The purpose of this research is twofold: firstly, we aim to understand the role of virtual reality (VR) in influencing tourism consumers’ attitudes toward a tourist destination and, secondly, understand the influence of different levels of sensory information presented through VR experiences on the development of mental imagery, attitudes toward the destination, and visit intention. We tackle this through a multistudy experimental approach. First, in study 1, we demonstrate that VR plays a positive role in enhancing previously held consumer attitudes toward a tourist destination. Second, we affirm that VR has a greater positive effect on attitudes toward a destination in comparison to a less immersive technology (i.e., website). Third, in study 2, we find that different levels of sensory information in VR experiences result in significant differences with regard to the developed mental imagery, sense of presence in the experience, attitudes toward the destination and visit intentions.

The COVID-19 pandemic has severe psychological and psychosocial impacts on hotel workers. This study examines the causal direct impact of both job insecurity and distributive injustice, which were common in hotels post COVID-19, on social loafing behavior among hotel workers, and the indirect impact through turnover intention. Data were collected from 850 hotels workers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Using results obtained through structural equation modeling (SEM), the spread of both job insecurity and distributive injustice positively and significantly influences turnover intention among hotel workers post the COVID-19 pandemic. The results also found that turnover intention fully mediates the influence of both distributive injustices on social loafing behavior. On the other side, it partially mediates job insecurity on social loafing behavior among hotel workers. Implications for scholars and practitioners as well as limitations of current research are discussed.

This study examined the impact of university education support on entrepreneurial intention among higher education students in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The study adopts the theory of planned behavior (TPB) as the theoretical foundation and examines the effect of constructs of TPB as mediating variables between university education support and entrepreneurial intention. The study adopted a quantitative research approach through a questionnaire survey directed to senior students at King Faisal University (KFU). The results of SEM “structural equation modeling” with AMOS software showed that university education support has a significant positive direct impact on entrepreneurial intention. It also has significant positive and indirect effects through the three constructs of TPB, which were found to have a significant impact on entrepreneurial intention among higher education students. This research result sends several important messages to higher education policymakers in relation to the promotion of entrepreneurship intention among higher education students. The results also have some theoretical implications for scholars, which are also discussed in the study.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is among the top food-wasting countries worldwide, despite it being considered a religious society. Hence, an important question has emerged “to what extent and by what mechanism can religiosity influence food waste intention?”. This research answers this research question and examines the direct impact of both religiosity and food consumption culture on food waste intention as well as the indirect impact through the constructs of theory of planned behavior. For this purpose, a pre-tested self-administered questionnaire was collected from 1135 restaurant customers in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). The results of structural equation modeling (SEM) using Analysis of a Moment Structures (AMOS) showed a very weak negative influence of religiosity on food waste intention. However, food consumption culture has had a high positive significant influence on food waste intention. The results also showed that attitude towards behaviors, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control fully mediate the relationship between religiosity and food waste intention. On the other side, they were found to partially mediate the relationship between food consumption culture and food waste intention. The results have several implications for policy-makers, scholars, and restaurant practitioners.

Environmental sustainability has become a significant approach for firms to enhance their competitive advantage and reputation. This study examines the association between environmental sustainability disclosures and firm value, in addition to the moderating impact of independent board directors on this association. Using data from Saudi listed firms, we find that reporting environmental sustainability practices has a positive and significant impact on firm value, suggesting that enhanced responsibility and transparency in addition to improved stakeholder trust are important in promoting firm value. We also find that the influence of the reported environmental sustainability practices on firm value is strongly and positively moderated by the presence of independent directors on firms’ boards, signifying that stakeholders relate environmental reporting by firms to more independent directors providing better accountability to environmental practices. The implications of this study will be of great importance for policymakers, firm management, academia, and investors in considering the adoption and importance of firms’ environmental practices.

Despite a plethora of research on students’ experiences of electronic (e) learning amid COVID-19 in higher education institutions (HEI), limited research has recognized the differences between students based on their gender. This research aims to examine the differences between students regarding their e-learning experiences amid COVID-19, especially in a gender-segregated culture where female students do not have full access to conventional learning as their male counterparts do, albeit they often have more access to technology-based learning. A total of 1200 online questionnaires were analyzed from students (600 male and 600 female) in public universities in Saudi Arabia, which tend to use Blackboard to sustain their communication with students and e-learning amid COVID-19. The results of structural model and multi-group analysis using AMOS supported all the research hypotheses. The results showed that the path coefficients and significant values were higher among female students than among male students. Additionally, the explanatory power of the male structural model regarding the e-learning experience (0.58) was lower than that of the structural model of female students (0.85), reflecting a higher explanatory power to explain the e-learning experience. The research findings have numerous theoretical and practical implications, especially in gender-segregated cultures.

As a consequence of climate change, hotels are under mounting pressure to cut their carbon emissions, reduce their waste, and overall become more responsible in their operations. Given this context, experts claim that organisational human resources practices have immense ability to mould the behaviours of individuals. On the basis of w theory, we used a configuration of green human resources management, environmentally specific servant leadership, and psychological green climate to develop causal recipes for stimulating green creativity in hotel employees. Data were collected from 418 employees and analysed using an fsQCA to test the proposed model. Findings revealed that no single construct was sufficient to predict employees’ green creativity, but three causal recipes (i.e., green human respurces management, environmentally specific servant leadership, and psychological green climate) can be demonstrated to produce high green creativity. The study findings show that green human resources managment practices influence individual green creativity. It also indicated that environmentally specific servant leadership is a key driver of green creativity. Moreover, psychological green climate has a signifcant influence on green creativity. Our study has meaningful implications for hotel managers that can help them to develop new approaches and strategies to improve the employees’ green creativity by paying attention to green human resources managment practices, environmentally specific servant leadership, and psychological green climate.

Drawn on Social Exchange Theory and Conservation of Resources Theory, this study developed a research model to examine the direct influence of job insecurity and distributive injustice, which were common in many hotels amid COVID-19, on unethical pro-organisation behaviour (UPoB) among hotel employees. The study also examines the mediating role of turnover intention in the relationship between job insecurity, and distributive injustice, which was result of the COVID-19 pandemic on UPoB. For this purpose, a questionnaire survey was self-dropped and collected through personal network to hotel employees in Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. The results of structural equation modelling using AMOS (version 23) supported all the study hypotheses. The results showed a significant positive influence of distributive injustice and job insecurity on UPoB among hotel employees. Moreover, turnover intention was found to have a partial mediation role in the relationship between job insecurity, distributive injustice and UPoB. The results extend our understanding of Social Exchange Theory and Conservation of Resources Theory that employees in hotels are more likely to protect themselves and their job by engaging in UPoB if they perceived their job at threat due to a crisis, i.e., the COVID-19 pandemic. The major conclusion of current research is that when hotels employees perceived job insecurity and distributive injustice because of the pandemic, they responded with high turnover intention and as a last choice engaging in UPoB to save their resources, in this case their jobs, since they have no other alternatives outside the organisations. However, this inappropriate antisocial behaviour could have a negative influence on both employees and organisation at the long term. The results of current research have several theoretical implications for tourism scholars and managerial implication for hoteliers.