The determinants of consumers’ intention of purchasing green hotel accommodation: Extending the theory of planned behaviour

Abstract

Prior research has attempted to gain a better understanding of consumers' formation of purchase decisions to patronise green hotels, thus addressing the need to provide practical relevance to hotel operators; however, results have been inconclusive. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive conceptual model, based on the theory of planned behaviour (TPB), to explain how consumers' purchase intentions for green hotels are formed. Initially, an exploratory qualitative approach identified consumer green hotel knowledge and a new set of belief items, with salient referents, as significant factors generating the intentions to patronise green hotels. The proposed model merges the TPB with green hotel knowledge and belief constructs in the quantitative phase. The results demonstrate that the new model contributes considerably to improve our comprehension of the intricate process of green hotel consumers' decision-making. Perceived behavioural control appears to be the strongest predictor of green patronage intention. Further, green hotel knowledge and attitudes, as well as subjective injunctive norms were shown to positively influence intention towards green hotel patronage, respectively. These findings reveal significant implications for hotel managers to design effective marketing strategies to enhance the patronage of green hotels.