demonstrating how ESG initiatives affect employee behaviour, drawing on stakeholder theory and social exchange theory. In addition, the integration of multimethod analyses provides valuable insights for the hospitality industry.