The Influence of Green Message Types on Advertising Effectiveness for Luxury and Budget Hotel Segments

Abstract

This study aims to broaden knowledge about the effects of green (environmentally responsible) advertising images on consumer behavior in the context of the hotel industry. A 5 (ad type: non-green vs. green with text vs. green with logos vs. green with visuals vs. green with the combination of all) × 2 (hotel segment: luxury vs. budget) between-subjects experimental design was developed. The purpose of this research, within the foundations of dual coding theory, is to investigate the influence of different types of green (textual, visual, green certification logos, and combination of all) versus non-green ads on advertising effectiveness operationalized as attitude toward the ad (AAd), attitude toward the hotel (AHot), and purchase intention (PI) for budget and luxury hotel segments while controlling the effects of environmental involvement. The results demonstrate that green text, green certification logo, green with visual cues, and green combination ads were more effective than non-green ads in terms of AAd, attitude toward the brand, or PI. The study also reveals that the effectiveness of green hotel ads will vary with the budget and luxury hotels as the results provide encouraging results for luxury hotels to increase ad effectiveness via using green certification in their advertising strategy. Overall, the findings provide implications for budget and luxury hotels in terms of designing green and sustainability messages in their communication strategies.