Eliciting customer green decisions related to water saving at hotels: impact of customer characteristics

Abstract

Hotel guests' eco-friendly behaviors related to water conservation have not been sufficiently explored. This study aims to clearly explain guest decision formation for such pro-environmental behaviors. A quantitative approach is utilized to achieve study objectives. Our theoretical framework comprising biospheric value, environmental concern, willingness to sacrifice for the environment, personal norm and descriptive social norm is found to be effective in predicting their decisions to conserve water and in recommending water-saving activity to others. Our results demonstrate the mediating role of willingness to sacrifice for the environment and personal norm. Moreover, findings from the invariance test reveal that customer characteristics play an essential role in generating pro-environmental intentions. Overall, our proposed theoretical framework is satisfactorily supported. This study soundly contributes to helping hotel researchers and practitioners better understand the clear role of each research variable in generating guest intentions to conserve water and recommend doing so to others.