Hotel customers’ environmentally responsible behavioral intention: Impact of key constructs on decision in green consumerism

Abstract Since rapidly growing numbers of customers prefer environmentally responsible products, efforts to “green” hotel operations are becoming increasingly important. The study reported here was designed to investigate guests’ intention formation when selecting an environmentally responsible hotel. The intention was to extend the Model of Goal-directed Behavior (MGB) by integrating several essential variables (environmental awareness, perceived effectiveness, and eco-friendly behavior and reputation) in explicating customers’ eco-friendly behavior. Findings from the measurement model indicated that study variables included a satisfactory level of reliability and validity. Results from the structural modeling revealed that the proposed theoretical framework had a strong ability to anticipate intention; incorporated constructs that played a vital role in hotel guests’ decision formation; and identified attitudes and desires that acted as mediators. The role of established variables in the original MGB was redefined. Our model had superior prediction power over the MGB, accounting for guests’ environmentally friendly buying behavior accurately.

[1]  Heesup Han,et al.  Role of Perceived Fit With Hotels’ Green Practices in the Formation of Customer Loyalty: Impact of Environmental Concerns , 2013 .

[2]  S. Chaiken,et al.  The psychology of attitudes. , 1993 .

[3]  Anthony Ryan,et al.  Measuring “Awareness of Environmental Consequences”: Two Scales and Two Interpretations , 2008 .

[4]  Heesup Han,et al.  Senior Travelers and Airport Shopping: Deepening Repurchase Decision-making Theory , 2015 .

[5]  Soo K. Kang,et al.  The effect of environmentally friendly perceptions on festival visitors’ decision-making process using an extended model of goal-directed behavior , 2012 .

[6]  Mei‐Fang Chen,et al.  Developing an extended Theory of Planned Behavior model to predict consumers’ intention to visit green hotels , 2014 .

[7]  Heesup Han,et al.  Intention to pay conventional-hotel prices at a green hotel – a modification of the theory of planned behavior , 2010 .

[8]  Steven A. Taylor,et al.  Intention to Engage in Digital Piracy , 2009 .

[9]  G. Carrus,et al.  Emotions, habits and rational choices in ecological behaviours: The case of recycling and use of public transportation , 2008 .

[10]  Kevin Money,et al.  Reputation in Relationships: Measuring Experiences, Emotions and Behaviors , 2005 .

[11]  I. Ajzen,et al.  Attitudes and the Attitude-Behavior Relation: Reasoned and Automatic Processes , 2000 .

[12]  C. Fornell,et al.  Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error. , 1981 .

[13]  Mário Raposo,et al.  “Green” segmentation: an application to the Portuguese consumer market , 2009 .

[14]  I. Ajzen.  The theory of planned behavior , 1991 .

[15]  Marco Perugini,et al.  The distinction between desires and intentions , 2004 .

[16]  Peter Jones,et al.  Sustainability in the global hotel industry , 2014 .

[17]  I. Ajzen,et al.  Belief, Attitude, Intention, and Behavior: An Introduction to Theory and Research , 1977 .

[18]  J. Hair.  Multivariate data analysis , 1972 .

[19]  Wan-I Lee,et al.  Environmentally Responsible Behavior in Ecotourism: Exploring the Role of Destination Image and Value Perception , 2014 .

[20]  P. Schmidt,et al.  Theory‐Driven Subgroup‐Specific Evaluation of an Intervention to Reduce Private Car Use1 , 2001 .

[21]  P. Bohdanowicz.  Environmental awareness and initiatives in the Swedish and Polish hotel industries—survey results , 2006 .

[22]  R. Bagozzi,et al.  Antecedents and purchase consequences of customer participation in small group brand communities , 2006 .

[23]  Cathy H. C. Hsu,et al.  An Extension of the Theory of Planned Behavior Model for Tourists , 2012 .

[24]  Wendy Wood,et al.  Habit and intention in everyday life: The multiple processes by which past behavior predicts future behavior. , 1998 .

[25]  Heesup Han.  Travelers' pro-environmental behavior in a green lodging context: Converging value-belief-norm theory and the theory of planned behavior , 2015 .

[26]  M. Perugini,et al.  Goal desires moderate intention-behaviour relations. , 2008, The British journal of social psychology.

[27]  R. Pieters,et al.  Goal-directed Emotions , 1998 .

[28]  Heesup Han,et al.  Investigation of the volitional, non-volitional, emotional, motivational and automatic processes in determining golfers' intention: impact of screen golf. , 2014 .

[29]  Stavros P. Kalafatis,et al.  Green marketing and Ajzen’s theory of planned behaviour: a cross‐market examination , 1999 .

[30]  R. Bagozzi,et al.  On the evaluation of structural equation models , 1988 .

[31]  Heesup Han,et al.  Application of the Theory of Planned Behavior to green hotel choice: Testing the effect of environmental friendly activities , 2010 .

[32]  Marianna Piskóti,et al.  Environmentally conscious consumption patterns in Hungarian households , 2011 .

[33]  M. Perugini,et al.  The role of desires and anticipated emotions in goal-directed behaviours: broadening and deepening the theory of planned behaviour. , 2001, The British journal of social psychology.

[34]  András Takács-Sánta.  Barriers to Environmental Concern , 2007 .

[35]  I. Ajzen,et al.  Understanding Attitudes and Predicting Social Behavior , 1980 .

[36]  Heesup Han,et al.  Understanding how consumers view green hotels: how a hotel's green image can influence behavioural intentions , 2010 .

[37]  Cathy H. C. Hsu,et al.  Theory of Planned Behavior: Potential Travelers from China , 2004 .

[38]  M. Dijst,et al.  A Comparative Study of Attitude Theory and other Theoretical Models for Understanding Travel Behaviour , 2008 .

[39]  L. Whitmarsh.  Behavioural responses to climate change: Asymmetry of intentions and impacts , 2009 .

[40]  Heesup Han,et al.  The impact of non-pharmaceutical interventions for 2009 H1N1 influenza on travel intentions: A model of goal-directed behavior , 2011, Tourism Management.

[41]  Christian A. Klöckner,et al.  The role of parental behaviour for the development of behaviour specific environmental norms – The example of recycling and re-use behaviour , 2012 .

[42]  C. Mobley,et al.  Exploring Additional Determinants of Environmentally Responsible Behavior: The Influence of Environmental Literature and Environmental Attitudes , 2010 .

[43]  M. Laroche,et al.  Targeting consumers who are willing to pay more for environmentally friendly products , 2001 .

[44]  Heesup Han,et al.  An investigation of green hotel customers' decision formation: developing an extended model of the theory of planned behavior. , 2010 .

[45]  James A. Roberts,et al.  Environmental segmentation alternatives: a look at green consumer behavior in the new , 1999 .

[46]  I. Ajzen,et al.  Choice of Travel Mode in the Theory of Planned Behavior: The Roles of Past Behavior, Habit, and Reasoned Action , 2003 .

[47]  K. Poels,et al.  Hope and self regulatory goals applied to an advertising context : promoting prevention stimulates goal-directed behavior , 2008 .

[48]  Mei-Fang Chen,et al.  The Moderating Effect of Perceived Lack of Facilities on Consumers’ Recycling Intentions , 2010 .

[49]  Heesup Han,et al.  The theory of repurchase decision-making (TRD): Identifying the critical factors in the post-purchase decision-making process , 2012 .

[50]  G. Hunter.  The role of anticipated emotion, desire, and intention in the relationship between image and shopping center visits , 2006 .

[51]  Bodo B. Schlegelmilch,et al.  The link between green purchasing decisions and measures of environmental consciousness , 1996 .

[52]  V. Jauhari,et al.  Exploring consumer attitude and behaviour towards green practices in the lodging industry in India , 2007 .

[53]  Heesup Han,et al.  Overseas travelers’ decision formation for airport-shopping behavior , 2014 .

[54]  David Njite,et al.  Anticipated emotion in consumers' intentions to select eco-friendly restaurants: Augmenting the theory of planned behavior , 2013 .

[55]  James A. Roberts.  Green consumers in the 1990s: Profile and implications for advertising , 1996 .

[56]  S. Thomas.  What Drives Student Loyalty in Universities: An Empirical Model from India , 2011 .

[57]  Norman Peng,et al.  Green hotel knowledge and tourists’ staying behavior , 2012 .