Analysis of Sustainability Perceptions in Uncertainty Times: The Case of Hospitality Students

The stakeholder theory [20] refers to the organization as a system of stakeholders, whose continuity depends on the ability to meet its economic and social objectives, which creates value so that each interest group remains in the system. In this theory, the organization is managed to generate benefits for all stakeholders, while ensuring its survival [21]. This theory considers specific interests by visualizing the responsibilities of the various groups that are affected by the organization's activities. Balancing stakeholders’ interests, both in the short and long-term, is crucial to company management. Stakeholder engagement plays a critical role in driving business. Companies that fully engage with their stakeholders are in a better position to meet stakeholders’ expectations compared to organizations that do not have formal engagement processes [22]. As a result, companies are taking decisive steps to positively involve stakeholders in their activities through a series of initiatives [23].

The success of a company in meeting its stakeholders' expectations depends on several factors, such as stakeholders' power, legitimacy, and urgency, as well as company managers' behavior, values and beliefs [24]. From this perspective, managers are identified as key internal stakeholders since they serve a significant role in promoting corporate sustainability. Quazi [25] argues that the social commitments of companies are rooted in the values, demographics, and managers' personal characteristics, which in turn shape their perceptions and actions related to sustainability. As key drivers of strategic planning, managers possess a deep understanding of the company's plan and priorities.

Moreover, educational institutions are key stakeholders as companies depend on these institutions to train graduates who are qualified to work [26]. Education is a major driver of moral and ethical development of students who will become the top managers of the future Educators and professionals in the hospitality industry should promote the development of future leaders and managers [9]. University-industry collaboration is also important in curriculum design in hospitality and tourism education [27]. This ongoing collaboration between the hotel sector and educational institutions is crucial for producing positive change [28]. The international hotel chains Intercontinental Hotels Group, Wyndham Hotels and Resorts, Minor Hotels, or Meliá International illustrate this point clearly since they identify academic institutions as key stakeholders [29-31]. This collaboration plays a vital part in addressing the pressing environmental and social challenges faced by the travel and tourism industry. However, there are few hotels which rarely identify management students as major stakeholders except for Minor Hotels that regard tourism or hotel management students as important stakeholders; thereby establishing communication mechanisms to identify their interests and expectations [30].

Several studies have examined the impact of relevant factors on corporate sustainability; however, there has been little discussion about specific stakeholders' expectations [32]. The upper echelons theory [33] argues that personal characteristics of directors or managers, such as their values and sociodemographic background, can shape their decision-making [34] and, therefore, the sustainability organizational outcomes [35]. On the other hand, stakeholders’ attitudes, preferences and expectations regarding sustainability are also influenced by numerous factors, including their age, gender, or educational level [36]. For instance, there has been a lengthy debate on the impact of such factors on the sustainability expectations that tourism and hotel management students hold. Therefore, exploring tourism and hotel management students’ sustainability expectations in hotels, as well as considering factors such as their prior experience, educational background and demographic characteristics, is crucial.

2.1 Differences between experienced and unexperienced professionals

Research has shown that more experienced older workers tend to display deeper sensitivity to sustainability issues [37, 38]. In contrast, younger and less experienced workers tend to express less interest in these issues [39]. In management positions, senior managers show a greater interest in the reputation and stability of the company. This typology of workers is usually concerned with implementing actions related to corporate sustainability to reinforce and improve the company's reputation [34]. On the contrary, for younger managers, a high salary or professional development is more important than values such as honor or trust [12] In the literature, there is no clear consensus since other studies show that no significant differences arise in terms of years of work experience [8]. Tourism and hospitality students were more interested in the environmental perspective of sustainability while industry professionals showed more interest in the economic perspective [7].

Consequently, this study seeks to address the following hypothesis:

H1: Students' perceptions differ if their professional experience in hotels is considered.

2.2 Differences between education levels 

According to reference [34], highly educated managers in large companies tend to allocate more resources to develop complex initiatives and generate benefits, rather than maximize benefits for stakeholders. On the other hand, the level of education and training of management personnel is more related to a greater commitment to social issues, compared to other factors such as age [25]. The education level determines managers' attitudes and perceptions regarding corporate sustainability [4]. People who hold a bachelor’s degree or higher show a greater concern about corporate sustainability and have more accurate perceptions of sustainability [40], which demonstrates a stronger relationship between sustainable practices and business results [12].

H2: Students' perceptions differ if their education level is considered.

2.3 Differences between countries or regions

Scholars have argued that the implementation of corporate sustainability practices could vary among nations and cultures due to the distinct institutional context that might shape overall business systems [41].

When comparing companies in developed countries with those in developing countries, crucial differences arise. Managers' expectations in developed countries tend to match the concerns of the local community, suppliers, and customers, which could respond to the pressure of public opinion [42], However, such pressure does not exist in the same way in developing countries [43]. There is increasing pressure on corporations in emerging economies to enhance their corporate sustainability agendas due to a growing social awareness based on the lack of appropriate strategies for sustainable growth [44]. Additionally, external pressure from stakeholders at the international level, such as foreign investors, international buyers, media, and international regulatory bodies is intensifying [43].

Based on this discussion, we hypothesize:

H3: Perceptions differ if students come from more (in this case the Europe and Northern America) or less developed areas.

2.4 Differences between genders

Gender is a decisive demographic variable which contributes to understanding customers' behavior and attitudes toward corporate sustainability [40]. The female gender, regardless of age and origin, shows greater knowledge, more positive attitudes, and more environmentally conscious behavior. There are gender differences in terms of solidarity and equity factors, where women continually adopt stronger attitudes related to solidarity and equity than male students [45]. Furthermore, on average, male employees are slightly more trusting and satisfied with sustainability performance than their female colleagues, who have higher expectations of sustainability initiatives [36]. Other studies reinforce this idea by arguing that women have a clearer perception of the relevance of sustainability in business compared to men [46]. Some studies highlight that women emphasize altruism, family relationships, and social concerns, while men embrace values such as competition and individual achievement. Concerning the environment, women have a more holistic vision of the world and express deeper concern about this issue than men [47].

Female students of business management programs paid special attention to corporate sustainability. In the context of tourism studies [9], and were more sensitive to sustainability issues when compared to their male counterparts [48].

Accordingly, the expectations about sustainability students in hospitality management programs have been expected to differ when gender is considered.

H4: Perspectives differ if students' gender is considered.

2.5 Differences between ages

Different generations show different lifestyles, different attitudes, and different values [49]. In this sense, business students' age is a determining factor in decision-making and perceptions of sustainability [50]. Companies that are more age diverse in their management teams can benefit from greater resources of information, insights, and experience in global markets, as well as be more sensitive to stakeholder preferences, aspirations, and concerns [35].

The number of business school students who take specialized courses in sustainability is increasing [41]. Different studies show that age can affect individual perceptions and attitudes toward sustainability [25, 50]. Therefore, we pose the following research question:

H5: Perceptions differ if students' age is considered.

The main results of the study are presented in the following two sections, focusing first on the descriptive analysis and, second, on the entire thesis.

4.1 Descriptive analysis

Figures 1-5 compare the results of the two studies conducted in 2021 and 2023. Each figure illustrates the students' preferences in sustainability within the subsamples mentioned in Figure 1. In Figures 1-5, yellow, blue, and green represent aspects of sustainability related to the economic, social, and environmental pillars, respectively.

The figures show a strong consensus between the two groups of participants and between Study 1 and Study 2. This suggests that future hotel managers, regardless of their demographic characteristics and environmental uncertainty, highly regard "non-discrimination" (aspect no. 14) as the most important social aspect, followed by "training and education" (aspect no. 12) and "health and safety of clients" (aspect no. 23). The aspects related to "freedom of association and collective bargaining" (aspect no. 15) and "public policy" (aspect no. 22) received the lowest scores, although they were still rated above 3.5 out of five.

From an economic perspective, "quality and customer satisfaction" (aspect no. 7) and "health and safety of customers and employees" (aspect no. 8) are especially relevant aspects, while aspects related to corruption and unfair competition (aspect no. 5) and "indirect economic impacts" (aspect no. 3) are considered less important.

Regarding environmental aspects, scores vary less; the mean scores per subsample of participants range between 4.2 and 4.6. This suggests that environmental awareness has increased in the hotel sector, especially related to energy issues (aspect no. 31) and water and effluent management (aspect no. 32).

1a.png

1b.png

Figure 1. Students' perceptions based on work experience (2021-2023)

2a.png

2b.png

Figure 2. Students' perceptions based on pursed education level (2021-2023)

3a.png

3b.png

Figure 3. Students' perceptions based on origin (2021-2023)

4a.png

4b.png

Figure 4. Students' perceptions based on gender (2021-2023)

5a.png

5b.png

Figure 5. Students' perceptions based on age (2021-2023)

After performing a comprehensive analysis, Study 1 indicates that female respondents who are pursuing postgraduate studies, from Europe or Northern America, and who have little experience show a slightly greater sensitivity towards sustainability aspects. This correlation was observed in previous studies on this subject in developed and developing countries [42] in which the female gender [9, 48] or people who held a higher education degree [40] have expressed deeper concerns about sustainability.

These initial results are unstable in the different uncertainty moments analyzed. In fact, Study 2 has revealed that the best-valued aspects have achieved a lower score compared to the results obtained in Study 1. In Study 2, the slight differences in the mean scores of the evaluations of the subsamples according to the respondents' origin and the education level have not had a clear impact on their perceptions. Interestingly, the results based on experience and age tend to go in the opposite direction to the initial idea, those more experienced and older participants are being valued more positively. However, gender makes differences in the second uncertainty scenario more striking, since male participants have given a substantially lower score than women in several aspects of sustainability. These differences will be examined in the next subsection to assess their significance.

4.2 Statistics analysis

For the sake of exploration and description, this section presents a statistical analysis of the disparities identified in the previous section. Table 3 shows the outcomes of our hypothesis test, which examines the equivalence of distributions within two situations of uncertainty examined in 2021 (Study 1) and 2023 (Study 2).

Hypothesis 1: Students' perceptions differ if professional experience in hotels is considered.

In 2021, we found empirical evidence which supported only one (“anti-competitive behavior”) out of the forty-one aspects analyzed, which was consistent with hypothesis 1. For the aspect of “anti-competitive behavior”, students with little work experience attach greater importance to this aspect than students with more work experience. However, the findings of the study in 2023 reflected statistically significant differences in professional experience (up to 6 months or more) regarding the aspect of “training and education” (p-value=0.031), which is below the 0.05 threshold. After suffering greater instability (2023), students with more work experience considered that training and educational aspects were more relevant to managing sustainability than students with less work experience. Concerning the remaining forty aspects, statistically marked differences based on professional experience were not perceived. This result does not support previous research [12, 34] that claimed that professional experience does influence the importance attached corporate sustainability. A possible explanation for this might be that sustainability has been integrated into the university curricula, which has resulted in a more heightened awareness and sensitivity among students. As a result, perceptions regarding sustainability have converged, even among those who already had some professional experience.

Table 3. Mann-Whitney U test results

*p < 0.10; ** p < 0.05; *** p < 0.01.

Hypothesis 2: Students' perceptions differ if their education level is considered.

In 2021, the participants’ (undergraduate or postgraduate) education level showed statistically important differences only in three aspects: “market presence”, “anti-competitive behavior”, and the "rights of indigenous and native peoples”. In these three aspects, it is observed that postgraduate students give them greater relevance than undergraduate students. Interestingly, the results in 2023 did not empirically support hypothesis 2 on any aspect of sustainability and, therefore, hypothesis 2 was rejected. An explanation for this could be that the integration of sustainability, together with the challenges of the 2030 Agenda, is being promoted as a transversal competence throughout undergraduate, master's, and postgraduate levels, which has diminished the difference that could exist.

Hypothesis 3: Perceptions are different if the student comes from more (in this case Europe and Northern America) or less developed areas.

In Study 1, only two out of the forty-one aspects related to environmental sustainability, “emissions" and "water and effluents”, offered empirical evidence consistent with hypothesis 3. In this case, it is the Europeans and North Americans who give greater importance to these aspects compared to the rest of the students. However, when the study was repeated in 2023, no substantial differences arose in any of the forty-one aspects of sustainability when considering participants' origin. This result does not support some published studies [41] which claimed that participants' origin would affect their responses. This result may be because all the participants in the study were students from the same educational institution and who, therefore, acquired the same knowledge. Another possible explanation is that general sustainability principles in their education programs are considered rather than the needs of specific regions.

Hypothesis 4: Perspectives differ if students' gender is considered.

In 2021, our study found that only three out of forty-one aspects, “procurement practices”, “anti-competitive behavior”, and “non-discrimination” offered empirical evidence which supported the hypothesis. In 2021, the aspect of non-discrimination is the one that has the greatest importance for women, and it has a statistically lower value in the case of men. In Study 2, a total of thirteen concept, mainly related to social and environmental aspects demonstrated empirical evidence supporting Hypothesis 4. In this sense, it is observed that women attach greater importance than men to these environmental and social aspects. This aligns with previous studies [9, 49] that suggest differences in perceptions of sustainability between genders. For instance, there is a study, which argued that women were more concerned about environmental sustainability than men. It is worth noting that compared to the pre-Ukraine conflict study, our results indicate a greater discrepancy in perceptions of social and environmental aspects between genders, highlighting the impact of the uncertain environment in 2023.

Hypothesis 5: Perceptions diverge if students' age is considered.

According to this study, the results do not differ significantly if the age variable is considered. In fact, in Study 1, empirical evidence, is consistent with hypothesis 5 in one of the forty-one aspects, “Socioeconomic Compliance”, which is more relevant for older students. When conducting Study 2, participants’ ages showed statistically significant differences in three concepts: “procurement practices”, “forced or compulsory labor”, and “local communities”. These three aspects are relevant for both groups analyzed, however those older students consider them to be more relevant. These results have corroborated the ideas what suggested the requirement for corporate sustainability does not differ widely if age is considered [36]. Neither Study 1 nor Study 2 has produced evidence that supported hypothesis 5, which may be explained by the fact that there are no major differences in the participating students’ ages.