IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v12y2020i22p9469-d444864.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Are Young People Ready to Have a Pro-Environmental Sustainable Behaviour as Tourists? An Investigation of Towel Reuse Intention

Author

Listed:
  • Maria-Ana Georgescu

    (Faculty of Sciences and Letters, “George Emil Palade” University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Sciences and Technology of Tirgu-Mures, 540139 Tirgu Mures, Romania)

  • Emilia Herman

    (Faculty of Economics and Law, “George Emil Palade” University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Sciences and Technology of Tirgu-Mures, 540139 Tirgu Mures, Romania)

Abstract

Tourism, one of the economic sectors that has experienced great development in recent decades and must face unexpected challenges related to the evolution of the global context, needs a sustainable approach to harmonise its effects and impact on the natural and social environment. The aim of this research was to investigate the pro-environmental behaviour of young tourists in hotels versus at home and the main influencing factors of behavioural intention to reuse towels in hotels. The primary data were collected using a survey that was applied to Romanian young people. Eight hypotheses were formulated and tested through paired samples t -tests, a correlation analysis and a hierarchical multiple regression analysis. Our results showed the higher pro-environmental conduct of young guests at home than in hotels, both through their general behaviour regarding the reduction of resource consumption and through their specific behaviour of reusing towels. Our empirical findings also highlighted that tourists’ behavioural intention to reuse towels was positively influenced by an eco-friendly attitude, pro-environmental past experiences and habits to reuse towels at home. In order to achieve sustainable tourism, hotel management should convince guests to bring their ecological habits with them, and educational institutions should use specific methods of raising awareness among young people about an environmentally friendly attitude.

Suggested Citation

  • Maria-Ana Georgescu & Emilia Herman, 2020. "Are Young People Ready to Have a Pro-Environmental Sustainable Behaviour as Tourists? An Investigation of Towel Reuse Intention," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(22), pages 1-20, November.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:22:p:9469-:d:444864
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/22/9469/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/22/9469/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Farrow, Katherine & Grolleau, Gilles & Ibanez, Lisette, 2017. "Social Norms and Pro-environmental Behavior: A Review of the Evidence," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 1-13.
    2. H. Peyton Young, 2015. "The Evolution of Social Norms," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 7(1), pages 359-387, August.
    3. Han, Heesup & Hyun, Sunghyup Sean, 2018. "What influences water conservation and towel reuse practices of hotel guests?," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 87-97.
    4. Dimara, Efthalia & Manganari, Emmanouela & Skuras, Dimitris, 2017. "Don't change my towels please: Factors influencing participation in towel reuse programs," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 425-437.
    5. Barr, Stewart & Shaw, Gareth & Coles, Tim & Prillwitz, Jan, 2010. "‘A holiday is a holiday’: practicing sustainability, home and away," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 18(3), pages 474-481.
    6. Ajzen, Icek, 1991. "The theory of planned behavior," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 179-211, December.
    7. Pere Mercade Mele & Jesus Molina Gomez & Lluis Garay, 2019. "To Green or Not to Green: The Influence of Green Marketing on Consumer Behaviour in the Hotel Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(17), pages 1-17, August.
    8. Katie Baca-Motes & Amber Brown & Ayelet Gneezy & Elizabeth A. Keenan & Leif D. Nelson, 2013. "Commitment and Behavior Change: Evidence from the Field," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 39(5), pages 1070-1084.
    9. Heesup Han & Myong Jae Lee & Wansoo Kim, 2018. "Promoting towel reuse behaviour in guests: A water conservation management and environmental policy in the hotel industry," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(8), pages 1302-1312, December.
    10. Han, Heesup & Hsu, Li-Tzang (Jane) & Sheu, Chwen, 2010. "Application of the Theory of Planned Behavior to green hotel choice: Testing the effect of environmental friendly activities," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 31(3), pages 325-334.
    11. Noah J. Goldstein & Robert B. Cialdini & Vladas Griskevicius, 2008. "A Room with a Viewpoint: Using Social Norms to Motivate Environmental Conservation in Hotels," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 35(3), pages 472-482, March.
    12. Shang, Jingzhi & Basil, Debra Z. & Wymer, Walter, 2010. "Using social marketing to enhance hotel reuse programs," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 63(2), pages 166-172, February.
    13. Gössling, Stefan & Peeters, Paul & Hall, C. Michael & Ceron, Jean-Paul & Dubois, Ghislain & Lehmann, La Vergne & Scott, Daniel, 2012. "Tourism and water use: Supply, demand, and security. An international review," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 1-15.
    14. Juvan, Emil & Dolnicar, Sara, 2014. "The attitude–behaviour gap in sustainable tourism," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 76-95.
    15. Han, Heesup, 2015. "Travelers' pro-environmental behavior in a green lodging context: Converging value-belief-norm theory and the theory of planned behavior," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 164-177.
    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. Zhihui Wang & Liangzhen Nie & Eila Jeronen & Lihua Xu & Meiai Chen, 2023. "Understanding the Environmentally Sustainable Behavior of Chinese University Students as Tourists: An Integrative Framework," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(4), pages 1-17, February.

    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. Heesup Han & Myong Jae Lee & Wansoo Kim, 2018. "Promoting towel reuse behaviour in guests: A water conservation management and environmental policy in the hotel industry," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(8), pages 1302-1312, December.
    2. Han, Heesup & Hyun, Sunghyup Sean, 2018. "What influences water conservation and towel reuse practices of hotel guests?," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 87-97.
    3. Kiatkawsin, Kiattipoom & Han, Heesup, 2017. "Young travelers' intention to behave pro-environmentally: Merging the value-belief-norm theory and the expectancy theory," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 76-88.
    4. Samah Ibnou-Laaroussi & Husam Rjoub & Wing-Keung Wong, 2020. "Sustainability of Green Tourism among International Tourists and Its Influence on the Achievement of Green Environment: Evidence from North Cyprus," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(14), pages 1-24, July.
    5. Murat Okumah & Julia Martin-Ortega & Paula Novo & Pippa J. Chapman, 2020. "Revisiting the Determinants of Pro-Environmental Behaviour to Inform Land Management Policy: A Meta-Analytic Structural Equation Model Application," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(5), pages 1-33, April.
    6. Arun T. M. & Puneet Kaur & Stefano Bresciani & Amandeep Dhir, 2021. "What drives the adoption and consumption of green hotel products and services? A systematic literature review of past achievement and future promises," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(5), pages 2637-2655, July.
    7. Carlos Rodríguez & Marta Jacob & Carmen Florido, 2020. "Socioeconomic Profile of Tourists with a Greater Circular Attitude and Behaviour in Hotels of a Sun and Beach Destination," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(24), pages 1-28, December.
    8. Petra Zabukovec Baruca & Zlatko Janèiè & Aleksandra Brezovec, 2022. "Understanding Responsibility from the Tourist’s Perspective: A Hotel Context," Academica Turistica - Tourism and Innovation Journal, University of Primorska Press, vol. 15(2), pages 187-202.
    9. Cozzio, Claudia & Volgger, Michael & Taplin, Ross & Woodside, Arch G., 2020. "Nurturing tourists’ ethical food consumption: Testing the persuasive strengths of alternative messages in a natural hotel setting," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 268-279.
    10. Roman Švec & Stanislav Martinát & Kamil Pícha & Petr Klusáček & Jaroslav Knotek & Justin Calvin Schaefer & Monika Březinová & Josef Navrátil, 2021. "What drives visitors to tourist sites to choose “green” accommodation facilities?," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(10), pages 15074-15099, October.
    11. Winitra Leelapattana & Shih-Yun Hsu & Weerapon Thongma & Chun Chen & Fu-Mei Chiang, 2019. "Understanding the Impact of Environmental Education on Tourists’ Future Visit Intentions to Leisure Farms in Mountain Regions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-13, March.
    12. Dionysis Skarmeas & Constantinos N. Leonidou & Charalampos Saridakis & Giuseppe Musarra, 2020. "Pathways to Civic Engagement with Big Social Issues: An Integrated Approach," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 164(2), pages 261-285, June.
    13. Tae-Im Han, 2018. "Determinants of Organic Cotton Apparel Purchase: A Comparison of Young Consumers in the U.S.A. and South Korea," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-13, June.
    14. Atefeh Dadvar & Krushna Mahapatra & Jörgen Forss, 2021. "Water Use Behavior in a Multicultural Urban Area in Sweden," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-15, August.
    15. Woo-Hyuk Kim & Kyung-Sook Kim, 2018. "Pro-Environmental Intentions among Food Festival Attendees: An Application of the Value-Belief-Norm Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-13, October.
    16. Bianchi, Constanza & Milberg, Sandra & Cúneo, Andres, 2017. "Understanding travelers' intentions to visit a short versus long-haul emerging vacation destination: The case of Chile," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 312-324.
    17. Lin, Li-Pin (Lynn) & Yu, Chia-Yuan & Chang, Fu-Chen, 2018. "Determinants of CSER practices for reducing greenhouse gas emissions: From the perspectives of administrative managers in tour operators," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 1-12.
    18. Jinghui (Jove) Hou & Xiao Ma, 2022. "Space Norms for Constructing Quality Reviews on Online Consumer Review Sites," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 33(3), pages 1093-1112, September.
    19. Hongru Yan & Huaqi Chai, 2021. "Consumers’ Intentions towards Green Hotels in China: An Empirical Study Based on Extended Norm Activation Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-15, February.
    20. Heesup Han & Soyeun Lee & Sunghyup Sean Hyun, 2020. "Tourism and Altruistic Intention: Volunteer Tourism Development and Self-Interested Value," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-14, March.

    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:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:22:p:9469-:d:444864. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.