Fostering green customer citizenship behavioral intentions through green hotel practices: the roles of pride, moral elevation, and hotel star ratings

Abstract

In the past decade, hotels have increasingly adopted green practices due to heightened customers’ environmental concerns and a commitment to fostering sustainability. While the literature on green hotel practices is abundant, understanding customers’ extra-role behaviors in response to these practices remains a complex and underexplored area. This study, based on social exchange theory, examines how perceptions of green hotel practices boost customer citizenship behavioral intentions (green CCBi). It further explores the mediating mechanisms of pride and moral elevation and the moderating mechanism of hotel star ratings in this association. The proposed hypotheses were tested utilizing a multi-method quantitative approach with data collected from hotel guests in Taiwan. Findings from the survey (N = 407) reveal that green practices have a positive and direct effect on green CCBi and have indirect effects through pride and moral elevation. Furthermore, the impacts of green hotel practices on green CCBi, pride, and moral elevation are stronger for higher-star-rated hotels. These findings are reinforced by the results of the two experiments (N = 492). The insights guide hotel managers and policymakers in crafting more effective green strategies to evoke customers’ positive emotions and voluntary behavior among customers.