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Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Communication in Ski Tourism Impact of Different Communication Styles on Customer Perception and Sustainable Behavior
Journal
Schweizer Jahrbuch für Tourismus
Series
2023/2024
ISBN
978-3-503-23809-5
Type
journal article
Date Issued
2024-03-04
Author(s)
Abstract
Due to the reliance on low temperatures and snowfall, ski tourism is particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Swiss ski destinations have reacted to the challenge by investing into a more sustainable infrastructure as well as communication measures to highlight their individual contribution to the mission of carbon neutrality to their customers (e.g., the Swisstainable program). However, events such as the warm winter of 2022 or the use of contentious technologies like snowmaking complicate the perceived authenticity of these efforts from the customer's perspective. Consequently, the question arises whether proactive communication of sustainability efforts can also be detrimental from a brand strategy perspective. Initial studies in the tourism industry on greenhushing, namely the concealment of sustainability efforts, indicate that this phenomenon is widespread. Especially the hospitality industry tries to avoid indirectly criticizing their guests for their consumption. At the same time, these studies also show that active customer involvement in sustainability efforts results in higher approval rates among guests than deliberately concealing the same activities. In a survey experiment amongst 434 winter tourists from the Germanspeaking Alpine region, this study examines whether ski destinations can increase both positive customer perception and desired sustainable behavior, such as arrival by public transport, by involving customers in their CSR messages. The results highlight the effectiveness of CSR-focused brand messages from ski destinations and demonstrate that greenhushing is not desirable from the customer's perspective. Additionally, it was found that by directly involving guests in CSR-communication, their psychological distance to the topic was reduced and sustainable behavioral intentions could be increased. Ski destinations can use these findings to sharpen their marketing strategy and simultaneously increase desired sustainable behavior among guests.
Language
English (United States)
Keywords
Greenhushing
Ski Tourism
Sustainable Customer Behavior
Sustainability Communication
CSR Communication
HSG Classification
contribution to scientific community
Refereed
Yes
Publisher
Erich Schmidt Verlag
Publisher place
Berlin
Volume
15
Number
1
Start page
19
End page
38
Pages
20
Official URL
Division(s)
Contact Email Address
florian.gasser@unisg.ch
References
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