Corporate images and customer behavioral intentions in an environmentally certified context: Promoting environmental sustainability in the hospitality industry

Abstract

Growing environmental awareness has made customers change their attitudes and increasingly demand that the hospitality industry provides products and services that are environmentally friendly. This sector faces increasing pressure to operate in a more ecofriendly manner given its negative influence on the natural environment.Extant research demonstrates that sustainable tourism can be promoted through environmental certifications. However, little attention has been paid to the relevance of customer perceptions about these schemes and their influence on customer behavioral intentions. So that, this study attempts to explore the conditions under which perceived green image leads to favorable customer behavioral intentions towards environmentally certified hotels by considering the mediating effects of functional and emotional images. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data from hotel customers in Spain. The results indicate that green image serves as a predictor of functional image, which in turn is linked to customer behavioral intentions. This shows that the evaluation of environmental issues influences the assessment of cognitive aspects, although not the direct evaluation of affective aspects. Consequently, green image associations directly influence the cognitive responses of consumers but not their emotions. Therefore, consumers will evaluate a hotel's functional image not only by considering traditional attributes but also by taking into account environmental issues. These findings suggest that hotel companies should work to develop a green positioning strategy developing products and services possessing both greenness and high-value attributes.

Effect of environmental corporate social responsibility on green attitude and norm activation process for sustainable consumption: Airline versus restaurant

“…That is, the theory misses some important aspects of individuals' pro‐environmental decision making process beyond cognitive and normative dimensions (Gkargkavouzi et al, ; Han & Hyun, ; Onwezen et al, ; Zhang et al, ). Many recent studies in environmental consumer behavior, indeed, asserted attitudinal factors and environmental CSR as vital facets of such eco‐friendly decision‐related processes (Chen & Tung, ; Han, Yu, & Kim, ; Hwang & Ok, ; Martínez, Herrero, & Gómez‐López, ; Meng & Choi, ; Merli et al, ). These studies demonstrated the criticality of attitude and environmental CSR in reinforcing customers' pro‐environmental decision formation.…”

Environmental management certification and environmental performance: Greening or greenwashing?

“…In both the practitioner and scholarly literatures, the adoption of certified EMSs has been associated with better environmental performance (e.g., Boiral, Guillaumie, Heras‐Saizarbitoria, & Tayo Tene, 2018; Martínez, Herrero, & Gómez‐López, 2019; Para‐González & Mascaraque‐Ramírez, 2019; Testa et al, 2014; Wagner, 2019), following the general trend in the scholarly literature that establishes a connection between the adoption of green practices and the improvement organization's performance (e.g., Franceschelli, Santoro, Giacosa, & Quaglia, 2019; Graafland & Smid, 2016). Nevertheless, the findings reported in the literature are not conclusive as this type of certification has also been associated with the improvement of corporate image and legitimacy among stakeholders, and greenwashing (e.g., Christmann & Taylor, 2006; Boiral, 2007; Heras‐Saizarbitoria, Dogui, & Boiral, 2013; Vílchez, 2017; Testa et al, 2018; Boiral, Heras‐Saizarbitoria, & Testa, 2017; Iatridis & Kesidou, 2018), and it remains controversial.…”

The Green Image in the Spanish Hotel Sector: Analysis of Its Consequences from a Relational Perspective

“…In the same way, Oliver [40], Sarmiento and Ferrao [43] argue that clients begin to develop levels of loyalty when they are satisfied with the performance of the organization. Thus, Martínez [7] affirms that there is a relationship between satisfaction and loyalty in the hotel sector. In addition, he adds that customers will develop loyalty levels towards a hotel when they are satisfied with the service or the hotel's image.…”

“…Similarly, in recent years there has been a growing concern among consumers for environmental preservation and responsible consumption [3,4]. In this context, hotel consumers show a positive attitude towards green hotel practices, which motivates hotels to continue working to improve their environmental impact performance [5][6][7]. Hospitality companies and the industry, in general, should 2 of 17 be aware of current sustainability trends and strive to orient their innovation operations towards more sustainability-oriented companies, as this will not only create a good image and reduce cost but also safeguard the natural attraction for the frequent guests [8,9].…”