The effect of moral philosophy on individual intentions toward socially responsible tourism firms

Abstract

Today, firms' responsibility towards society exceeds the boundaries of "providing goods and services to meet the needs of the society" and "obtaining a reasonable profit for the shareholders". Firms have further responsibilities to employees, customers, society and the natural environment. Carrying out these "social responsibilities" affects the firms' image and reputation in the eyes of their various stakeholders. However, various audiences interpret the socially responsible actions of the firms in different ways. One important factor that may cause this diversity is the moral philosophies of individuals, which is a concept used to determine different pers-pectives in ethical judgment. Personal moral philosophy is a key concept in understanding individual behaviour in various contexts, including consumption and employment. According to Forsyth (1980), individuals' variations in their approach to moral judgments can be examined in two main dimensions, namely idealism and relativism. This study examines the impact of the personal moral philosophies of young individuals on their intentions to purchase services from, apply for jobs with and make investments in tourism companies that exercise socially responsible behavior. With this aim, a field study was conducted on 622 college students studying tourism and hospitality management at a state university in Turkey. A self-administered questionnaire was used as the data collection tool. The questionnaire had an excerpt describing the socially responsible activities of a tourism firm and questions to capture the respondents' willingness to purchase services from, apply for jobs with and invest in the described firm. Further questions were asked to identify the demographic characteristics and personal moral philosophies of the respondents. Regression analyses revealed that respondents' intentions to purchase services from the firm were positively affected by idealism, while they were negatively affected by relativism. Intentions to apply for a job with and invest in the company were positively affected by both dimensions of moral philosophy. Theoretical and managerial implications of these findings are discussed.