The green light for green highlighting as CSR communication strategy – An
analysis of how the halo effect, established via green highlighting, influences brand
image.
MSc Thesis
Author: Laura van de Wijdeven Studentnumber: 11053577
Study programme: MSc Business Administration - Marketing track University: University of Amsterdam
Supervisor: L. Moratis Date: June 16. 2016
STATEMENT OF ORGINALITY
This document is written by student, Laura Anna van de Wijdeven, who declares to take full responsibility for the contents of this document.
I declare that the text and the work presented in this document is original and that no other sources than those mentioned in the text and its references have been used in creating it.
The Faculty of Economics and Business is responsible solely for the supervision of completion of the work, not for the contents.
PREFACE
This master thesis marks the final project in five vibrant but intense years of study. I dedicate this thesis to both my parents, Peter van de Wijdeven and Annet van de Wijdeven-van Wijchen, who have always supported me, both mentally and financially. They have always believed in me, even in times that I did not believe in myself that much, for which I am grateful.
As a future marketer, I have always been fascinated by how brands position themselves in consumer’s minds and how labels influence their behavior. In writing this thesis, I have executed my own research that evolves around these interests. This was challenging and entertaining at the same time. For that reason, I would like to express my special thanks to my supervisor, L. Moratis, who has aided me to fulfill this project satisfactorily.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Introduction 5
1.1 Sustainability in the hotel industry 6
1.2 Green highlighting through sustainability labels 8
1.3 Research gap 9
1.4 Academic relevance 12
1.5 Managerial relevance 14
1.6 Structure 15
2. Literature review 16
2.1 Difference between products and services 16
2.1.1 The tourism industry 16
2.2 Sustainability and CSR 19
2.2.1 Terminology 19
2.2.2 Purchase Intention and Willingness to Pay 20
2.3 Brand Image 21
2.4 Greenwashing 22
2.4.1 Consequences of Greenwashing 23
2.5 Green Highlighting 24
2.5.1 Consequences of Green Highlighting 25
2.6 Sustainability labels 26
2.6.1 Sustainability labels in the hotel industry 27
2.6.2 Positive effects of sustainability labels 27
2.6.3 Negative effects of sustainability labels 28
2.7 The halo effect in CSR 30
2.9 Conceptual model 33 3. Research Methodology 33 3.1 General Design 33 3.1.1 Initial approach 34 3.1.2 Final approach 35 3.2 Sampling 36 3.3 Instruments 37
3.4 Preliminary study to develop halo scale 41
3.5 Statistical procedure 43
4. Findings 44
4.1 Correlation analysis 44
4.2 Hypotheses testing 45
4.2.2. Moderated Mediation analysis 47
4.2.3 Independent t-tests 49 5. Discussion 50 5.1 Research Implications 50 5.1.1 Hypothesis 1 50 5.1.2 Hypothesis 2 52 5.1.3 Hypothesis 3 56 5.1.4 Managerial implications 56 5.2 Limitations 57 5.3 Future research 59 6. Conclusion 62 7. References 63 8. Appendix 72
ABSTRACT
In the light of growing green consumerism and sustainability concerns, many companies have not yet found the holy grail of CSR communication. In recent literature, green highlighting is proposed an effective way of communicating CSR to customers. Earlier, it was found that the effectiveness of a communication strategy is context-specific. This study, therefore, extends current knowledge by analyzing a specific case of green highlighting by looking at how sustainability labels in the hotel industry provoke a halo effect in the customer’s mind. Green highlighting and the halo effect lay in the same line of reasoning. A preliminary study (n = 76) was done to develop a halo scale that is purely based on green highlighting. The second study measures the relationship among constructs. It applies a quantitative cross-sectional survey design that was held online. The survey was sent to 1107 respondents with a background in tourism and hospitality. The results show that the halo effect, established via green highlighting, does positively affect the brand image of the hotel. No support was found for the indirect effect of the halo effect on brand image via perceived consumer skepticism. Whereas the halo effect leads to lower levels of perceived consumer skepticism, this skepticism does not influence the brand image of the hotel. Lastly, the study finds that the level of environmental orientation does not impact the relationships. Concluding, it can be said that green highlighting indeed is a viable strategy for hotel managers. However, this research has approached green highlighting as a constant (not as a variable). Further research is needed to determine the exact effect of green highlighting on the various other constructs to see its ambiguous causality.
1. INTRODUCTION
Sustainability sells; at least, it seems so. To date, there is no definite answer to this statement from neither scholarly nor non-scholarly writings. It is apparent though that ever since consumers expressed a preference for sustainable products and services above non-sustainable products and services (Kotler, 2011; Porter & Kramer, 2006), firms increasingly got engaged in movements of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). This is, for example, visible by the communication about CSR by commercial companies such as KLM’s MVO report (KLM, 2015), Unilever’s Sustainable Living Ambition (Unilever, 2014), Microsoft’s Citizen report (Microsoft.com, 2015) and Green Key certification at Radisson blu hotels (RadissonBlu, n.d) but also by the rise in start-ups that are inherently sustainable in nature such as Van Der Bron (Vanderbron.com, n.d.). Even though, companies seem to adapt to the green consumerism trend, the literature is far from univocal on how effective the communication about CSR is (Burchell & Cook, 2006; Chen & Chang, 2012; Dossier Duurzaam, 2015)
CSR has many conceptualizations. For the sake of clarity, this report uses the definition from Aguinis (2011) who states that CSR is “context-specific organizational actions and policies that take into account stakeholders’ expectations and the triple bottom line of economic, social, and environmental performance.” (p. 855). Sustainable business practices have a low signaling value. In other words, sustainability is a credence good, which basically means that consumers cannot verify green business practices unless the company communicates about them. Green marketing positively influences the company and strengthens brand image (Martinez, 2015). Along with the increase in more sustainable business practices came the increase in greenwashing and green highlighting. Because consumers cannot verify green claims and because firms desire to tap into consumer’ green needs, greenwashing is an interesting strategy to pursue (Bohdanowicz, 2005; Lyon & Montgomery, 2015). ‘Greenwashing’ is when firms intentionally misrepresent their environmental efforts (Furlow, 2010; TerraChoice, 2010). Lyon &
Montgomery (2015) claim that greenwashing is an umbrella term that needs to be broken down into specific forms. These specifications, such as green highlighting and CSR as aspirational talk, also refer to misleading environmental communication but are more nuanced in meaning. The term ‘green highlighting’ was coined in 2011, referring to firms that communicate their environmental responsibility in both current and future practices (Walker & Wan, 2012). Firms that use green highlighting as a strategy so to say ‘walk the talk’. In other words, these firms emphasize particular elements of the company when de-emphasizing other elements and act according to the claims along the way. Green highlighting is not necessarily a bad thing as green highlighting, as contrasted with greenwashing, is a true and fair representation of actual company performance (Walker & Wan, 2012). Where greenwashing is a process of consciously fooling your stakeholders, green highlighting is consciously stressing particular CSR achievements while deliberately playing down others. This way of communicating about CSR is less likely to provoke feelings of betrayal and distrust and, thus, is less risky as strategy (Wood, 2015). With green highlighting, it is very well possible that stakeholders see one highlighted aspect and subsequently make inferences about other aspects of the same company. Hereby a halo effect is evoked. This could be beneficial for firms, having positive effects that could reach as far as positively influencing corporate image (Montoro-Rios et al, 2008). Until now, the research on these constructs and the relationships among them is limited.
1.1 Sustainability in the hotel industry
Much research has been conducted on the effects of sustainability claims, green labels and greenwashing on the product market (TerraChoice, 2010; Koos, 2011). The way of communicating CSR to stakeholders is under fierce scrutiny (Crane & Glozer, 2016). This has resulted in academic discussions on the effectiveness of sustainability talk (Crane & Glozer, 2016). The service sector is in many ways different from the product sector (Enis & Roering,
1981; Zhang et al, 2012) meaning that findings about sustainability in one sector cannot be automatically translated into the other sector. The tourism industry is part of the service sector. Tourism, however, is a special kind of service. The tourism sector is, on the one hand, known for their substantive contributions to a country’s GDP and, on the other hand, as a big contributor to environmental degradation (Cooper, 2005). Where many industries started to innovate towards sustainable business practices a while ago, the lodging industry tends to be relatively late in following this trend (Geerts, 2014). Research, however, shows that the rise in green consumerism has instigated more sustainable business practices in the tourism industry (Punitha & Rasdi, 2013; Rahman et al, 2015). In 2013, 79 per cent of tourists indicate that the hotel’s eco-friendliness is a determining factor in deciding about accommodation (TripAdvisor, 2013). The reasons for hotels to engage in sustainable business practices vary. Among others, these are to increase employee morale and satisfaction, to respond to public scrutiny, to maintain strong stakeholder and/or investor relations, to live up to ethical standards, or most importantly to save costs (Geerts, 2014; Pröbstl & Müller, 2012; Rahman et al, 2015). Expenditures for buildings and utilities (such as electricity, water and cleaning costs) vastly decrease when hotels promote sustainable business practices among their guests. Besides cost savings, sustainable business practices also play an important role in tourist’ motivation. Sustainability leads to higher satisfaction levels among guests, more positive attitudes towards the corporation and an enhanced image of the accommodation (Kozak & Nield, 2004; Noor & Kumar, 2014; Rahman et al, 2015). Hotels have no incentive to disclose the true reason for their sustainable business practices. Hereby greenwashing within the lodging industry gained momentum. Tourists are well aware of the greenwashing efforts of accommodations, but remain unable to distinguish sincere and false green claims (Chen & Chang, 2012).
Literature has indicated that false green claims lead to a more negative attitude towards the greenwashing brand (Nyilasy et al, 2012), to lower financial performance (Walker & Wan,
2012) and to confused and more skeptical customers (Moratis, 2015; Newell et al, 1998; Wood, 2015), In addition, Lyon & Montgomery (2015) argue that the concerns of people about green claims and greenwashing parallels the increased in skepticism around sustainable business practices. Less than half of the tourists, 44 per cent, trust hotels in their green claims (Tripadvisor, 2012).
1.2 Green highlighting through sustainability labels
A sustainability certification, or sustainability label, is defined as “A voluntary procedure that sets, assesses, monitors, and gives written assurance that a business [...] conforms to a specific requirement” (Geerts, 2014, p. 87). Such a label can be considered as a form of green highlighting as it entails that the hotel’s green claims are followed by substantive actions that are necessary before the label is attained. Sustainability labels can provide information on invisible environmental attributes and thus help hotels demonstrate their sincere environmental commitment to the public (Geert, 2014; Zhang et al, 2012). A sustainability label issued by a third party is a guarantee that a firm lives up to environmental standards (Noor & Kumar, 2014). For consumers, labels fulfill a signaling function (Brécard, 2014; Moratis, 2015).
Literature about the effect of sustainability labels is inconclusive (Buckley, 2002; Colle et al, 2013; Kozak & Nield, 2004; Zhang et al, 2012). Whereas most authors provide evidence for either the positive or the negative effects of sustainability certification, Colle et al (2013) emphasize that a form of sustainability certification, in general, can have both effects. In summary, negative outcomes are aroused when there is conceptual ambiguity, lack of enforcement, obsession to comply with the standards or in the case of over- or miscommunication. Positive outcomes appear when CSR is clearly operationalized, confusion is avoided, when CSR is internally and externally supported, and when there is continuous improvement. In advance of attaining a label, there is no way of telling how it will be perceived
by consumers (Colle et al, 2013). The authors refer to a paradoxical effect where the goal of CSR certification is abjured by a “thoughtless, blind and blinkered mindset”(p. 184).
So, on the one hand, sustainability certifications are said to increase trust and credibility of the hotel’s green business practices and invalidate greenwashing claims (Colle et al, 2014; Geerts, 2014; Lyon & Montgomery, 2015). On the other hand, the number of labels and certification systems within the tourism industry is increasing. Thereby, also increasing the confusion and skepticism around the labels (Font, 2001). To date, there are many certification systems applied in the tourism industry that establish standards. These vary to a great extent in coverage, organization and scope (Kozak & Nield, 2004). People often lack the motivation and/or ability to understand the meaning of a sustainability accreditation system (Sparks, Perkins & Buckley, 2013). As such, the level of perceived skepticism is enhanced. In some cases, even to such an extent that the tourists admit to devalue the worthiness of labels (Villarino & Font, 2015) and not pay attention to them at all (Reiser & Simmons, 2005). Wood (2015) adds to this that the increasing number of green labels in today’s society can cause labels to become an act of greenwashing in itself (Wood, 2015). Some authors, such as Burckley (2002), conclude that consumers have reached a point where the presence of a label is completely ignored.
1.3 Research gap
The current study addresses multiple gaps in the literature. Regarding the tourism industry, there is an extensive body of literature on the effects of greenwashing on (one of the elements of) the theory of planned behavior (Cotte & Trudel, 2010; Rheede et al, 2014; Testa et al, 2015) and the effect on corporate image (Dekhili & Achabou, 2014). Interestingly enough, research on the green highlighting has seldom been conducted, especially not in relation to the hotel sector. Green highlighting is a relatively new concept. Since the interest in green business practices is
growing, it makes sense to investigate the effect of more nuanced forms of CSR communication, such as green highlighting, on consumer’ perceptions.
In both managerial and theoretical circles, there are continuous debates about the legitimacy, authority and effectiveness of labels. There is no one answer to the question whether or not employing a certification system to emphasize responsible behavior is perceived as transparent and/or believable and whether it is an effective mechanism or not. To date, the field of effective CSR communication has been poorly theorized. The exact meaning of ‘effective’ in relation to CSR communication is unclear (Crane & Glozer, 2016) and research on consumer responses to green highlighting is lacking. Relying on the small but ambiguous scholarly writings, it is evident that the path to successful execution of CSR communication in the hotel sector is yet to be paved. In summary, current literature finds inconsistent results on how consumers respond to green highlighting through sustainability labels and whether or not it enhances consumer skepticism. Whether and, if so, to what extent green highlighting instigates comparable levels of skepticism, as greenwashing is yet ambiguous. In this research, a gold label is taken as a constant in order to explore the effect of the highest attainable sustainability level.
Another gap addressed is how sustainability labels evoke a halo effect. The halo effect is powerful marketing instrument that consumers often use as a heuristic cue. Yet, little is known about specific applications of the halo effect in relation to CSR. This study taps into the demand of other authors to further elaborate on specific applications of the halo effect (suggested by Smith et al, 2010).
Secondly, this point of view (i.e. the combination of halo effect and brand image) is chosen as the idea behind green highlighting is in line with the main principle of the halo effect i.e. green highlighting as a strategy allows the halo effect to be evoked. In green highlighting, managers decide to (over) emphasize one responsible element of the business. The halo effect is purely based on individual perception. The halo effect in relation to CSR means that broader
generalizations about the company are made from perceiving one responsible element. Until now, the literature on the halo effect in CSR is rather general, providing a bird view, without diving into specific cases within the domain. In examining whether green highlighting instigates a halo effect, one specific yet interesting application is investigated. The combination of these two constructs is impelling, as it would show if, and if so how, heuristic cues impact the image formation of the hotel through the guest’s eyes. Thus, from a managerial as well as a theoretical marketing perspective, there is ground for new research.
Ever since green consumerism is rising, companies have been looking for the holy grail of CSR communication (Du et al, 2010). The main question of how to effectively communicate to your stakeholders is unanswered. It seems to be context-specific and dependent on multiple factors (Du et al, 2010). Overall, the research focuses on green highlighting (as a CSR communication strategy) through sustainability labels in the hotel sector. In this research, green highlighting is approached as a constant simply because creating the condition where there is no green highlighting (vs. there is green highlighting) is hard, if not impossible, to establish. The researcher is, in no way, able to be sure that the people in the former condition have no sustainability associations whatsoever. For this reason, it is more viable to take green highlighting as a constant and measure the effects on the other constructs.
After all, the quantitative research aims at how labels are evaluated in the hotel sector and if they influence the brand image of the hotel. In other words, the mediating effect of the halo effect on brand image is estimated, taking green highlighting as a constant. Hence, the following research question is formulated:
RQ: How does the halo effect, established by green highlighting, directly influence the brand image of hotels and is there an indirect effect of perceived consumer skepticism? And is this indirect effect moderated by environmental orientation?
As sustainability is a topical subject, the size of the tourism sector is substantial and there is a need to research the effect of milder forms of CSR communication, this study will zoom in on these topics. Especially green highlighting, as a strategy, is relatively new but it seems to have potential to develop into a key concept in both theoretical and managerial applications of the sustainability field. Nowadays, finding the best way of communicating to your stakeholder is utmost important with ripple effects on brand image, reputation and loyalty (Du et al, 2010). The study hopes to shed light on this subject in the hotel industry.
1.4 Academic relevance
The theoretical knowledge on CSR communication hospitality sector is incomplete. It remains uncertain how consumers respond to more nuanced forms of CSR communication, whereas these acts increase in popularity. The research is of theoretical relevance because it will contribute to the available literature about CSR communication in the sense that it applies current knowledge about greenwashing as well as existing knowledge on the effect of labels to a new, undiscovered field. In this way, the current knowledge is extended and multiple gaps are addressed. As stated earlier, too little research has been done on green highlighting in the hospitality sector. Walker & Wan (2012) state that green highlighting is more beneficial than other forms of CSR communication, however, there is no evidence for this claim. Therefore, more research about this communication format is needed. Green highlighting as a new concept is therefore worthwhile.
In addition, there is also potential in investigating the relationships between green highlighting and other constructs such as the halo effect and brand image. Green highlighting emphasizes one element of the firm, and the halo effect means that inferences about the entire firm are made from only one element. As stated in paragraph 1.3, the three constructs evidently lie in the same line of reasoning but have not been researched in combination. The authors
Bhattacharya et al (2004) did research on CSR, the halo effect and brand image but not in combination with green highlighting neither applied to the hospitality sector. There is an interesting gap to address here. Anno 2016, sustainability concerns are extremely important to both consumers and firms (Pröbstl & Müller, 2012; Testa et al, 2015) and univocal findings on the effect of labels on consumer’s perceptions are missing. There is a need to find out how halos work in CSR. This research approaches if green highlighting through sustainability labels create a halo that significantly influences brand image. The insights provided by the research are new and topical.
The effect of CSR communication on brand image is barely explored. From an academic perspective, there is ample reason to include brand image. Firstly, because people who have an environmentally friendly way of life tend to look for companies that share these norms and values. A sustainable image could encourage consumers to advocate for the sustainable firm through word-of-mouth (WOM), a higher willingness to pay and might become immune for bad news about the corporation (Du et al, 2010). Also, according to Crane & Glozer (2016), companies use image enhancement as primary motive for communicating about CSR. This is why brand image in relation to CSR communication is intriguing; it will in fact deliver returns for the firm. Secondly, research shows that intangible assets (such as reputation and goodwill) form approximately 50 per cent of a corporation’s total assets (Waddock, 2008). Therefore, a better understanding the constructs in relation to brand image is needed.
Additionally, the research aims to explain whether, and if so, to what extent the relationship is mediated by perceived consumer skepticism. Findings about CSR communication and perceived consumer skepticism are inconsistent. More scientific evidence would clarify the current ambiguity.
Combining CSR, the halo effect and brand image in the tourism industry provides an interesting, new angle in academic literature. Instead of the broad overview of CSR that has been
provided so far, I aim to dive into a specific case. In fact, Aguinis (2011) claim that reactions to CSR communication are always dependent on the context (such as the country, industry and/or sector) and might differ accordingly. As a result, the outcomes will be specific but with a potentially large contribution to the literature in the ever growing tourism sector.
1.5 Managerial Relevance
This research is of practical relevance as it is interesting for managers to know to what extent communicating about CSR influences the image of the hotel. In practice, one observes that hotels make the deliberate choice to explicitly communicate their sustainable business practices to their guests, or consciously decide not to. Since green consumerism is rising, managers have become increasingly interested in thoroughly understanding their customers in order to build relationships with them (Burchell & Cook, 2006). This research provides a deeper understanding of consumer’s responses to green highlighting in the hospitality sector and whether or not heuristic cues are used in the formation of this image. At this point in time, there is so much going on in the tourism sector, in consumer’s perceptions and in the sustainability field that managers simply need to know what the current state of affairs is and what the best strategy would be in their specific context.
If green highlighting, in contrast to greenwashing, does not negatively affect brand image, then green highlighting as a strategy is more interesting and viable to pursue for hotels. The strength of the relationship between the green highlighting and brand image also gives a good idea about the potential return on investment. Whether or not green highlighting evokes a halo effect is key to know for managers. For them, it is advantageous to know if people make ‘green’-conclusions about the company based solely on one sustainable aspect of it. This would mean that continuously investing and communicating about one element would be sufficient to uphold a green image. Contradictory, if green highlighting works similarly to greenwashing and
consumers get increasingly skeptic, managers would not want to pursue a green highlighting strategy.
This knowledge could be used to determine if green highlighting is an effective strategy in the hospitality sector and whether it is worthwhile to invest valuable resources in this matter from the perspective of the company. The research may help allocate resources more efficiently to achieve corporate goals. The research, at least, provides insights in the perceived skepticism and a halo effect that may be related with sustainability labels and the effect of such a label on brand image of the hotel. As well as the effect of online discourse on the corporate website.
1.6 Structure
In order to reach a comprehensive conclusion, the remainder of this study is structured as follows. The next chapter describes the current state of the art with respect to the key concepts CSR, greenwashing and green highlighting and brand image. The literature review results in a conceptual model that clearly represents the interrelations among key constructs. Subsequently, chapter three outlines the data collection procedure and research method. Results based on the collected data are discussed in chapter four. Finally the most important conclusions and implications of the results of this study are discussed in chapter five, together with the most important limitations and a number of suggestions for further research.
2. LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter provides a review of the literature about the key concepts in this study. First, the dimensions on which products differ from services are given and it will be elaborated upon why services, and particularly tourism, would require a different approach in relation to sustainability. Secondly, the concepts CSR, brand image, greenwashing and green highlighting are reviewed. The review continues with discussing the available literature on green labels moving from sustainability labels in general, to labels in the hospitality sector. This chapter will, then, result in research questions and a conceptual framework that is based on the review.
2.1 The difference between products and services
As early as in the 1980s, academics argued about the need to treat products and services separately, especially in marketing terms (Enis & Roering, 1981). Services possess certain characteristics that distinguish them from products. Both elements, therefore, require a different approach (Zeithaml et al, 1985; Cooper, 2005). There is consensus in the literature about the four distinguishing characteristics of services. These are heterogeneity, intangibility, perishability and inseparability of production and consumption (Cooper, 2005; Enis & Roering, 1981; Zeithaml et al, 1985; Berry, 1983). Heterogeneity means that the service that is delivered and experienced can differ from occasion to occasion and from time to time, both depending on the service provider and the service receiver (/consumer). It could, thus, be argued that the service provision is variable, never exactly the same. Perhaps the most fundamental difference stems from the intangibility of services. Unless services that do not have a physical appearance, products can be touched, seen, felt, tasted or smelled. A service is a rather abstract experience that cannot be sensed the way products can. Perishability refers to the inability to store or save a service for another occasion (Cooper, 2005). Services are perishable, because services are generally regarded as a performance. The last characteristic is the inseparability of production and consumption
meaning that services are produced and consumed simultaneously, at the same time. These four characteristics provide the necessity to develop different marketing strategies compared to product marketing (Zeithaml et al, 1985).
Because of these characteristics, the risk associated with buying a service is higher than the risk associated with buying a physical product. Another factor contributing to this risk is the difficulty consumers experience in evaluating a service in advance (George & Berry, 1981). Consumers apply risk reduction strategies in order to solve internal unrest caused by the risk of purchase. WOM is one way to reduce risk. Customers look for trustworthy and reliable sources of information that enable them to evaluate the product or service better (Zeithalm et al, 1985). Another way to reduce the risk is by evaluating the tangible aspects of a service. According to George & Berry (1981), service providers should therefore incorporate tangible aspects of the service they offer in any form of advertising, as the consumer will relate to these aspects in its decision-making process. An example of such a tangible aspect is labels.
2.1.1 The tourism industry
The tourism industry is part of the service sector, though it is one of a kind. The definition of a tourist, as used in this article, is “a temporary visitor that stays at least twenty-four hours in the place for the purpose of whose journey can be classified under the following headings a) leisure (recreation, holiday, health, study, religion and sport) b) business, family, mission and meeting” (Leiper, 1979, p. 393). Within destinations, many different stakeholders come together that have conflicts of interest leading to complex situations. Stakeholders include tourists and hosts, governments, (E)NGOs, corporations and local people. The tourism sector is, on the one hand, known for the profitability for managers as well as the substantive contributions to country’s GDPs (World Travel & Tourism Council, 2015). Some countries, such as Saint Lucia in the Caribbean, are economically dependent on tourism. 75 per cent of the country’s GDP is
generated by the service sector (Wilkinson, 1987). This makes tourism an important source of income. In the Netherlands, the total contribution of the tourism sector to GDP is 5.6 per cent (World Travel & Tourism Council, 2015).
On the other hand, tourism a big contributor to enormous CO2 emissions and the related
environmental degradation (Cooper, 2005). Tourists tend to use extreme levels of water, energy and non-durable products that have significant impact on the environment (Punitha & Rasdi, 2013). Contradictory, the environmental beauty and diversity of destinations is seen as one of the main drivers of tourism activity (Cooper, 2005). The environmental quality should be guarded for continuing these types of tourism in the future, leading to growing popularity of sustainable tourism initiatives (Mihalič, 2000).
Where many industries started to innovate towards sustainable business practices a while ago, the lodging industry tends to be relatively late in following this trend (Geerts, 2014). There are multiple reasons that explain this trend; tourists are sometimes not aware of the impact their activities have on the environment or simply consider their holiday a unique annual occasion and therefore concern less (Hudson & Ritchie, 2001). Other researches indicate that tourists increasingly care about greener enterprises (Kang et al, 2009; Levy & Park, 2011) but they are generally skeptic about any environmentally friendly tourism enterprise and regard it as a hypocritical move (Font, 2001; Rahman et al, 2015).
This research will focus on green highlighting in the tourism sector. The past few paragraphs show that the product sector is different from the service sector. In addition, the tourism sector is a special kind of service that is characterized by complexity and uniqueness. I, therefore, advocate that the findings about sustainable products cannot be directly translated unto the service and tourism sector. More precisely, findings from one particular case in tourism cannot be translated unto another tourism case. Many aspects from this paragraph will be
revisited and elaborated upon more deeply in a later section. This point being made, the next paragraphs will look into sustainability, CSR and ways of communicating about to customers.
2.2 Sustainability and CSR 2.2.1 Terminology
Customers are increasingly aware of and concerned about the environment (Dossier Duurzaam, 2015; Furlow, 2010). These concerns have caused a rise in the demand for sustainable products and services (Lyon & Montgomery, 2015). Firms increasingly incorporate sustainability in their business practices in some sort of CSR. No wonder that the body of literature in the area of sustainability and CSR has expanded rapidly in the past two decades with a sharp increase since 2011 (Cotte & Trudel, 2010; Lyon & Montgomery, 2015). The concepts sustainability, eco-friendliness and greenness are used interchangeably in literature. Sustainability is defined as “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (WCED, 1987, p.8). This definition initially enclosed environmental aspects only. Over the course of time, the definition expanded to include the triple bottom line; people, planet and profit (Crane et al, 2013). Eco-friendly business practices mainly focus on environmental impacts. CSR is defined as “context-specific organizational actions and policies that take into account stakeholders’ expectations and the triple bottom line of economic, social, and environmental performance.” (Aguinis, 2011, p. 855). Practically, CSR practices include a broad range of activities that indicate a reduction or minimalisation of negative impact on the triple bottom line.
Sustainable business practices are appealing to a particular segment. This segment, often referred to as ‘green consumers’, is growing. 40 per cent of Dutch consumers state that sustainable business practices of firm are a determining factor in purchase decisions (Dossier Duurzaam, 2015). In 2010, this percentage was 25 per cent (Dossier Duurzaam, 2010). This
number has grown to such an extent that engaging in sustainable business practices is seen as a possible source of competitive advantage for firms (Nyilasy et al, 2012; Wood, 2015). Cotte & Trudel (2010) argue that one of the drivers for substantial segment growth is the degradation of the environment and the eco-systems. It can be argued that the more one is concerned/engaged with the environment, the more likely one will choose for green products or services. In the same line of reasoning, Sen & Bhattacharya (2001) regard ‘consumer’s support for the CSR domain’ as a determining factor in processing CSR information. The more conscious one is about the matter, the more conscious the consumer is about purchase decisions and about corporate green claims of companies. The awareness of this trend as well as the quantity of academic papers about this matter is sufficient rationale to include environmental orientation in the study. This will be revisited in paragraph 2.8.
2.2.2 Purchase intention and willingness to pay
There is plenty of research that shows that both consumers’ purchase intentions (Chen & Chang, 2012; Kotler, 2011; Porter & Kramer, 2013) as well willingness to pay are higher for green products (Cotte & Trudel, 2010; Pelsmacker De, et al, 2005; Tsen et al, 2006). Cotte & Trudel (2010) provide a systematic review of 30 years research in the sustainability field. The authors looked at 1700 articles and conclude that consumers are willing to pay 10 per cent more for sustainable products. They find proof that there is a higher purchase intention for green products and services.
However, it is important to note that the sustainability field is characterized by an intention-behavior gap. Consumers might say they would buy a sustainable (more expensive) alternative, but this preference is not evidently visible in actual behavior (Furlow, 2010). Usually, purchase intention is taken as dependent variable in relation to CSR communication. Even though, much research has been done that uses purchase intention as a construct, the main
drawback remains - it does not measure actual behavior. It is often questioned if these studies portray a fair representation of reality. As such, purchase intention is less suitable as a metric. For the matter of validity, purchase intention is replaced by brand image. Brand image, as a metric, has sufficient rationale to be used in relation to sustainability and will yield more accurate results. Firstly, because people who are environmentally oriented seem to identify with firms that are also environmentally oriented. A sustainable image could encourage consumers to become advocates of the sustainable firm by paying premium prices, ignoring negative information from third parties and by positive WOM (Du et al, 2010). This is why brand image in relation to CSR communication is intriguing; it will in fact deliver returns for the firm.
In this way, any bias caused by the intention-behavior gap is avoided. In addition, Cotte & Trudel (2010) found that there is little proof that consumers are willing to pay more for socially conscious services. As the focus here is on the service sector, there is another reason to avoid willingness to pay nor purchase intention as dependent variables.
2.3 Brand Image
The relationship between sustainable business practices and brand image is also discussed in a vast amount of literature. According to Aaker (1996), brand image is made up from (positive and negative) brand associations. It is a cognitive dimension that draws on how a brand is perceived. According to Graeff (1990), it is important for corporations to establish a strong brand image. The advantages for companies vary from functional to experiential and symbolic benefits (Martinez, 2015). Brand image is ultimately connected to brand evaluations. Also, brand image influences purchase decisions (Ryu et al, 2012).
In choosing for particular brands, consumers look for congruity. This means that consumers are looking for similarities between themselves and the brand (Graeff, 1990). According to the image-congruence hypothesis, people hold on to a perception about themselves.
Consumers tend to buy those products and services that enhance or maintain this self-image. Firms, therefore, benefit from creating a brand image that matches the abilities, characteristics, personality or appearance of the target group (Martinez, 2015).
The previous paragraphs add up to the general conclusion that in today’s society, sustainability is key. Consumers buy their products at those companies with which they can identify. The company will have to convey a message that matches the image the consumer has about himself. Since the growth of the green consumer segment, corporations benefit from investing in a sustainable image. The perception that consumers have about a company is a differentiating element for firms (Rye, 2012). Improving a firm’s image via sustainable business practices can, therefore, be used as a strategy to competitive advantage.
The image of the accommodation is considered even more important in the hotel
industry where many elements of the hotel are invisible or intangible (Cooper, 2005; Martinez, 2015). Booking a hotel is associated with risk. For example, guests are unable to evaluate the quality and likeability of the service in advance. Therefore guests rely, to an even larger extent, to the established image of the hotel. The hotel industry is highly competitive. Therefore, managers seek ways to excel at other elements. A strong image creates trust. When there is trust, there is significant impact on loyalty and satisfaction (Martinez, 2015)
2.4 Greenwashing
Along with the increase in more sustainable business practices came the increase in greenwashing and green highlighting. Greenwashing is when firms intentionally misrepresent their environmental efforts (Furlow, 2010; Terrachoice, 2010). In other words, firms purposely mislead consumers with green messages causing a sustainable perception of the firm in the customer’s mind, which is not a fair representation of reality (Lyon & Montgomery, 2015). Greenwashing is deliberate information disclosure (Bowen & Aragon-Correa, 2014). According
to TerraChoice’s statistics, 95 per cent of the greener products in their sample (n = 5296) were guilty of some sort of greenwashing (2010). Individuals do not evaluate ‘misleading’ the same way. Whereas an act can be regarded as false, misleading or fake by one, it can be seen as innocent by another. Therefore Lyon & Montgomery (2015) argue “it is truly in the eye of the beholder and not an inherent aspect of a given communication” (p. 228).
Consumers are unable to directly evaluate the environmental performance of a firm. Therefore, sustainability is regarded as a credence good. There is an information asymmetry between the corporation and the stakeholders. There is no way to verify whether green claims merely have symbolic meaning or are sincerely true. Stakeholders can only rely on the company’s messages. Acts of greenwashing follow from the desire to meet the consumer’s need for environmentally friendly goods and services and so can realize the envisioned growth of the firm (Lyon & Montgomery, 2015). In fact, companies compete for the ‘green’ segment and thus for the profit (TerraChoice, 2010). Because green business practices are credence goods, consumers are unable to make fully informed decisions, which enable firms to greenwash. Other reasons for greenwashing that stem from literature are stricter regulation imposed by the government (now or in the future), pressure from governments, (E)NGOs and/or the industry or to improve the firm’s image (Lyon & Montgomery, 2015). Another driver for greenwashing is related to the ambiguity around the concept (Bowen & Aragon-Correa, 2014; Wood, 2015). There are many conceptualizations of sustainability. Firms have the freedom to decide how and to what extent to incorporate sustainability in their businesses and refer to themselves as ‘being sustainable’.
2.4.1 Consequences of greenwashing
The number of greenwashing scandals has grown (for example the Volkswagen scandal, 2015) and reports about corporate greenwashing are increasingly made available to the public (for
example TerraChoice, 2010). This has had numerous consequences on consumer’s attitudes and behavior towards sustainable business practices. Authors state that greenwash negatively affects financial performance of the firm (Lyon & Montgomery, 2015). Other consequences include increased consumer confusion (Aji & Sutikno, 2015; Chen & Chang, 2012; Furlow, 2010), increased consumer skepticism (Matthew & Wonneberger, 2014; Nyilasy et al, 2012), higher perceived risk (Chen & Chang, 2013), lower green trust (Wood, 2015), lower perceived corporate credibility (Newell et al, 1998; Nyilasy et al, 2012) and considerable switching intention (Burnham et al, 2003). These variables consequently have an impact on attitude towards the brand (Montoro-Rioz et al, 2008; Nyilasy et al, 2012) and purchase intention (Newell et all, 1998).
Concluding, the concept of greenwashing has been researched intensively. Even though, there are slight differences between findings, the results are relatively consistent. Green washing can harm the firm as well as people’s perceptions of and attitudes about sustainability in general.
2.5 Green highlighting
As the body of literature about greenwashing grew, authors started to advocate for breaking down the umbrella term of greenwashing into more nuanced forms of CSR communication (Lyon & Montgomery, 2015). Whereas greenwashing has a strong negative connotation, there are also milder forms of CSR communication that might not necessarily be badly perceived by customers.
The authors Bowen & Aragon-Correa (2014) say that greenwashing is solely symbolic communication for symbolic benefits. In their work, they refer to ‘symbolic corporate environmentalism’ that connotes that managers share overarching ideas about environmental practices while bringing about change inside the organization. This way of thought is still symbolic in meaning, but it is relational, powerful and it likely to lead to substantive performance (Bowen & Aragon-Correa, 2014). Before any change can occur, there should be shared
meanings, beliefs and representations among the team so the corporation can tackle environmental issues in a corporate way.
Walker & Wan (2012) also argue that one should make a distinction between ‘greenwashing’ and ‘green highlighting’. Where acts of greenwashing come from a misalignment between the firm’s symbolic and substantive action, acts of green highlighting are characterized by symbolic action followed by substantive action. In other words, greenwashing happens when firms make claims about their CSR practices but never live up to them. With green highlighting, on the contrary, firms do live up to the green claims (Walker & Wan, 2012). Green highlighting is consciously stressing particular CSR achievements while deliberately playing down others. This does not include deliberate misrepresentation, but selective representation instead (Walker & Wan, 2012).
2.5.1 Consequences of green highlighting
There is a considerable difference between the consequences of greenwashing versus the consequences of green highlighting. Greenwashing, when discovered outside the firm, causes feelings of betrayal, distrust and deceit. As such, greenwashing negatively influences the performance of the firm. Green highlighting is not considered as deliberately fooling the public, and as such does not have an impact on firm performance (Walker & Wan, 2012). These authors, however, provide no concrete evidence for this statement. Schons & Steinmeier (2015) investigated the same matter and found that greenwashing negatively impacts the performance of the firm. With regard to green highlighting, the authors found that it can enforce substantive actions of corporations and positively affect firm performance. However, Schons & Steinmeier (2015) only investigated the impact of substantive actions on the financial performance of the firm while taking into account the level of proximity. They have not looked at the effect of green highlighting on brand image.
Another possible consequence of green highlighting is the formation of a halo. A halo builds on the perception of an individual. As stated earlier, the idea behind green highlighting is in line with the main principle of the halo effect i.e. green highlighting as a strategy allows the halo effect to be evoked. These two constructs lie in the same line of reasoning where the halo effect is a possible consequence of green highlighting. If the halo effect is evoked by deliberate emphasizing particular business operations, this potentially has enormous consequences for the image of the firm and the extent to which investments in communication about CSR are made. More detail about the halo effect will be discussed in paragraph 2.7.
The last possible consequence of green highlighting could be seen in an effect on brand image. As stated by Aaker (1996), brand image is a cognitive dimension that indicates how a brand is perceived. Green highlighting might considerably influence the perception of the hotel.
In sum, literature indicates that green highlighting is different from greenwashing and that the possible consequences of both CSR communication strategies vary.
2.6 Sustainability labels
A sustainability certification, or sustainability label, is defined as “A voluntary procedure that sets, assesses, monitors, and gives written assurance that a business [...] conforms to a specific requirement” (Geerts, 2014, p. 87).
Generally speaking, there are three main functions of labels. One is that labels indicate a certain level of quality. The second is that sustainable labels inform consumers (Brécard, 2014; Testa et al, 2015). Third, labels promote sustainable business practices in an industry (Rietbergen & Rheede, 2014). As stated earlier, sustainability is characterized by information asymmetry and a low signaling value (Brécard, 2014; Moratis, 2015). In order to fill up this asymmetric relationship, corporations signal their sustainable performance by environmental reports, advertising, corporate websites and sustainability labels (Bowen & Aragon-Correa, 2014).
Sustainability labels enable companies to turn a credence attribute of sustainability into a tangible attribute (Dekhili & Achabou, 2014) and thus help firms demonstrate their sincere environmental commitment to the public (Geert, 2014; Zhang et al, 2012). The trustworthiness of a label partly depends on the entity certifying the label. This could, for example, be a third party such as the state or an NGO but could as well be certified by a company itself (Brécard, 2014). A sustainability label issued by a third party is regarded as guarantee that a firm lives up to environmental standards (Noor & Kumar, 2014).
2.6.1 Sustainability labels in the hotel industry
Sustainability labels in the tourism industry entail more complexity than labels in other sectors (Cooper, 2005). In tourism, people cross borders, which entail different countries, governments, regulations, languages and cultures. Therefore, it might be obscure what a sustainability label exactly implies, who or what to hold responsible and how to establish understanding among tourists (Pröbstl & Müller, 2012). It could also be argued that sustainability labels might especially function well in the service sector as the products sold by hotels are intangible and the production and consumption processes take place simultaneously. Booking a hotel is therefore associated with risk and uncontrollability. According to Testa et al (2015), trust is most important when consumers perceives little to no control over situations. A trustworthy label, as such, can reduce insecurity and associated risk. Arguments of the effects of labels work either way (Colle et al, 2014)
2.6.2 Positive effects of sustainability labels
In the hotel sector, one would speak of a high contact service system where trust and credibility play an important role (Zhang et al, 2012). A sustainability label would enhance both trust and credibility as ambiguity about green claims is removed (Zhang et al, 2012). However, it is
necessary that the guest perceives consistency between the claims of the accommodation found prior to the service experience and visible sustainable practices throughout the stay (Zhang et al, 2012).
The positive effects of an eco-label in the tourism sector further include higher satisfaction levels and positive attitudes towards the hotel with a higher chance of revisiting (Kozak & Nield, 2004). The authors Kozak & Nield (2004), however, did not research the effect of a sustainability label on a particular accommodation but rather an entire area or destination.
Sustainability labels have the possibility to trigger consumer’s liability, which in turn, will benefit consumer’s attitude towards the product/brand and which might increase purchase intention (Testa et al, 2015). When a green label complies with the green image that an individual wants to sketch about him/herself, staying in a certified hotel would satisfy the person’s desire. This, in return, leads to customer satisfaction (Burckley, 2002).
There is no consensus whatsoever about the consequences of sustainability labels in the hotel sector.
2.6.3 Negative effects of sustainability labels
At the other end of the spectrum, statistics show that less than half of the tourists, 44 per cent, trust hotels in their green claims (Tripadvisor, 2012). Buckley (2002) argues that labels are seen all over the place, but they lack coordination. Terms that are part of a label sometimes are poorly defined, which causes ambiguity (for example using vague words such as ‘green’, ‘natural’ and ‘sustainable’). The criteria can vary from very specific and strict to very broad and open to interpretation. A label could be invented by a governmental organization, NGO, a company or individual. In other words, certification systems vary to a great extent in coverage, organization and scope (Kozak & Nield, 2004). People often lack the motivation and/or ability to understand
the meaning of a sustainability accreditation system (Sparks, Perkins & Buckley, 2013). As such, the level of confusion and skepticism is enhanced.
Also, the rise in certification systems and the ambiguity about the motive of a hotel to implement one is regarded as deceptive and manipulative (Rahman et al, 2015). This point is supported by Mason (2006) who states that guests doubt if the standards from a certification system perfectly match with ‘being sustainable’ or if the label merely portrays the firm’s ability to match some standards. People express their skepticism towards sustainability labels. They believe certification systems are subjective assessments (Mason, 2006) to such an extent that labels are ignored (Burckley, 2002). Wood (2015) adds to this that the increasing number of green labels in today’s society can cause labels to become an act of greenwashing in itself.
Concluding, the debate in literature about the effects of sustainability labels continues (Burckley, 2002). At this point, the findings are inconsistent. The number of labels has increased. These are mostly apparent on the product market (Terrachoice, 2010). Labels are also increasingly prevalent in the service sector, and thus in the tourism sector. Literature on the positive effects on sustainability labels shows that labels enhance the level of satisfaction, loyalty and brand image for both products and services (Hahnel et al, 2015). Proof for increasing levels of confusion and perceived consumer skepticism is also found in both product and service sectors. Firstly because consumers find it difficult to evaluate the information on the labels (Brécard, 2014; Koos, 2011). Secondly, because consumers get confronted with greenwashing, both consumer trust in and credibility of CSR efforts are harmed (Koos, 2011; Testa et al, 2015). Consumers, therefore, form a skeptic attitude towards sustainability labels; they cannot legitimately distinguish greenwashing from genuinely sustainable practices (Newell et al, 1998; Stokes, 2007; Ben Youssef & Abderrazak, 2009; Wood, 2015).
Most of the research is done in the product sector. The body of literature is much smaller in the tourism sector but the literature available provides inconsistent results. This paragraph
leads to the assumption that tourists are confronted with a label overload and as such are more skeptic towards sustainability labels in the hotel sector as well.
2.7 The halo effect in CSR
One can conclude from the proceeding paragraphs that consumers find it difficult to distinct genuine CSR information from false CSR information and that the numerous labels in both the product and service industry leads to confusion and skepticism. In specific cases, consumers tend to create a halo in order evaluate the situation (Boatwright et al, 2008). In marketing terms, the ‘halo-effect’ is psychological process in which consumers “will use an observable attribute to infer a non-observable one” (Boatwright et al, 2008, p. 217). The halo effect derives from an individual’s inability to evaluate all attributes (Lyon & Montgomery, 2015). Earlier, there were only speculations about the effect of responsible company behavior on the formation of a halo. According to a study conducted by Smith et al (2010), the halo effect is also apparent in the context of CSR. This means that consumers make inferences about a company based on very little information that they have about a company.
In the product literature, the halo effect in relation to sustainability is more often referred to as ‘the green halo’ or the ‘eco-label effect’. The eco-label effect occurs when consumers evaluate products with an eco-label better than a product without an eco-label even though the products in the experiment were identical. This has been researched for edible products such as bananas and raisins (Sorqvist et al, 2015a) and for other products such as quality and comfort of lamps (Sorqvist et al, 2015b). The articles on this topic are all recently written with an explicit focus on the product market. There is a need to further research how information processing works in the service sector. Thus far, articles on labels find proof for the existence of the halo effects. It cannot be assumed that the halo effect takes place relation to the hotel sector, but it is expected to do so.
The halo effect in relation to greenwashing has lately been researched. Lyon & Montgomery (2015) refer to the halo effect as a mechanism of misleading behavior that is irrevocably linked to greenwashing. People increasingly prefer green products and have stronger preference for products with a green label (Hahnel et al, 2015). In order to match one’s own values with the firm’s values, people tend to generalize what they see to all of the firm’s business practices, in order for them to create fit between the company and their ‘green ideal’.
If greenwashing is linked to the creation of a halo (Lyon & Montgomery, 2015), then green highlighting could work similarly. Instinctively, it makes sense that green highlighting evokes a halo effect. The main principle of green highlighting is emphasizing one particular sustainable element. The main idea of the halo effect is that generalizations about the company are made based on one particular element. As such, there possibly is a causal relationship between these two constructs. The generalizations in the consumer’s mind, in return, might also affect the general perception that the person has about the company. Hereby, the halo effect is used in evaluating the firm and in this way influences brand image.
The following hypotheses are formulated accordingly:
H1: The halo effect (established via green highlighting) has a positive direct effect on brand image
H2: The halo effect (established via green highlighting) has positive indirect effect on brand image mediated by perceived consumer skepticism, so that the halo effect will negatively impact brand image through higher levels of perceived consumer skepticism.
2.8 Environmental orientation
The perception that one has over a hotel, and whether or not, this has been established via a halo effect, is largely determined by the guest’s engagement with the environment. Among others,
Newell et al (1998) refer to this as ‘environmental concern’ in their model. People that are highly concerned with the environment also have the highest level of awareness about the content of corporate brand claims (Newell et al, 1998). The commitment to the environment thus plays a role in the relationship to CSR communication.
This point is approved by Vermeir & Verbeke (2006), who claim that consumers can either be low involved or high-involved. The authors claim that the more involved the consumer is, the more positively they evaluate a green product or service. The consumers, who are less involved, have fewer concerns about the environment and are less critical about CSR activities (Vermeir & Verbeke, 2006). Thus, earlier literature indicates that there is a relationship between how sustainability-oriented one is and the way CSR communication is perceived. Taking previous literature in consideration, it seems logical to assert that the people that identify themselves as stewards of the environment will prefer those hotels that share comparable values. The more one cares, the more one knows about the environment and the related the impact of human activity and the ways to minimize such impact. Consequently, it could be argued that the more sustainability oriented one is, the more motivated and able one is to determine the exact meaning and content of a sustainability label in the hotel industry and therefore the less likely a person uses peripheral cues to evaluate the hotel’s image. It is therefore asserted that environmental orientation moderates the relationship between perceived consumer skepticism and brand image.
H3: There is a conditional effect of environmental orientation (high/low) on the effect of perceived consumer skepticism on brand image. As such, higher levels of environmental orientation lead to lower levels of brand image.
2.9 Conceptual model
Based on the literature review and the associated hypotheses, a conceptual framework is established. This conceptual framework is presented in Figure 1.
Figure 1:
Conceptual model of the framework______________________________________________
3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This chapter represents the start of the empirical part of this study. First the most evident characteristics of the collected sample will be outlined. Afterwards, the variables included in the questionnaire and corresponding reliabilities are discussed. Finally, a brief description will be given of the statistical approach that was taken in order to test for the expected relationships as discussed in the previous chapter.
3.1 General Design
The research applies a mono-method quantitative research design to conduct an explanatory study. In this type of study, the aim is to discover “the extent to which two or more variables co--vary, that is, where changes in one variable are reflected in changes in the other” (Creswell,
collected by means of online surveys, as this was pertinent for this study. Consumer skepticism and the halo effect are both rooted in a person’s perception. The key construct brand image is defined as a cognitive dimension that draws on how a brand is perceived (Aaker, 1996). For the purpose of measuring the perception of respondents, a cross-sectional survey design is well suited (Adler & Clark, 2011). The dataset is primarily obtained, as no data sets were available. This carries the advantage of familiar and relative simple data and control over data quality (Bryman, 2008; Adler & Clark, 2011).
3.1.1 Initial approach
It should be noted that the initial approach of the research was different than the final approach that was taken. At first, the plan was to conduct the research in a hotel, the target population being tourists but with a specific focus on those staying in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. In this approach, a member list was downloaded from the Greenkey website that indicated the name of the hotel and the certification level. As official permission from hotels was required before data could be collected, an introductory e-mail was sent to a few Greenkey certified hotels in Amsterdam. Westcord Hotels was the first hotel that was enthusiastic about the research proposal and offered to collaborate. Initially, the plan was to hold surveys in the three locations of Westcord in Amsterdam that granted permission to interview guests. In each hotel, 50 guests were supposed to fill in a questionnaire. After all arrangements were made with the management team, data collection started in week 18, 2016. With the researcher being physically present on three full days (May 2nd, 3rd and 6th), a disappointing total of 9 questionnaires were completed. The cause for this limited number of completed questionnaires can be explained by the general reluctance of tourists to participate. This reluctance was translated into uncomfortable and unpleasant feelings on the researcher’s side. In addition, any suggestions proposed by the researcher to smoothen or accelerate the process were rejected by the management of the hotel
(the researcher was not allowed to ask tourists herself; this could only be done by the receptionists, the hotel would not send an e-mail to the regular customer base and the hotel was not willing to share the survey link via social media platforms). Even though the researcher was well aware that this approach would give an extra dimension to the research, these reasons added up to the decision not to proceed collecting data at Westcord hotels.
3.1.2 Final approach
In the initial approach, a pilot was already done to test the quality of the survey. At first, the most important person from the pilot was the technical manager from WestCord hotels. All his remarks were treated as urgent because of the close collaboration with the hotel. For example, he expected the introduction to be shorter and he wanted the WestCord logo to be clearly visible. However, after the collaboration was ended, a new questionnaire was designed with a hypothetical case (instead of the real case of WestCord hotels). The pilot constellated of six respondents, covering two sexes, multiple age groups and educational levels. One person from the pilot indicated that the level of English was too high. Another person from the pilot made some comments with regard to question formulation. Some adaptations were made accordingly.
The data were collected via an online survey that was sent out by a member of a lectureship from NHTV, Breda, location Sibiliuslaan. In total, 1.107 people from the hospitality faculty received an online invitation to participate. The respondents could self-report the answers. There was a fixed list of questions. The survey is therefore structured and does not allow probes or follow--up questions. The online questionnaire started with an introduction containing the purpose of the study and the guarantee of anonymous and confidential treatment of data.
However, this description was brief, as attention should not be distracted from the survey. Not too much information about the label was provided. The first part of the survey included questions to determine how skeptical the respondent is towards sustainability labels of hotels and
