Drivers of consumers’ behavioral intention toward green hotels

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore the relationships among consumers’ environmental value, low-carbon knowledge, perceived value of green hotels and behavioral intention to stay in green hotels as well as willingness to cooperate with green hotels’ environmentally friendly practices. Design/methodology/approach: Structural equation modeling and indirect effect estimation through bootstrapping technique were performed using 415 valid questionnaires collected from customers who had green hotel stay experiences in Taiwan. Findings: The analytical results indicate that environmental value and low-carbon knowledge positively affect perceived value of green hotels, which in turn positively affect consumers’ behavioral intention to stay in green hotels and willingness to cooperate with green hotels’ environmentally friendly practices. Perceived value of green hotels also partially mediates the effects of environmental value and low-carbon knowledge on two behavioral intention variables. Practical implications: This study provides numerous valuable implications for green hotel operators to develop effective strategies to increase consumers’ perceived value of green hotels and their behavioral intention toward green hotels. Originality/value: This study is among the first to test not only the main effects of environmental value and knowledge on consumer perceptions of the value of green hotels, but also the mediating effect of consumers’ perceived value of green hotels for the relationships between environmental value, environmental knowledge and two behavioral intentions toward green hotels.