Corporate social entrepreneurial orientation in the hospitality and tourism industry: a religiosity perspective

Abstract

Purpose The major purpose of this research article is to empirically analyze a moderated-mediated model to comprehend the interrelationships between religiosity, life hardship, attitude toward social entrepreneurship (SE) and corporate social entrepreneurial orientation (SEO). Design/methodology/approach The constructivist grounded theory method was used to analyze interviews, and partial least squares structural equation modeling was selected to analyze the developed nine hypotheses. Findings Based on the structural model outcomes, the practicing religious believers reported a significantly higher level of corporate SEO and propensity for social proactiveness, innovativeness, risk-taking, socialness and persistence (dimensions of SEO) than the nonpracticing believers. Practical implications This study provides the practical implication that social entrepreneurs with a higher degree of congruence with the prevailing religious institutionalized logic in a society have a higher inclination to create social value through corporate practices and operations. Originality/value This study presents an SEO scale that incorporates the dimensions of two SEO scales developed by Kraus et al. (2017) and Syrjä et al. (2019). To the best of the author’s knowledge, the applicability and generalizability of this scale were supported for the first time in the SE discipline, particularly tourism SE. This scale effectively captures more characteristics of SE, particularly in the face of inefficient political and institutional forms.