The mediating role of trust: how CSR practices influence the behavioral intentions of hotel guests in Egypt’s Red Sea

Purpose This study aims to investigate the mechanisms through which hotels’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices influence guest behavioral intentions, with a specific focus on the mediating role of trust within the distinctive setting of Egypt’s Red Sea region. Design/methodology/approach Adopting a quantitative methodology, a structured questionnaire was developed based on established CSR dimensions in the hospitality literature. Data were collected through an online survey from 399 visitors to Red Sea hotels in Egypt. Hypotheses were tested using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM), with all three CSR dimensions entered simultaneously into a unified model and key demographic variables included as control variables. Findings Using PLS-SEM with all CSR dimensions estimated simultaneously, trust fully mediates the relationships between guest CSR and both revisit and word-of-mouth intentions, and partially mediates environmental CSR’s effect on revisit intentions. Social CSR changed sign when the other dimensions were controlled, a pattern for which competing explanations are examined rather than asserted. Trust does not carry CSR into spending intentions as it carries loyalty and advocacy: the mediated pathway to spending is negative for environmental and guest CSR, and the small positive value for social CSR is the arithmetic product of two negative coefficients rather than a trust-based route to expenditure. This reveals a broad disconnect between trust-building CSR and financial commitment. Originality/value This research addresses a significant gap by deconstructing CSR into specific practices and examining their distinct effects on different behavioral outcomes through the lens of trust. The findings provide insights for managers in developing economies, suggesting that while CSR builds trust and influences loyalty and advocacy, it may not be sufficient to directly command the spending intentions of the guests.