| Author: | Baah, Nancy Grace |
| Title: | Development and testing of sustainable hospitality consumption value models to understand customers’ psychological responses to sustainable consumption |
| Advisors: | Kim, Sam (SHTM) |
| Degree: | Ph.D. |
| Year: | 2024 |
| Subject: | Hospitality industry -- Environmental aspects Tourism -- Environmental aspects Tourists -- Psychology Hong Kong Polytechnic University -- Dissertations |
| Department: | School of Hotel and Tourism Management |
| Pages: | xxiii, 434 pages : illustrations |
| Language: | English |
| Abstract: | Sustainable consumerism has emerged as an increasingly popular subject as global environmental concerns have grown. The reliance on energy and natural resources for the operations of tourism and hospitality businesses has led to their extensive environmental impact. As a way to reduce their environmental effects in response to the global climate emergency, customers in the hospitality industry are increasingly looking for environmentally friendly products and services, such as green hotels, green restaurants, green airlines, and green resorts. Value represents the meaning of a product/service consumed and is important in determining consumption behavior and fostering deeper customer relationships. However, the value that customers derive from sustainable hospitality consumption has rarely been investigated. The field’s research into the value of sustainable consumption is in its initial stages. Moreover, no comprehensive scale is currently used for measuring the value that customers gain from patronizing sustainable hospitality establishments. The limited number of studies on the value derived from sustainable hospitality consumption has primarily used scales created in various contexts that may not be applicable to hospitality settings. Furthermore, research on the sustainable practices of guests in the hospitality and tourist sectors has mostly investigated how customer attitudes affect business benefits rather than customers or society. Moreover, green ideas have not been the focus of company-level studies. Additionally, research on how attitude toward environmentally friendly hospitality consumption affects other prosocial behaviors has not been conducted. Previous research has stressed the importance of the proposed moderators of sustainable consumption and their power to alter behavior. Based on the gaps in the sustainable hospitality consumption literature, seven objectives were set to be addressed in this thesis: (1) to develop a valid and comprehensive scale to evaluate the sustainable hospitality consumption value of customers, (2) to test a model that demonstrates the interrelationships among sustainable hospitality consumption values and relevant factors at the individual level, (3) to assess the moderating influence of collectivist orientation and religiosity on the interaction among the factors at the individual level, (4) to test a model that illustrates the connections between sustainable hospitality consumption value dimensions and relevant factors at the company level, (5) to evaluate the moderating effects of environmental activism and environmental identity on the possible connections among the factors at the company level, (6) to test a model that demonstrates the relationships among sustainable hospitality consumption value dimensions and relevant factors at the societal level, and (7) to assess the moderating influence of global identity and sense of obligation on the associations among the factors at the societal level. The theory of consumption values was the principal framework for this thesis. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were adopted to achieve the objectives of the study. The steps for developing the sustainable hospitality consumption value scale and testing the proposed models consisted of (1) specifying and defining the domains of sustainable hospitality consumption value, (2) generating the initial items from the literature, (3) interviewing and reviewing by experts, (4) pretesting using doctoral students in hospitality and tourism, (5) pilot testing, and (6) the main survey, which tested three models at the individual, company, and societal levels. The data were gathered through the Amazon MTurk Online Panel. The study targeted customers of sustainable hospitality companies in the USA. A total of 918 responses were found to be usable for analysis. SPSS and AMOS were used to analyze the main survey results. Through a rigorous process, six dimensions were identified for the evaluation of sustainable hospitality consumption value. These dimensions are quality and price value, environmental value, epistemic value, social value, health value, and emotional value. For the individual-level study, except for price and quality value, all the value domains exerted a positive influence on customers’ attitude toward sustainable hospitality consumption value. Attitude also determined green satisfaction, subjective well-being, customer delight, and self-esteem. Furthermore, customers’ satisfaction with the green features of the product or services improved their delight. The moderating effects of collectivism and religiosity were partially ascertained in the individual-level study. According to the company-level study, social value, emotional value, and epistemic value positively impacted green brand innovativeness, green brand image, and green brand trust. Customers build emotional connections with green brands that they perceive as innovative with their green practices and trust in delivering on their green promises. The moderating influence of environmental activism and environmental identity were partially established in this company-level study. The societal-level analysis revealed that environmental value, social value, emotional value, and epistemic value affected attitude favorably. Moreover, attitude influenced green satisfaction, social justice behavioral intention, and global civic engagement intention. Finally, green satisfaction impacted donation behavioral intention, social justice behavioral intention, and global civic engagement intention. Similarly, global identity and sense of obligation were partially confirmed as moderators for the societal-level study. This study notably adds to the body of knowledge about sustainability, consumption value, sustainable consumption value, and consumer behavior. This study established six domains of sustainable hospitality consumption. Three models at the individual, company, and societal levels were also empirically tested. This study has ascertained how collectivism, religiosity, environmental activism, environmental identity, global identity, and sense of obligation moderate the relationships at different levels. The theory of consumption values has been expanded to capture conditions in sustainable hospitality settings. Managers need to be guided by the value dimensions in their design of sustainable hospitality products/services. Managers of sustainable hospitality businesses should devote resources to making their offerings more environmentally friendly because the values they provide enhance consumers’ emotions, help them become delighted, boost their self-esteem, foster a sense of connection with the natural world, and help them build deeper relationships with customers. Service providers can influence prosocial behavior among consumers by delivering value and satisfying the green needs of customers. |
| Rights: | All rights reserved |
| Access: | open access |
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