Investigating the Relationship Between Corporate Social Responsibility Practices and Brand Equity in Nigerian Hotel Chains: A Multi-Site Empirical Study

This study investigates the relationship between corporate social responsibility practices and brand equity in Nigerian hotel chains through a multi-site empirical research design spanning six geopolitical zones. While the CSR-brand equity relationship has been extensively examined in Western hospitality markets, theoretically grounded empirical investigation within the Nigerian hotel chain context, where consumer CSR awareness, institutional CSR frameworks, and brand equity dynamics differ substantially from developed markets, is absent from literature. A cross-sectional quantitative research design is adopted with a two-wave data collection strategy. Wave one surveys 380 hotel managers across 12 Nigerian hotel chains to assess CSR activity levels, CSR communication strategies, and CSR governance structures. Wave two administers questionnaires to 640 hotel guests at the same properties to measure CSR awareness, CSR attribution, and brand equity dimensions including brand awareness, perceived quality, brand associations, and brand loyalty. Hierarchical regression and structural equation modelling are applied to test direct and mediated relationships. Findings reveal that CSR activities with high local community visibility generate significantly stronger brand equity effects than international or environmental CSR activities, reflecting the salience of community embeddedness in Nigerian consumer brand evaluation. CSR communication transparency moderates the CSR-brand equity relationship, with transparent, specific CSR communication producing twice the brand equity effect of generic CSR messaging. The study contributes a Nigeria-contextualised CSR-Brand Equity Model and develops measurement scales validated for African hospitality markets. Keywords: corporate social responsibility, brand equity, Nigerian hotel chains, CSR communication, hospitality branding