Adoption of environmental technologies in the hotel industry: development of sustainable intelligence and pro-environmental behavior

Abstract

Innovative environmental technologies such as solar energy, hydroelectricity, waste-to-energy, and rainwater reuse sources have the potential to completely transform the modern world to reduce climate change and dependency on fossil fuels. This study aims to investigate the role of environmental innovative technologies on customers' experiences of hotels with a mediating role of sustainable intelligence. The study theorizes that environmental innovative technologies enhance customers ‘experience and attitude towards hotels. The innovation diffusion theory is utilized as a main theoretical framework to address the research problem. The data was collected from tourists/visitors at top hotels with a usable sample size of 222 respondents. Survey results reveal that innovative technologies in the context of Environmental Responsibility and Economic Responsibility have a significant influence on Pro-Environmental Behaviour with the full mediating role of Sustainable Intelligence. These findings have important implications when implementing innovative technologies in the tourism industry to (1) improve customer satisfaction, experience, and attitude towards the hotels and destinations; (2) provide guidelines in tourism development policy and marketing; (3) help government agencies to effectively use pro-environmental technologies to change consumer attitude. After the investigation, some intriguing theoretical and practical conclusions have been made.