Effects of nature-based solutions (NBS) on eco-friendly hotel guests' mental health perceptions, satisfaction, switching barriers, and revisit intentions

Abstract

This research was designed to develop a theoretical framework that explained eco-friendly hotel guests' revisit intention by considering the effect of nature-based solutions (NBS), mental health perception, satisfaction, and switching barriers. A higher-order structure of NBS containing four first-order factors and switching barriers as moderators was integrated into the proposed conceptual framework. Our theoretical model encompassing these factors and mechanisms and satisfactorily accounted for the variance in intention. In particular, our empirical results from the structural analysis verified the adequacy of the second-order structure of NBS that significantly increased guest mental health perception. In addition, our findings from the metric invariance test revealed that switching barriers significantly moderated the link from satisfaction to intention. The mediating effect of mental health perception and satisfaction was also uncovered. Moreover, the research hypotheses linking study variables were generally supported. Our findings can help researchers and practitioners develop a strategy to effectively implement NBS in hotel management.