The effect of corporate social responsibility on hotel employee safety behavior during COVID-19: The moderation of belief restoration and negative emotions

ABSTRACT

The effect of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on employee safety behavior in crisis situations remains as a gap in the hospitality literature. Based upon the social-influence and conservation of resources theories, this research constructed a theoretical model of hotel CSR's influence on employee safety behavior with belief restoration and negative emotions serving as moderation variables. The Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic served as the background, and a questionnaire survey of 23 hotels in China was conducted with 1594 valid responses being received. The results showed that (1) CSR positively predicted employee safety behavior;CSR had positive influences on safety compliance, participation and adaptation;(2) safety compliance and participation partially mediated the influence of CSR on safety adaptation;and (3) belief restoration positively moderated the relationship between CSR and safety behavior, and negative emotions negatively moderated the relationship between CSR and safety behavior. This research expands the literature coverage on the effectiveness of CSR in a pandemic and hospitality context, as well as being the first to investigate the effect of CSR on employee safety behavior. The CSR practices of hotels are a critical factor in promoting employee safety behavior, mitigating the negative impacts of the crisis, and assisting recovery and future development. © 2020 The Authors