Eco-innovation in hospitality research (1998-2018): a systematic review

Abstract

Purpose Theoretical and empirical developments in academic literature have not been able to keep pace with the growing industry focus on eco-innovation and green hospitality practices. This paper aims to address this gap and provide an up-to-date review of research on eco-innovative practices in 13 leading hospitality journals over the past two decades, 1998-2018. Design/methodology/approach A systematic review that incorporates the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses flow diagram is used to guide the data selection for this paper. The paper analyzes 403 studies published in 13 established hospitality journals to identify homogeneous research themes. Findings A unified conceptual framework is proposed by identifying seven research domains under eco-innovative practices. Even though research attention on green practices has increased in recent years, the development of conceptual frameworks, appropriate measurement scales and theoretical support for eco-innovative practices is warranted. Research limitations/implications Although the paper attempts to include as many environmentally related studies as possible, by being restricted to papers published only in 13 leading hospitality journals, it may not have drawn on all relevant eco-innovation studies in hospitality research. Originality/value To the knowledge of the authors, this is the first systematic analysis of hospitality research on eco-innovative practices that reviews such a large number (403) of studies spanning the past two decades (1998-2018). The most recent review by Kim et al. (2017) covered 146 green research studies published between 2000 and 2014; whereas, out of 403 studies reviewed in this study, 231 (57per cent) have been published between 2014 and 2018. This trend is indicative of the fast-evolving nature of sustainability research and the need for an up-to-date systematic review of recent literature in the field.