In recent years, hotel companies have recognized the importance of engaging in responsible business practices as they relate to stakeholders including employees, guests, and the communities in which their properties are located. Accordingly, many of these corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives (e.g., towel recycle and reuse programs, employee diversity training) have been widely implemented and are now commonly found throughout the industry. However, hospitality firms that continue to focus solely on mainstream CSR activities may no longer derive a high level of benefit of engaging in CSR efforts, which have traditionally included guest satisfaction, brand preference, positive brand reputation, and increased employee commitment (Bader 2005; Butler 2008; Mensah 2007). At worst, firms may be accused of "greenwashing" if their green practices remain outdated (El Dief and Font 2010).

Innovation practices and research related to hotels have mainly focused on technological and service innovations (Orfila-Sintes et al., 2004; Tseng et al., 2008), with scant attention paid to CSR innovations. Although it is assumed that hospitality firms benefit from continuous innovation in the CSR arena, no prior research has examined the value of CSR innovation from a management perspective. Therefore, the objective of this research is threefold: 1) develop a comprehensive list and categorization of new generation CSR innovations (which we call, "CSR 2.0"); 2) analyze differences between "traditional" and "innovative" CSR activities on key stakeholder outcomes; and 3) compare managerial perspectives in the lodging industry between U.S. east and west coast respondents. All of these research objectives will add to academic and practitioner understanding of sustainability in the hospitality and tourism industries.