The Role of Ethical Leadership’s CSR Initiatives and Leader’s Trait Mindfulness in Consumer Well-Being in Multinational Hotels

Management International Review. 2025. Vol. 65. P. 591–614.

Usman M., Del Giudice M., Papa A., Singh S. K., Khalid A.

Despite increasing pressure from institutions and stakeholders to focus on Sustainable Development Goals, a noticeable research gap persists, particularly in understanding the precise nature of corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives of multinational enterprises (MNEs) in relation to consumer well-being. To address this gap, using stakeholder theory, we developed a 2-2(2)-1 model consisting of the interrelations among ethical leadership, hotel disclosure of nutritional information, food healthiness, leader trait mindfulness, and consumer well-being. Based on data collected from three sources—52 hotel managers, 329 employees, and 329 multinational hotel guests—using a time-lagged design, the results revealed a direct positive association between ethical leadership and consumer well-being. Further, the study showed that ethical leadership positively influences consumer well-being through hotel disclosure of nutritional information (DNI) and food healthiness. The study also found support for the moderating influence of leader trait mindfulness on the effects of ethical leadership on hotel DNI, food healthiness, and consumer well-being. Our findings can help service MNEs develop SCR interventions to deal with consumer well-being more effectively.

Keywords: CSR, ethical leadership, Consumer Well-being, Multinational hotels

Publication based on the results of: National innovation system 2.0: involving key actors in transformation processes (2025)