Tan Ling Ling, Norzalita Abd Aziz
Abstract:
The perceived greenwash fear impedes the environmental efforts of green hoteliers by making consumers sceptical of their hotels’ sustainability initiatives. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of consumers’ perceived greenwash fear on their attitude, reasons and intention to patronise green hotels. A quantitative study using quota sampling was conducted where responses from 262 participants were collected using self-administered questionnaires. The partial least squares (PLS) approach was used to test the study’s conceptual model. Based on the results, the study found that perceived greenwash fear significantly affects consumers’ attitude, reasons and intention of green hotel patronage. In addition, reasons for patronage and attitude also predicted green hotel patronage intention. Thus, green hoteliers must endeavour to make consumers understand that their environmental initiatives are driven by altruistic motivations and convince consumers that their green claims are genuine and authentic. Reducing perceived greenwash fear and strengthening reasons for patronage can help strengthen consumer patronage intention and develop a favourable attitude towards green hotels.
Keywords: Attitude, green hotel, reasons against patronage, reasons for patronage, perceived greenwash fear