Do hotels' green efforts lead guests to adopt sustainable behaviors? Mediating roles of perceived motives, gratitude, and green trust

The tourism industry's environmental impact, particularly on carbon dioxide emissions and waste generation, underscores imperatives for sustainable practices, especially in the hotel sector. Despite hotels’ substantial efforts to adopt sustainable measures, such actions might not influence guests’ perceptions or behaviors. Therefore, this research investigates the underlying mechanisms of the effects of hotels’ green efforts on guests’ pro-environmental behavioral intentions (PEBI). Grounded in motive attribution theory, which it extends by incorporating gratitude and green trust as mediating variables, this multi-study research elucidates the role of guests' perceptions of hotel motives in shaping guests’ responses to hotels’ green efforts. The first study (N = 178) examines whether hotel sustainability practices enhance PEBI; it introduces guests’ perceptions of hotel motives, gratitude, and green trust as mediating factors. The second study (N = 327) explores the nuanced impacts of different types of green efforts and hotel categories on the observed mediation. A third study (N = 1215) validates and extends the model across diverse samples, ensuring the robustness and consistency of findings. This study contributes to theoretical understanding and offers practical insights for hotel managers seeking to optimize their sustainability initiatives to drive guests’ pro-environmental behaviors.