Green practices as an effective business strategy to influence the behavior of hotel guests in the luxury hotel sector: Evidence from an emerging market

Abstract Researchers have investigated the influence of green practices on consumer behavior in the last decades. However, findings indicate that consumers have different responses toward green practices. To advance the current literature, this study draws on the theoretical foundation of social identity theory to investigate the relationship between green practices and hotel guests' visit intention in the luxury hotel sector. The study also determines the mediating mechanisms of perceived value fit and promotion focus and the moderating mechanism of environmental behavior in this relationship. Sample data were collected from 473 hotel guests in China's luxury hotels. The results of structural equation modeling indicate that green hotel practices enhance visit intention and that perceived value fit and promotion focus positively mediate this relationship. Moreover, environmental behavior has a positive moderating effect on the link between green hotel practices and perceived value fit, as well as that between perceived value fit and visit intention. A robustness test with another sample data of 266 hotel guests confirms the hypothesis testing results. The findings of this study provide implications for researchers and business managers in understanding and managing the influence of green practices on hotel guests' behavior in the luxury hotel sector.