The diffusion of environmental sustainability innovations in North American hotels and ski resorts

Abstract

This study examines the diffusion of environmental sustainability innovations in North American hotels and ski resorts. It seeks to understand what sustainability innovations are being adopted and the variables affecting the rate of adoption. An electronic survey was distributed to 49 medium/large hotels and ski resorts. Rogers’ diffusion of innovations theory was utilized to hypothesize that a hotel/resort manager's perceptions of sustainability would correlate with the adoption of the innovations. Over 4000 published studies have used diffusion of innovations theory to examine the innovation in mass media, public health, sociology, communication and agriculture. Results from this study revealed that the perceived simplicity of sustainability innovations and high levels of opinion leadership of hotels/resorts were most strongly associated with the adoption of sustainability innovations. The perceived relative advantage of sustainability innovations and the general innovativeness of the hotels/resorts also correlated to some extent with the adoption of innovations leading to increased sustainability. Sustainability communication must emphasize simplicity and ease of adopting sustainability innovations to increase the rate of adoption. The findings provide useful theoretical knowledge and advice for change agents, opinion leaders and suppliers in the resort industry on how to further diffuse sustainability in the sector.