Examining the relative role of CSR activity and service experience on cruise customers’ behavior

Purpose - In the service industry, corporate social responsibility (CSR) is considered a strategic valuable resource. Although previous studies emphasized CSR activities in the service industry, a limited number of studies have examined the combined effect with the service experience. Thus, this study aims to examine the potential antecedents of cruise customers’ positive responses toward the cruise company. Design/methodology/approach - The proposed model includes CSR activities, service experiences, satisfaction and revisit intention. The model is tested using samples of cruise customers from the USA. Tests of the proposed model produce significant results for path coefficients from two-dimensional service experience (i.e. physical quality and staff behavior) and not from CSR activities (i.e. environmental and philanthropic). Findings - Hypothesis testing indicates that among cruise customers, perceived physical quality and staff behavior are more relevant for creating satisfaction and revisit intention than environmental and philanthropic CSR support. Research limitations/implications - The results provide important implications for scholars concerning the effects of CSR activities on customer behavior for efficaciously managing customers’ positive experience with facilities and employees. Originality/value - There has been a paradigm shift in the cruise industry. The recent trend shows an increasing number of cruise businesses leading to intense competition. Yet, researchers have not adequately examined the impact of service experience and CSR experience simultaneously. Thus, this study contributes to the existing CSR literature by identifying the important determinants of cruise customers’ behavior.