IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/touman/v60y2017icp418-429.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Understanding sustainability behaviour: The relationship between information acquisition, proactivity and performance

Author

Listed:
  • Garay, Lluís
  • Font, Xavier
  • Pereira-Moliner, Jorge

Abstract

We use the concept of absorptive capacity to better understand the relationship between sustainability information acquisition, proactivity and performance. A quantitative analysis of a survey of 408 tourism enterprises in Catalonia (Spain) shows that: i) growth-oriented motivations are related to communication with industry-related sources, and to individual and informal channels, while lifestyle motivations are related to communication with other stakeholders; ii) sustainability implementation is related to communication with other stakeholders, to the use of collective and formal channels, and to the perceived usefulness of information; and iii) sustainability performance is related to the introduction of environmental and economic practices, to the use of both industry and broader sources of information, and to the perceived usefulness of information. We suggest that sustainability training and education may be more successful in achieving behaviour change when they are adapted to the absorptive capacity and learning styles of their target audiences.

Suggested Citation

  • Garay, Lluís & Font, Xavier & Pereira-Moliner, Jorge, 2017. "Understanding sustainability behaviour: The relationship between information acquisition, proactivity and performance," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 418-429.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:touman:v:60:y:2017:i:c:p:418-429
    DOI: 10.1016/j.tourman.2016.12.017
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0261517716302631
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.tourman.2016.12.017?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Dan Caprar & Benjamin Neville, 2012. "“Norming” and “Conforming”: Integrating Cultural and Institutional Explanations for Sustainability Adoption in Business," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 110(2), pages 231-245, October.
    2. Hjalager, Anne-Mette, 2010. "A review of innovation research in tourism," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 1-12.
    3. Soh, Pek-Hooi, 2003. "The role of networking alliances in information acquisition and its implications for new product performance," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 18(6), pages 727-744, November.
    4. Thomas, Rhodri & Wood, Emma, 2014. "Innovation in tourism: Re-conceptualising and measuring the absorptive capacity of the hotel sector," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 39-48.
    5. Antonio Argandoña & Heidi Hoivik, 2009. "Corporate Social Responsibility: One Size Does Not Fit All. Collecting Evidence from Europe," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 89(3), pages 221-234, November.
    6. Andrea Revell & David Stokes & Hsin Chen, 2010. "Small businesses and the environment: turning over a new leaf?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 19(5), pages 273-288, July.
    7. Martin Rønningen & Gudbrand Lien, 2014. "The importance of systemic features for innovation orientation in tourism firms," Chapters, in: Gry Agnete Alsos & Dorthe Eide & Einar Lier Madsen (ed.), Handbook of Research on Innovation in Tourism Industries, chapter 2, pages 27-55, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    8. Inoue, Yuhei & Lee, Seoki, 2011. "Effects of different dimensions of corporate social responsibility on corporate financial performance in tourism-related industries," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 790-804.
    9. Tommy Høyvarde Clausen & Einar Lier Madsen, 2014. "Innovations, their knowledge sources and their effects in experience-based tourism," Chapters, in: Gry Agnete Alsos & Dorthe Eide & Einar Lier Madsen (ed.), Handbook of Research on Innovation in Tourism Industries, chapter 5, pages 113-131, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    10. Heli Wang & Jaepil Choi & Jiatao Li, 2008. "Too Little or Too Much? Untangling the Relationship Between Corporate Philanthropy and Firm Financial Performance," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 19(1), pages 143-159, February.
    11. Paul Shrivastava, 1995. "Environmental technologies and competitive advantage," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 16(S1), pages 183-200.
    12. Nadia Tzschentke & David Kirk & Paul Lynch, 2008. "Ahead of their time? Barriers to action in green tourism firms," The Service Industries Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(2), pages 167-178, March.
    13. Armstrong, J. Scott & Overton, Terry S., 1977. "Estimating Nonresponse Bias in Mail Surveys," MPRA Paper 81694, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Morrow, David & Rondinelli, Dennis, 2002. "Adopting Corporate Environmental Management Systems:: Motivations and Results of ISO 14001 and EMAS Certification," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 20(2), pages 159-171, April.
    15. C. Michael Hall, 2006. "New Zealand tourism entrepreneur attitudes and behaviours with respect to climate change adaptation and mitigation," International Journal of Innovation and Sustainable Development, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 1(3), pages 229-237.
    16. Fosfuri, Andrea & Tribø, Josep A., 2008. "Exploring the antecedents of potential absorptive capacity and its impact on innovation performance," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 173-187, April.
    17. Drew, Stephen, 2003. "Strategic Uses of E-Commerce by SMEs in the East of England," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 79-88, February.
    18. Kostopoulos, Konstantinos & Papalexandris, Alexandros & Papachroni, Margarita & Ioannou, George, 2011. "Absorptive capacity, innovation, and financial performance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 64(12), pages 1335-1343.
    19. David Murillo & Josep Lozano, 2006. "SMEs and CSR: An Approach to CSR in their Own Words," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 67(3), pages 227-240, September.
    20. Mike Simpson & Nick Taylor & Karen Barker, 2004. "Environmental responsibility in SMEs: does it deliver competitive advantage?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(3), pages 156-171, May.
    21. Francesco Perrini, 2006. "SMEs and CSR Theory: Evidence and Implications from an Italian Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 67(3), pages 305-316, September.
    22. Camisón, César & Monfort-Mir, Vicente M., 2012. "Measuring innovation in tourism from the Schumpeterian and the dynamic-capabilities perspectives," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 33(4), pages 776-789.
    23. Thomas, Rhodri & Shaw, Gareth & Page, Stephen J., 2011. "Understanding small firms in tourism: A perspective on research trends and challenges," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 32(5), pages 963-976.
    24. Krishna Udayasankar, 2008. "Corporate Social Responsibility and Firm Size," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 83(2), pages 167-175, December.
    25. Pierre-André Julien & Eric Andriambeloson & Charles Ramangalahy, 2004. "Networks, weak signals and technological innovations among SMEs in the land-based transportation equipment sector," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(4), pages 251-269, July.
    26. D. Perez‐Sanchez & J. R. Barton & D. Bower, 2003. "Implementing environmental management in SMEs," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 10(2), pages 67-77, June.
    27. Font, Xavier & Garay, Lluis & Jones, Steve, 2016. "A Social Cognitive Theory of sustainability empathy," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 65-80.
    28. Peggy Brønn & Deborah Vidaver-Cohen, 2009. "Corporate Motives for Social Initiative: Legitimacy, Sustainability, or the Bottom Line?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 87(1), pages 91-109, April.
    29. Thomas, Rhodri & Wood, Emma, 2015. "The absorptive capacity of tourism organisations," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 84-99.
    30. Craig M Parker & Janice Redmond & Mike Simpson, 2009. "A Review of Interventions to Encourage SMEs to Make Environmental Improvements," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 27(2), pages 279-301, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Martins Catarina & Alves Jorge Manuel Afonso & Silva Anita, 2023. "Determinants of environmental certification in Portuguese hotel companies," European Journal of Tourism, Hospitality and Recreation, Sciendo, vol. 13(2), pages 225-235, December.
    2. Zakaria Elkhwesky, 2022. "A systematic and major review of proactive environmental strategies in hospitality and tourism: Looking back for moving forward," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(7), pages 3274-3301, November.
    3. Suno Wu, Jenny & Barbrook-Johnson, Pete & Font, Xavier, 2021. "Participatory complexity in tourism policy: Understanding sustainability programmes with participatory systems mapping," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    4. Baifeng Sun & Leon Yongdan Liu & Wilco Waihung Chan & Carol Xiaoyue Zhang & Xingqi Chen, 2021. "Signals of Hotel Effort on Enhancing IAQ and Booking Intention: Effect of Customer’s Body Mass Index Associated with Sustainable Marketing in Tourism," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-20, January.
    5. Yin Chen & Yong Long & Jianyin Bai, 2019. "Effect of Positional Embeddedness on Tour Supplier Integration: Chinese Evidence," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(20), pages 1-21, October.
    6. Vasco Santos & Maria José Sousa & Carlos Costa & Manuel Au-Yong-Oliveira, 2021. "Tourism towards Sustainability and Innovation: A Systematic Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(20), pages 1-20, October.
    7. Dariusz Jacek Olszewski-Strzyżowski, 2022. "Promotional Activities of Selected National Tourism Organizations (NTOs) in the Light of Sustainable Tourism (Including Sustainable Transport)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-18, February.
    8. Alyahya, Mansour & Agag, Gomaa & Aliedan, Meqbel & Abdelmoety, Ziad Hassan & Daher, Maya Mostafa, 2023. "A sustainable step forward: Understanding factors affecting customers’ behaviour to purchase remanufactured products," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Thomas, Rhodri & Wood, Emma, 2015. "The absorptive capacity of tourism organisations," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 84-99.
    2. Sonia Cruz-Ros & Diana L. Guerrero-Sánchez & Maria-Jose Miquel-Romero, 2021. "Absorptive capacity and its impact on innovation and performance: findings from SEM and fsQCA," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 235-249, February.
    3. Martínez-Román, Juan A. & Tamayo, Juan A. & Gamero, Javier & Romero, José E., 2015. "Innovativeness and business performances in tourism SMEs," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 118-135.
    4. Thomas, Rhodri & Wood, Emma, 2014. "Innovation in tourism: Re-conceptualising and measuring the absorptive capacity of the hotel sector," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 39-48.
    5. Eneko Ibarnia & Lluís Garay & Antonio Guevara, 2020. "Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in the Travel Supply Chain: A Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(23), pages 1-21, December.
    6. Johan Graafland & Hugo Smid, 2016. "Environmental Impacts of SMEs and the Effects of Formal Management Tools: Evidence from EU's Largest Survey," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 23(5), pages 297-307, September.
    7. Li, Yanning & Wood, E.H. & Thomas, R., 2017. "Innovation implementation: Harmony and conflict in Chinese modern music festivals," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 87-99.
    8. Camisón, César & Forés, Beatriz, 2015. "Is tourism firm competitiveness driven by different internal or external specific factors?: New empirical evidence from Spain," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 477-499.
    9. Eugenia Panfiluk, 2021. "Innovativeness of Tourism Enterprises: Example of Poland," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-17, January.
    10. Matteo Pedrini & Valentina Bramanti & Benedetto Cannatelli, 2016. "The impact of national culture and social capital on corporate social responsibility attitude among immigrants entrepreneurs," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 20(4), pages 759-787, December.
    11. Uzhegova, Maria & Torkkeli, Lasse & Saarenketo, Sami, 2019. "Corporate Social Responsibility in SMEs: Implications on Competitive PerformanceDate submitted: October 12, 2017Revised version accepted after double blind review: December 15, 2018," management revue - Socio-Economic Studies, Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, vol. 30(2-3), pages 232-267.
    12. Juan Felipe Reyes‐Rodríguez & John P. Ulhøi & Henning Madsen, 2016. "Corporate Environmental Sustainability in Danish SMEs: A Longitudinal Study of Motivators, Initiatives, and Strategic Effects," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 23(4), pages 193-212, July.
    13. Heidi Weltzien Hoivik & Domènec Melé, 2009. "Can an SME Become a Global Corporate Citizen? Evidence from a Case Study," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 88(3), pages 551-563, September.
    14. Johan Graafland & Corrie Mazereeuw-Van der Duijn Schouten, 2012. "Motives for Corporate Social Responsibility," De Economist, Springer, vol. 160(4), pages 377-396, December.
    15. Laura Girella & Stefano Zambon & Paola Rossi, 2019. "Reporting on sustainable development: A comparison of three Italian small and medium‐sized enterprises," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(4), pages 981-996, July.
    16. Parisa Salimzadeh & Jerry Courvisanos, 2015. "A Conceptual Framework for Assessing Sustainable Development in Regional SMEs," Journal of Environmental Assessment Policy and Management (JEAPM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 17(04), pages 1-17, December.
    17. Mert Gürlek & Muharrem Tuna, 2018. "Reinforcing competitive advantage through green organizational culture and green innovation," The Service Industries Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(7-8), pages 467-491, June.
    18. Andrea Stübner & Svenja Jarchow, 2023. "Family oblige: the link between CSR and succession intention in small and medium family firms," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 93(3), pages 389-431, April.
    19. Krisztina Szegedi & Tamás Németh & Dorina Körtvési, 2023. "Employer Branding in the Fashion Industry: CSR Actions by Fashion SMEs," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-18, January.
    20. Encarnacion García-Sánchez & Víctor Jesús García-Morales & Rodrigo Martín-Rojas, 2018. "Analysis of the influence of the environment, stakeholder integration capability, absorptive capacity, and technological skills on organizational performance through corporate entrepreneurship," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 14(2), pages 345-377, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:touman:v:60:y:2017:i:c:p:418-429. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/tourism-management .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.