CSR, financial and non-financial performance in the tourism sector: A systematic literature review and future research agenda

Abstract

This paper provides a comprehensive, international, multi-discipline and multi-methods systematic literature review (SLR) of the existing corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate financial performance and non-financial performance measures research in tourism firms. The objective is to synthesise, appraise and extend current understanding of the existing conceptual/theoretical/empirical literature on the relationship between CSR and corporate financial and non-financial performance measures. We adopt a three-step SLR approach to analyse/review one of the largest SLR datasets employed to-date, consisting of 140 multi-methods and theoretical CSR studies conducted globally across multiple disciplines over the 2004–2019 period, published in top-ranked journals. Our findings are as follows. First, a large number of the existing studies are descriptive and/or draw on single rather than multi-theoretical perspectives. Second, existing studies have focused mainly on how CSR is related to financial performance measures to the neglect of non-financial performance measures. Third, observable methodological limitations include the dearth of qualitative, mixed-methods and cross-cultural/developing/country studies. Finally, we outline opportunities for future research.