Pro-environmental behavior in sustainable tourism: the impact of using "Environmental feedback"

Abstract

Numerous strategies have been used to promote sustainable tourism, such as building environmentally-friendly destination images or giving visitors gifts to enhance their pro-environmental behaviors. There is an effective and cost-efficient way called "environmental feedback" that can urge people to participate in green actions; however, it has not been given enough attention in the accommodation sectors. Using “environmental feedback” means providing information to explain the meaning of pro-environmental behaviors. This research aims to measure the impact of providing "environmental feedback" on tourist's choice of accommodation. The hypotheses were verified using the Randomized Controlled Trials method. In particular, respondents were randomly segmented into two groups: treatment group (307 samples with hotels displaying "environmental feedback"); control group (211 samples with hotels not displaying "environmental feedback"). The findings confirm the positive impacts of using "environmental feedback” on guest’s selection of hotels. In addition, the difference in price between sustainable accommodations and standard accommodations also influences tourist's choices.