The Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility and Food Health and Safety, on the Corporate Image of Hong Kong's Fast-Food Restaurants
Tim Cheng
School of Professional and Continuing Education, The University of Hong Kong, Institute of China Business, Hong Kong
Canon Tong
Newcastle Business School, Faculty of Business and Law, University of Newcastle, Australia
Anthony Tik-tsuen Wong *
School of Business and Hospitality Management, Caritas Institute of Higher Education, Hong Kong
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Recent years have witnessed various changes in the business world regarding technology and ecological degradation, which has seen corporate social responsibility increasingly used as a competitive tool in all industries. This research examined the perception of customers of fast-food restaurants in Hong Kong in order to assess the impact of corporate social responsibility and food health and safety implementation on corporate image. A quantitative survey was used for the study. The study population and unit of analysis were individual customers of fast-food restaurants and the sample size was set at 350 as recommended by previous studies. Multiple linear regression was used to analyse the collected. The findings reveal that corporate social responsibility has a positive correlation with food health and safety and corporate image. This study theoretically contributes to the existing body of knowledge on corporate social responsibility and corporate image. In addition, this study contributes in a practical sense by encouraging fast-food restaurants and other food related businesses to value food health and safety and make a voluntary move to fully comply with regulations. Managers can also take the initiative to show customers that their food is healthy and safe by displaying ingredients and by informing customers that the restaurant only sources from safe and reliable suppliers. Such actions will be more beneficial to a restaurant in terms of corporate image than merely complying with food health and safety regulations.
Keywords: Hong Kong, corporate social responsibility, corporate image, food and health safety, fast-food restaurant