The results of the study demonstrated that the environmentally friendly reminders seen in hotels all over the world do not promote environmentally friendly behaviour.
Image source: Dolničar S., Knežević Cvelbar L., Grün B. Do pro-environmental appeals trigger pro-environmental behavior in hotel guests? J. Travel Res., 8 (2017), 988-997.
Publish Date: 03.12.2018
Category: Outstanding research achievements, Interdisciplinary research
Within the hedonistic context of tourism, pro-environmental reminders are not a sufficient incentive for hotel guests to behave eco-friendly.
Authors: Ljubica Knežević Cvelbar, Sara Dolničar, Bettina Grün
Pro-environmental reminders that stimulate the environmental values of individuals have proven to be an effective mechanism that triggers environmentally friendly behaviour in everyday life. A study by three researchers (Ljubica Knežević Cvelbar, Faculty of Economics, University of Ljubljana; Sara Dolničar, UQ Business School, The University of Queensland, Australia; Bettina Grün, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria) is testing the potential of such interventions in the hedonistic context of tourism, in which behavioural changes do not generate direct benefits for the consumers. The results of the experiment in the real environment of a four-star hotel in Slovenia show that pro-environmental reminders do not significantly result in a change in the behaviour of tourists.
Theories of environmental psychology that claim that norms and values are an effective factor in changing toward an environmentally friendly behaviour have ignored the importance of the context. This article attempts to raise awareness about this issue. In the hedonistic context of tourism, the established theories in the field of environmental psychology are not completely valid. The results of the study demonstrate the need to further check the effectiveness of pro-environmental reminders in tourism as well as the introduction of more tangible benefits for the tourist, which could induce changes toward an environmentally friendly behaviour.
Reference: Dolničar S., Knežević Cvelbar L., Grün B. Do pro-environmental appeals trigger pro-environmental behavior in hotel guests? J. Travel Res., 8 (2017), 988-997.