Is the information on green hotel websites aligned with the drivers affecting customers' intention to visit green hotels? A mixed-methods approach

Abstract

Understanding enablers and barriers influencing customers' intention to use green hotels can help managers formulate better online green marketing strategies. However, existing studies fail to capture these aspects. The present multi-method-based multi-study explored customer perspectives from different sources (qualitative interviews of 20 participants and quantitative surveys of 311 respondents) to explore the enablers/barriers and compared it with the website content of 27 green hotels from India (user-generated content). The participants/respondents were mainly Indian tourists who have either stayed in green hotels or have knowledge about green hotels. Study 1 and Study 2 found enablers "value-for-nature" ("environmental preservation"), "voluntary reduction-in-tourist eco-behavior" ("contributes-to-environment"), "emotional values" ("closer-to-nature"), and barriers "traditional" ("operational difficulties") and "risk" ("expectations-vs-reality") affecting customers' intention to use green hotels. However, the website content of green hotels (in Study 3) failed to capture what all green initiatives are implemented and how it will not compromise with the luxury.