What drives persuasion to choose healthy and ecological food at hotel buffets: message, receiver or sender?

Abstract

PurposeThe effectiveness of a message to persuade tourists to consume healthier and more ecological food may be influenced by (1) the message content, (2) the message sender and (3) the receiver of the message. This study analyses effective persuasion of tourists by simultaneously investigating how these three characteristics influence tourists' healthy and ecological food choices at hotel buffets.Design/methodology/approachA randomised 4 × 2 between-subject experimental design, replicated in two hotels, collected perceptions of 329 participants on four persuasive messages aimed at increasing food consumption in a realistic and natural setting at hotel buffets. The eight treatments included four persuasive messages (placebo appeal, health appeal, environmental appeal, local origin appeal), each with and without endorsement (i.e. with/without a specific sender).FindingsMessage content, in particular health and local provenance-related messages, and the characteristics of the receiver (tourists' attitudes and habits) influence food choices on holiday while the sender (endorsement) was found to be less influential. This implies that appropriate messages can persuade tourists to eat in a considerate manner from hotel buffets, especially for tourists with favourable attitudes and everyday behaviours.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to theory and practice in persuasive communication to encourage healthier and more ecological choices in hedonistic consumption. Specifically, this paper is the first to present an integrated empirical analysis on the simultaneous influence of (1) message content, (2) presence of an identifiable sender and (3) receiver characteristics, on healthy and ecological eating behaviour of tourists.