Why do hotels go for sustainable practices? Eliciting the behavioral intentions of mid-market hotel guests

Abstract

This research endeavors to analyze the impact of sustainability practices (SP) on the revisit intentions (RVI) and recommendation intentions (RCI) of young professionals staying in budget hotels through the mediating effect of guest comfort (GC). The study also examines the moderating role of technology readiness (TR) of the guest on the proposed relationships. Data were collected from 505 young Indian professionals working in service sectors located in Chandigarh Tri-city and Delhi NCR (India) and who travel for work and stay at mid-priced hotels. The structural equation modeling (SEM) technique was used to analyze the proposed hypotheses. The results show that SP has a positive impact on GC, RVI, and RCI. Further, GC has positive impact on RVI and RCI. The results also show that TR moderates the relationship between SP and GC. Finally, the relationship between GC and RCI is also moderated by TR. Customers’ RVI and RCI are not only created when hotels incorporate SP but also when the degree of GC is not compromised but enhanced. In this way, it is recommended that managers carefully use the SP as an important tool to raise the level of GC. The study reveals that young professionals tend to have strong RVI and RCI toward such hotels, which have implemented technology and SP in the hotel operations while maintaining the GC level. In this sense, the SP implemented by the hotels acts as a strategic tool in the creation of GC, RVI, and RCI.