Will ‘doing right’ lead to ‘doing well’? An examination of green behavior

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this research was to identify the drivers of customer loyalty in the context of green marketing. In particular, the extended theory of reasoned action model specified here added crucial constructs in consumer behavior, namely, consumers’ trust and beliefs about corporate social responsibility, to increase the predictability of the model. Additionally, the moderating role of level of education in predicting customer loyalty to hotels was also examined. Design/methodology/approach A mixed methodology was used for the study. A structural mixed methodology was used for the study. A structural model was developed to understand the theoretical relationships between identified constructs. Additionally, multiple regression analyses were used to identify the moderating role of level of education in predicting consumer loyalty. Data collected through an online survey from 446 hotel guests were used for the analyses. Findings The results indicated that in addition to attitude and subjective norms, consumers’ trust in hotels’ intentions to be green influence their loyalty to green hotel enterprises. Further investigation also showed significant moderating influence of levels of education in their choice to be loyal to green hotels. Research limitations/implications Even though the majority of the study’s sample has extensive travel experience, the data were collected from university employees, which might have limited the findings of this study. Practical implications Consumers need to trust ethical claims in adopting green practices to become loyal customers. Hence, it is imperative for marketers to convey that their business believe in proenvironmental activities. Additionally, marketers should not neglect their level of education because it influences their loyalty to green hotels. Green marketing should target not only an individual customer but also his/her ties to significant others, because subjective norms influence customer loyalty to green hotels. Originality/value This research developed a comprehensive model to understand customer loyalty to green hotels, thus providing insights to marketers and academics about a timely subject, namely, green behavior. In doing so, this research added crucial constructs to extend the traditional model of theory of reasoned action as well as examined the moderating role of level of education in the identified model.

Implications of Value Co-Creation in Green Hotels: The Moderating Effect of Trip Purpose and Generational Cohort

“…Secondly, this paper investigated the role of guest trust and satisfaction as an antecedent of their degree of loyalty. In this sense, in line with other studies in the hotel context [10][11][12][13][14], our results show that trust and satisfaction are important factors for increasing the level of guest loyalty. The results obtained also suggest that tourist satisfaction with ecofriendly hotels is significantly influenced by their trust in such establishments, thus confirming the conclusions of [10,11].…”

“…In the quest to preserve lasting commercial relationships with guests, literature has identified several variables that influence guest loyalty, such as, among others, trust and satisfaction, which are deemed to be determinants in the maintenance of long-term relationships between hotels and their guests [10][11][12][13][14]. In this vein, the value-satisfaction-loyalty chain has been supported by previous research in tourism and hospitality [15].…”

“…Loyalty is another construct that has aroused great interest among marketing researchers in relation to consumer behavior, due to its important role in the growth and sustainability of a company [10,12]. In literature, the construct has been evaluated from three perspectives: (a) behavioral, (b) attitudinal, and (c) composed, but most research has focused on the behavioral and attitudinal perspectives [11,13,68,72]. In this study, the construct was approached from the attitudinal perspective, following the line in previous studies in focusing on the first option when choosing a hotel [11,13,72], the sense of attachment to the provider [13,72], and emotional commitment to the company [11,72].…”

“…The different studies in the literature focusing on the relationship between trust and loyalty coincide in highlighting a significant relationship in which trust positively influences loyalty [10,11,13,14,70,71], given that trust creates exchange relationships that consumers value highly [73]. Within the hotel industry, trust has been identified as a key element for forging strong relationships between guests and hotels [11].…”

“…Within the hotel industry, trust has been identified as a key element for forging strong relationships between guests and hotels [11]. In this connection, recent studies have demonstrated the role of trust in increasing loyalty toward hotel companies [10][11][12][13][14]. Based on the foregoing, the following hypothesis was considered:…”