The impact of environmental practices and communication on guest behavior: examining EU-Ecolabel in Portuguese hotels

Since consumers’ concern toward environmental sustainability is rapidly growing, businesses are providing environmentally responsible products and services. The hospitality industry is developing voluntary-based tools in order to reduce its environmental impacts and to satisfy the increasing market segment of green customers. Therefore, the commitment toward sustainability may represent for hoteliers a strategy to increase competitiveness and, simultaneously, mitigate their impact on the natural environment. In this context, third-party certified ecolabels ensure hotel compliance with specific environmental performance criteria and offer a reliable communication to their guests. The study investigates whether environmental practices implemented by EU-Ecolabel certified hotels contribute significantly to the formation of guest positive behavioral intention toward green hotels. During 2017, a survey was conducted with guests of two Portuguese hotels awarded with EU-Ecolabel, followed by semi-structured interviews with hotel managers. The questionnaire’s items were selected after examining the existing literature, while the semi-structured interview was administered to follow-up on the analysis of the questionnaire results. A total of 152 (91 from Hotel 1 and 61 from Hotel 2) questionnaires were usable and employed in the analysis. We chose PLS-SEM modeling to estimate the structural equation models and to test the hypothesis, and the SmartPLS software to build models and assess their validity. Four out of the five tested hypothesis were accepted. Results show a positive relationship (1) between environmental practices implemented by eco-labeled hotels and loyalty towards green hotels. Moreover, guests’ perceived importance of sustainability in tourism positively influences (2) the performance evaluation of environmental communication and (3) loyalty toward green hotels. However, (4) the performance evaluation of green practices is not influenced by guests’ perceived importance of sustainability in tourism, but (5) is strongly influenced by a clear environmental communication. Research findings are valuable both for hotel managers and decision makers. To hotel managers by clarifying the role of environmental communication in the guests’ recognition of environmental performance improvement efforts; and to decision makers by confirming the relationship between the implementation of environmental practices and the raise of market awareness and thus, of loyalty towards green hotels. Results of the study also confirm that the perceived importance of sustainability in tourism influences guest loyalty towards green hotels and their evaluation of environmental communication. By reinforcing the importance of an effective environmental communication to clearly disclose hotels’ achievements toward sustainability, we can affirm that this ability is considered essential to capture the potential competitive advantage of an environmental strategy.