The nexus of customer agility and sustainability performance across tourism firms of various sizes

This study aims to investigate how customer agility, specifically the ability to sense and respond to customer needs, affects the sustainability performance of tourism organizations across economic, social and environmental dimensions. The study also examines how the firms’ size moderates these relationships. The researchers collected 472 valid surveys from middle and senior managers of Chinese tourism organizations and used structural equation modelling (SEM) and multi-group analysis (MGA) to test the hypotheses. The results show that customer agility (customer sensing and responding capabilities) positively influences the sustainability performance of tourism organizations across economic, social, and environmental dimensions. Additionally, the study indicates that the size of the firm moderates the impact of customer sensing capabilities on these sustainability dimensions. It also shows that while firm size influences the relationship between customer responding capabilities and social sustainability performance, it does not significantly alter economic or environmental sustainability outcomes. This study introduces a novel research framework to advance the understanding of how customer-centric strategies, particularly sensing and responding capabilities, impact the sustainability performance of tourism organizations. It also offers insights into understanding organizational characteristics that influence sustainability performance elements.