An Exploratory Study of Attendee Perceptions of Green Meetings

Abstract

This article reports on the perceptions of convention attendees regarding green meetings. For this article, green meetings have been taken to mean those with sustainable practices and/or facilities. Attendees at four large conventions in Thailand were surveyed in order to gauge opinions on green meetings. Results suggest that broadly speaking, attendees are positive about green meetings, particularly attending meetings and staying in the same hotel; eating local food; and recycling notepaper from previous conferences. However, respondents were less positive about paying more for green meetings, similar to previous research. Additionally, this article emphasizes the importance of not considering attendees to be homogenous, and divides attendees into various convention participant roles, including delegates, organisers, exhibitors and sponsors. Significant differences were found between sponsors and other participant roles, particularly concerning the ambience or atmosphere of green meetings, perceived by sponsors as less attractive than non-green meetings. The article concludes by suggesting further areas of research regarding sustainability and business events.