Crafting ethically meaningful experiences: Towards experiential corporate social responsibility

Abstract

While hospitality and tourism industries engage in social and environmental responsibility through various initiatives, these efforts often fail to generate business benefits that offset costs and enhance performance. The concept of ethically meaningful experiences (EME) was introduced earlier to address this gap by immersing customers in corporate social responsibility (CSR) without invoking the notion of sacrifice associated with sustainable behavior. This study is the first to examine which design aspects of an experience can trigger consumers’ evaluations of ethical meaningfulness. We demonstrate that social connection is the primary driver of ethical meaning and positive affect, while information transparency functions as a secondary, reinforcing pathway. Beyond offering the first empirical support for EME, the results extend its initial conceptualization, enrich the literature on ethical and experiential consumption, and carry significant practical implications for how businesses should engage customers in CSR efforts.