Analyzing Willingness to Pay More to Stay in a Sustainable Hotel

Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate differences in willingness to pay more for sustainable hotels, analyzing whether consumers’ searches for information about sustainability, the importance they assign to sustainability certifications, their previous experiences and sociodemographic variables, are all features that influence consumer intentions. We thus contribute to the literature on the importance of consumers’ concerns and awareness and how they influence consumer intentions regarding sustainability in the hotel sector. Our results, based on a sample of consumers of various nationalities, show that all the variables analyzed can explain the differences between consumers that are willing to pay more for sustainable hotels and those that are not, except those variables capturing sociodemographic characteristics. These results could help hotel managers to establish strategies to retain more responsible consumers and increase awareness of sustainability, and should prompt them to improve their sustainability practices.