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Intention to Implement Green Hotel Practices: Evidence from Indian Hotel

Industry

Article  in  International Journal of Management Practice · July 2017

DOI: 10.1504/IJMP.2018.10008645

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Intention to Implement Green Hotel Practices: Evidence from
Indian Hotel Industry

Vivek Kumar Verma* and Bibhas Chandra

Department of management Studies

Indian Institute of Technology,
Indian School of Mines,
Dhanbad, Jharkhand, India
Email: [email protected]
Email: [email protected]
*Corresponding author

Abstract

The present investigation adds to the sustainability dimension through examining the managerial
intention to implement green hotel practices. Data were collected conveniently from the sample of 285
hotel managers using structured questionnaire. The model was developed and analyzed by means of
measurement and structural model applying statistical analysis software SPSS V.20 & AMOS V.21.
The Results predicted that customers’ attitude and environmental concern significantly and positively
influence the managerial intention to implement green hotel practices. This study suggested that apart
from economic factors, behavioral factors such as customers’ attitude and employees’ environmental
concern are also critical in greening the business process. Additionally, as compared to developed
nations, this study provides some useful managerial insights on the implementation of green hotel
practices, which is at the emerging state in India.

Keywords: Green hotel, Environmental Concern, Intention to Implement, Sustainability, Management

Attitude, Customer’s Attitude

Biographical notes: Vivek Kumar Verma is a Research Scholar at Indian Institute of Technology
(Indian School of Mines) Dhanbad, Jharkhand, India. His research interest area is marketing with
special focus on sustainable consumer behavior and marketing research. He has published a couple of
research papers in reputed journals and also presented various research papers on sustainable consumer
behavior in the service industry such as hospitality and tourism in various national and international
conferences.

Bibhas Chandra is an assistant professor in the department of management studies, Indian school of
mines Dhanbad. His specialized areas include marketing, consumer behavior, sustainability, research
methodology. He has 22 years of rich experience in academia as well as in industry. He authored and
co-authored several research articles in reputed international and national journals. He has presented
research papers in various international and national conferences.

1. Introduction

In this continuously shifting trend toward sustainability, concern for the environmental problems has
been escalated progressively and customers, as well as businesses, are recognizing the seriousness of
the environmental degradation and its consequences (Jones et al., 2014; Laroche et al., 2001). This
environmental concern brings a radical change in the customers’ attitude and purchasing behavior
towards environment-friendly business properties (D’Souza & Taghian, 2005). As a result, hotels are
becoming more concerned towards maintaining the balance between environmental, resource
consumption, ethical and societal concern, and profitability issues (Chan et al., 2013; Hsieh, 2012). In
particular, it is no longer possible for hotels to avoid their environmental and social responsibilities
because they consume large amounts of fuel, energy, water and other non-renewable resources in
various operations while providing product and services to customers. It is clear that many hotels are
proactive now in the process of becoming ‘green hotel’ or ‘eco-friendly hotel’ to get a distinctive place
in the growing competitive hotel market (Manaktola and Jauhari, 2007; Chan and Wong, 2006).
Although eco-friendly or green practices are widely acknowledged by the hotel industry worldwide,
still some factors affect the process of becoming hotels in route to being environmentally responsible
especially in the developing nations like India. Pizam (2009) also identified that many hospitality
establishments are not concerned towards ecological or sustainability issues for altruistic or ethical
motives, but are purely capitalizing in environmental practices for their selfish and commercially
profitable purposes. Academic researchers have illustrated these obstacles as internal and external on
the implementation of environmental management programs (Biondi et al., 2000). The various internal
and external forces which affect the hotels to go green include, hotel management, consumers,
governmental bodies and local communities, legal concerns, (Zhu and Sarkis, 2006; Setthasakko, 2007;
Kasim & Ismail, 2012).

A considerable environmental research has focused on Green consumer behaviour, green hotel
attributes, willingness to buy, intention to visit and willingness to pay for green hotel product and
services (Lee et al, 2010; Manaktola and Jauhari, 2007; Verma and Chandra, 2016; Han et al., 2010;
Chan and Wong, 2006; Quazi et al., 2001, Yadav & Pathak, 2017), but only a few studies have been
available with the managerial perspective towards green hotel practice implementation (DiPietro et al.,
2013; Chan, 2008; Kang et al., 2012). Since the majority of the studies were conducted in developed
nations but due to rising environmental concern, the green hotel concept is gaining popularity in
developing countries also especially, in India. A limited number of studies have been conducted in
Indian context (Manaktola and Jauhari, 2007; Verma & Chandra, 2016) from the customers’ perspective
and confirmed that consumers are well aware of green lodging practices and ready to pay the price
premium. However, those customers’ perspective has not been translated into management practices
generating a need for the managerial perspective research on the implementation of green hotel
practices. Hotels have to abide by some legal formalities while implementing the green hotel practices,
but it is also important to know the managerial intention towards implementation of green practices in
their establishment along with customers.

Therefore, this study attempts to investigate whether the factors such as management attitude,
cost considerations, customer’s attitude towards green hotel practices, environmental legislation, and
environmental concern contribute to the responsiveness of hotels for the cause of implementing green
practices. The empirical findings derived from this study fill the existing literature gap about managerial
intention to implement green hotel practices. Additionally, it will offer a new viewpoint to the outcomes
of earlier studies and provide the hospitality industry with substantial information on the factors
affecting the implementation of green hotel practices.

2. Literature review

2.1 Green Hotels

With the growing concern of customers’ and other stakeholders for the environment, hotels are adopting
the environmentally friendly initiatives to reduce the harmful effect of their operations on the
environment. In fact, hotels are increasingly expected to keep the sustainability as their regular feature
(Smith et al., 2015). The green hotel is alternatively known as “sustainable,” “eco-friendly” or
“environmentally friendly” properties (Pizam, 2009). Green hotels are nature oriented that use non-
conventional methods and seek to reduce the negative impact on the environment (Han et al., 2010).
According to Green Hotel Association (2008), a green hotel or eco-friendly hotel is a lodging property
that incorporates and follows environmentally sound programs and practices such as energy and water
saving, waste reduction, recycling in support for the protection of our environment and reduces
operational costs. In contrast to the conventional hotel that causes greater harm to the environment by
excessive consumption of the scarce resources (i.e. water, energy, and soil), green hotels voluntarily
follow the environmental standards and guidelines and incorporate sustainability in their decision
making (Han & Kim, 2010; Manaktola and Jauhari, 2007). Energy conservation, recycling, towel and
linen reuse programs, energy efficient light bulbs, well trained and educated employees about eco-
friendly practices, organic food in the menu, recycle bins in the guest rooms and lobby, etc. (GHA,2009;
Millar, Mayer & Baloglu, 2011; Verma & Chandra, 2016) are some of the practices that green hotels
follow.

2.2 Top Management Attitude

Manager’s role in the implementation of the sustainable or the green practices is very crucial (Stone et
al., 2004; Griffiths and Petrick, 2001). Many hotel developers, managers, and owners are aware of the
worth of adopting green practices which lead to the complacent attitude. Brown (1996) also supported
that some hotel managers are still thinking about old world traditions and do not appreciate the necessity
for the adoption of green practices. The greater the involvement of top-level management to adopt
environmental and ethical practices into their business, the better the success rate of adoption of green
practices (Faulkner et al., 2005; Kasim, 2007). Some managers do not want to include their owners in
to carry out measures to diminish the harmful environmental impact of hotel operations (Knowles et
al., 1999). Brown (1996) also upholds that the hotel general managers will not have the motivation until
it becomes mandatory to include in their appraisal system. When the pledge of top level managers lacks
understating the relationship of environmental and economic value, it could possess the potential
obstacle to adopting green initiatives for implementation in hotel operations (Post and Altman, 1994).

H1: Top management attitude positively influences the intention to implement green hotel
practices.

2.3 Cost Considerations

Researchers identified that cost of implementation is a major barrier to the employment of green
practices as perceived by managers (Bergin, 2010; Chan, 2008). Similarly, small businesses usually not
able to adopt green initiatives because of the scarcity of financial resources and time required to
comprehend (Bramwell & Alletorp, 2001). The cost of implementation incurred in the process of
auditing, accreditation, and high certification fees becomes a deterrent for managers to invest in green
initiatives (Tzschentke et al., 2008). Sustainability or going green is not a burden for hotels that many
managers and executives believe as they are aware of that employing eco-friendly initiatives will cut
the operational costs leading to increasing the revenue in the long run. Also, green products are made
from renewable and waste recycle materials that too come out to be expensive along with the major
cost associated such as certification and human resource training and development cost. However, the
society directly or indirectly subsidises the cost associated with not eco-friendly products.

H2: Cost consideration negatively influences the top management attitude towards the
environment.

H9: Cost consideration negatively influences the intention to implement green hotel practices.

2.4 Environmental Legislations

Every organisation works on many specific legal and operational frameworks (Watson & Emery, 2003)
and environmental legislation is also a part of them. Although some businesses environmental
management programs are intrinsically driven, most of them are forced by the societal or/and
international legislations (Emery & Watson, 2004; Rhee & Lee, 2003). The implantation of effective
green or environmental strategies and policies relies on good governance, and should according to the
sovereign nation (Bramwell, 2011; Roy & Tisdell, 1998). Finally, a core environmental conservation
program needs multiple resources as it needed a change or innovation in the structure, planning,
responsibilities, procedures and processes in the course of developing, adopting and implementing
green practices.

H3: Environmental legislations positively influence the implementation of green hotel practices.

H4: Environment Legislation positively influences top management attitude towards the
environment.

2.5 Customers’ Attitude towards Environment

Consumers have started considering environmental aspects but not necessarily more responsible
towards environment because latter may occur some cost. A study on tourists to Penang Island,
Malaysia, Kasim (2004), concluded that visitors were concerned about the environment, but they did
not deliberately choose a hotel’s environmental position as a foundation for their hotel choice. Barsky
(2008) shows that green practices were meant for luxury hotel guests who could afford because the
price is still the dominating factor for hotel selection. Customer’s lack of support for the implementation
of green practices in hotels will be a noted barrier. A study by Tzschentke et al. (2008) indicates that
adopting green practices negatively impacted their hotel as many customers associated found it a
reduction in the level of standard. Butler (2008) also states that many hotel operations are waiting for
an amplified consumer demand and reduced implementation costs before they will completely adopt
green initiatives. On the other hand, it is also perceived that hotels must exhibit their green credentials
and initiatives to ensure competitiveness in the marketplace.

H5: Consumers’ attitude positively influences the intention to implement green hotel practices.

H10: Consumers’ attitude positively influences the top management attitude towards the
environment.

2.6 Environmental Concern

Environmental concern is associated with the perception of a person about environmental issues. The
person having more inclination towards environmental conservation will attempt to solve
environmental problems or be willing to participate in such attempts. Additionally, from the very
beginning, it is also reported that the basic requirement of research on environmental issues is an
individual’s concern for the environment (Hines et al. 1987). Environmental concern indicates an
individual’s common understanding and orientation towards environmental conservation and support
efforts to resolve or willing to participate personally towards the solution of environmental issues
(Dunlap & Jones, 2002). The more such concerns towards the environment lead to an escalation in
green buying behaviors (Yadav & Pathak, 2016; Verma & Chandra, 2016; Kalafatis et al., 1999;
Laroche et al., 2001). An individual’s concern for environmental issues was considered as to be a
valuable driver of environmentally conscious behavior might be varying from energy conservation,
waste recycling, purchasing organic food to choosing green hotels (Yadav & Pathak, 2017; Han, 2015;
Verma & Chandra, 2017; Manaktola & Jauhari, 2007). According to Kalafatis et. al (1999), the
environmental concern may be multifaceted, it may be more influential for some behaviors and it can
be reflected in consumer daily activities. Hence, from the above discussion, we can hypothesize that:

H6: Environmental concern positively influences the intention to implement green hotel practices.

H7: Environmental concern positively influences top management attitude towards the
environment.

H8: Environmental concern positively influences the customer’s attitude towards green practices.

Figure 1. Hypothetical Conceptual Framework

3. Materials and Methods

3.1 Data Collection

The current study is concentrated on hotels located in four cities of India namely Delhi, Mumbai,
Kolkata and Chennai. According to the ministry of tourism portal (2016), the government of India, there
are approximately 44 approved five-star and five-star deluxe hotels in these selected cities and 11219
rooms combined. In addition, more than 59 percent of the Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) in India
during August 2016 was shared by these four cities (Delhi (28.38%); Mumbai (17.32%), Chennai
(10.17%), Kolkata (3.93%). From all fifteen hotels selected five were owned by international chains,
seven were domestic chain hotels and remaining three were independently owned. As the population of
the study comprises of hotel managers ‘and supervisors’ from various departments of Indian hotels, and
it was quite a challenging task to ask permission to participate in the survey due to unavoidable reasons,
only fifteen hotels (Delhi-6 hotels; Mumbai-5 hotels; Chennai-2 hotels and Kolkata-2 hotels) agreed to
participate, and they were all in the five-star and five-star deluxe category. Additionally, these cities are
also culturally enriched and prone to tourism. A self-administered questionnaire was utilized using
adapted items from relevant literature (Table 1 summarizes sources of constructs and items utilized in
the study). Although the questionnaire items were adapted from the previous literature, it is necessary
to pilot test for the content for the different cultural environment. So, the questionnaire was preliminarily
tested with the two hotel experts and two academicians for consistency. Few modifications were done
in the questionnaire on their recommendations. Data was collected from September through October
2016. Conveniently, a total of 510 questionnaires were sent online to the hotel managers’ in all fifteen
hotels of the completion of the survey. Although the conveniently collected data may lack
generalizability considered reliable for such studies (Cheah & Phau, 2011), still suitable for large
samples. Follow-up phone calls have been made to remind as well as thank those who already finished
and returned the questionnaire survey. The respondent evaluated the items on the Likert scale with five
points (1= strongly disagree, 5= strongly agree). This process resulted in a 64.7% reaction rate with a
total of 330 completed and returned questionnaires. At last, 285 usable responses were considered for
data analysis by eliminating the extreme outliers and data redundancy error. Kline (1998) also
recommended that data must be ten times of the parameter. Therefore, a sample size of 285 supports
the research as it has 25 items more than the suggested.

TABLE 1. Constructs, Questionnaire items and their source of adoption

Variables Measuring Item Source of

Adoption
Top I am concerned about the preservation of the environment Kasim and
management Environmental preservation to be important aspect of my life Ismail (2012)
attitude I consider myself educated about environmental issues
I would consider establishing an environmental management system(EMS)
I would consider implementation of green practices to be in my top three priorities in
my hotel
Cost I would not consider implementing EMS even if I find it too expensive for this hotel Kasim and
considerations The cost of converting a regular hotel to a green one may bring a financial burden Ismail (2012)
The certification fees may bring a financial burden to your hotel
The cost of employees training to adopt your eco-friendly practices may bring a
financial burden
Environmental I am aware of the environmental legislations Kasim and
legislations I feel that there is enforcement of the environmental laws and regulations Ismail (2012)
I feel that local authorities are concerned about the environment
I feel that government legislation is concern about the environment
Customer The customer is attracted to your hotels because it is green Eldemerdash
Attitude The customer is not supporting your hotel’s environmentally friendly practices and Moustafa
Your hotels’ green practices positively affect your customer satisfaction (2013)
Your customer positively perceived your hotel’s environmentally friendly practices
The customer is willing to pay more for the eco-friendly practices adopted by your
hotel
Environmental The balance of nature is very gentle and can be easily upset. Roberts and
Concern Human beings are severely abusing the environment. Bacon (1997)
Humans must maintain the balance with nature to survive.
Human interferences with nature often produce disastrous consequences.
Intention to I am willing to implement more green practices in my hotel operations Lee, Hsu, Han,
implement I would Prefer green practices implementation along with other operational practices and Kim
I will make an effort to apply green practices in my hotel operations (2010)

3.2 Data analysis

Initially, the gathered data were screened to fulfill the norms of outliers and normality. Using Cook's
distance, the outliers were identified. Van der Meer et al. (2010) and Stevens (1992) recommended that
responses displaying Cook's distance value greater than one must be eliminated to get a better fit.
Considering this a total of four responses were removed. Additionally, for normality of the data,
Skewness and kurtosis index measures were used. All the values of skewness and kurtosis for all the
constructs fell below three and ten respectively. So the distribution of the data according to the
recommendation of Kline (2011) can be considered to be normal. Further, the proposed theoretical
framework was analyzed using SEM (structure equation modeling) as suggested by Anderson and
Gerbing (1988). Validity and reliability of the construct were assessed by using measurement model
and, later on, hypothesis and model fit were measured by using the ‘covariance-based structural
equation modeling’ (CB-SEM) approach by SPSS V.20 & AMOS V.21 respectively.

4. Results

TABLE 2. Demographic Characteristics of Respondents

Gender Age Education Occupation level

freq. % freq. % freq. % Freq. %
Male 196 68.8 20-30 30 10.5 Graduate 90 31.6 Top Management 210 73.68

Female 89 31.2 31-40 126 44.2 Post 130 45.6 Middle 40 14.04
Graduate Management

41-50 80 28.1 Others 65 22.8 Executive Level 35 12.28

>50 49 17.2
Total 285 100 Total 285 100 Total 285 100 Total 285 100

4.1 Measurement Model: Reliability and Validity

The measurement model was estimated by Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) with a maximum
likelihood estimation method to assess the underlying structure of the variables. The outcomes of the
measurement model evaluation revealed that the measurement model indicated a good fit to the data
(χ2 = 297.757, D.F. = 260, p < .05, RMSEA = .023, CFI = .986, AGFI= .907, IFI = .987, TLI= .984,).
The measurement model replicates the quantitative measures of the constructs reliability and validity.
In this study, for measuring the internal consistency Cronbach’s α was used which ranges from .80 to
.876 in the acceptable limit of .70 and above as recommended by Hair et al. (2006) indicating good
consistency. Along in line convergent and discriminant validity was also measured using three
parameters: Composite Reliability (C.R), Factor Loadings and the Average Variance Extracted (A.V.E).
The standardized factor loading of all the items ranges was above the threshold limit of .6 and above.
However, one item INT2 was not able to achieve the threshold standardized factor loadings (.48) hence
it was removed from the structure. (Chin, Gopal & Salisbury, 1997). The average value extract score
(A.V.E) ranging from .55 to .61, also reached the acceptable limit of .5 (Hair et al., 2006) and also the
square root of the A.V.E was higher than the correlation between each construct shows adequacy.
Moreover, the value of composite reliability which shows the internal consistency of multiple indicators
ranges from .81 to .87, which also exceeds the acceptable limit of .6 replicating adequate discriminant
validity (Bagozzi & Yi, 1988). Additionally, the Average Shared Variance (ASV) values which ranges
from .02 to .06 were also found below the AVE. From the results, it is clear that proposed theoretical
model indicates an adequate validity (convergent and discriminant) and reliability. Table 3 and Table 4
summarizes the values of model measurement results and correlation among the constructs respectively.

TABLE 3: Result of Confirmatory Factor Analysis (Factor Loading, Reliability, and

Validity)

Construct Items Factor loading ASV* Cronbach’s α AVE* C.R

Top Management Attitude TMA1 .81 .06 .85 .54 .85
TMA2 .69
TMA3 .73
TMA4 .70
TMA5 .72
Cost Consideration CC1 .72 .03 .81 .52 .81
CC2 .76
CC3 .61
CC4 .80
Environmental Legislation ENVL1 .70 .02 .80 .51 .81
ENVL2 .68
ENVL3 .80
ENVL4 .66
Customers’ Attitude CA1 .80 .06 .86 .56 .86
CA2 .70
CA3 .76
CA4 .75
CA5 .71
Environmental Concern EC1 .79 .03 .84 .55 .84
EC2 .74
EC3 .72
EC4 .78
Intention to Implement INT1 .92 .05 .72 .53 .76
INT3 .70
Note: One item INT2 was removed due to low factor loadings (.48). *AVE-Average Variance Extracted, AVE*
calculated as ∑ SMC/ (∑ SMC + ∑standard measurement error), C.R-Composite Reliability, *ASV- Average
shared variance
TABLE 4. Correlations among the constructs

TMA CC ENVL CA EC INT

TMA .73
CC -.16a .72
ENVL .19a .28a .71
CA .09 -.01 .07 .74
EC .21a .15b .19a .21a .74
INT .20a -.08 .20a .39a .33a .73

Mean 3.90 3.51 3.71 4.10 3.64 4.17

S. D .87 .95 .79 .72 .82 .72

Note TMA: Top Management Attitude, CC: Cost Consideration, ENVL: Environmental Legislations, CA:
Customers’ attitude, EC: Environmental concern, INT: Intention to Implement. Note: The bold values represent
the square root of AVE. a. Correlation is significant at the .01 level (2-tailed). b. Correlation is significant at the
.05 level (2-tailed).

4.2 Structural model: Goodness of Fit Indices and Hypothesis testing results

By the standard procedure, the theoretical framework was tested by using the goodness of fit indices.
The results of structural analysis reveal that the proposed theoretical model has a good fit as values falls
within the acceptable limit (χ2 = 305.003, χ2/d.f.= 1.250, P< .01, Goodness of Fit Index(GFI)=.920,
Tucker-Lewis Index(TLI)=.973, Adjusted Goodness of Fit Index (AGFI)= .902, Comparative Fit Index
(CFI)=.976, Incremental Fit Index (IFI)=.977 and Root Mean Square Error of Approximation
(RMSEA)= .030). All the observed value was well above the recommended criteria of .80, and all other
values also exceeded the cut-off level (Bagozzi & Yi, 1988, Chau & Hu, 2001). Consequently, from the
above analytical results, it can be inferred that the proposed theoretical model indicated a good overall
data fit. The findings show that the proposed theoretical framework represents a better model fit for
measuring managerial intention to implement green hotel practices.

Figure 2. Structural Model Results

4.3 Hypothesis Testing

For hypothesis testing, Structural equation modeling (SEM) was conducted. The estimates of
standardised coefficients reveal that the Top Management Attitude towards the environment is
significantly influenced by cost considerations (β= -.155, t= -2.229, P<.05), Environmental Legislations
(β=.14, t= 2.001, P<.05), and Environmental Concern (β=.199, t= 2.873, P<.01). Cost considerations
negatively affect top management attitude whereas environmental legislation and customers’ attitude
towards green practices affects positively. Therefore, hypotheses H2, H4, and H7 were supported. Also,
cost consideration was also found significantly and negatively (β= -.18, t= -2.317, P<.01) affecting the
managerial intention to implement green hotel practices. Therefore, hypothesis H9 is supported. The
relationships between environmental concern with top management attitude (β=.19, t= 2.873, P<.01),
customers’ attitude towards green practices with top management attitude (β=.241, t= 3.614, P<.001)
and environmental concern with managerial intention to implement green hotel practices (β=.14, t=
2.091, P<.05) were found positively significant. Therefore, hypotheses H6, H7, and H8 were supported.
The results also exhibit that top management attitude (β=.137, t= 2.164, P<.05), customer attitude
towards green practices (β=.263, t= 3.724, P<.001), environmental legislations (β=.142, t= 2.241,
P<.05) and environmental concern (β=.137, t= 2.091, P<.05), all of them significantly influence the
managerial intention to implement green hotel practices.
Further, estimates also reveal that environmental concern positively influences the customer
attitude towards green practices (β=.263, t= 3.614, P<.001). Therefore, hypotheses H1, H3, and H5
were also supported. Hypothesis testing results can be seen in Table 5.

5. Discussions and Implications

This study’s findings provides both theoretical and managerial implications for the factors affecting
managerial intention to implement green hotel practices. First, a limited number of studies were
available on the hotel managers’ decision-making about the implementation of green hotel practices. In
our knowledge, this study is a leading effort to examine the factors affecting managerial intention to
implement green hotel practices especially in a developing nation context, India.
The results reveal that top management attitude has a significant positive relationship with
intention to implement green hotel practices. It is evident from the results when the attitude of the top
managers have a positive attitude towards the environmental issues then they are more likely to
implement green hotel practices. Management considers environmental issues as important criteria
while implementing making policies and operational strategies. The possible explanation of this would
be that the environmental concern was also found significantly affecting the top management attitude.
So, it can be inferred that higher the concern for the environment greater the likelihood of exerting the
favorable attitude towards the environment. However, on the other side, this study also finds that cost
consideration has a significant negative influence on the manager’s attitude towards the environment.
Additionally, Cost considerations have a significant negative influence on the intention to implement
green hotel practices. Apart from having a positive attitude towards the environment, the cost of
implement prohibits them to implement green hotel practices. These findings also coincide with Hillary
(2004) and Tzschentke et al., (2008). The cost of implementation green hotel practices includes
auditing, accreditation, training and development cost of employees, equipment installation cost, and
green or eco-friendly certification fees which might become a burden for the hotels if not financially
strong (Tzschentke et al., 2008). Although implementing green practices for some hotels will be a
costly affair but for a long run, it will help in cost reduction. To reduce cost, hotels can use some specific
practices which help to reduce the cost such as installing photovoltaic panels to use solar energy for
heating the swimming pool and lighting the room; use of Low-flow shower heads and faucet aerators
in the room or public areas. The use of placards that encourage guests to re-use their towels is a practice
that is becoming more widespread and can help save energy costs. Apart from above practices, ITC
Green center in India incorporated some innovative techniques to conserve water include the use of
waterless urinals in the building. The urinals use biological blocks comprising specific bacteria that
reduce odor problems and obstructions in the urinals and that saved approximately 300,000 liters of
potable water All the above practices are some examples of the cost savings by reducing the usage of
energy and water.
Further, customer’s attitude towards environment emerged as the strongest predictor of the
managerial intention to implement green hotel practices as well as in the influence of top management
attitude. The possible explanation for this finding may be that consumers are well aware and favorably
disposed towards hotel environmental practices and also ready to pay for them. On the other side, hotel
administration is also uncertain about the customers’ adoption of green hotel practices because it is
evident that when it comes to paying the premium for green hotel practices they are least concern about
it (Manaktola & Jauhari, 2007). Perhaps, Customers may be searching for the tangible benefits from the
hotel management environmental initiatives, and that may leave hotel administration in the state of
ambiguity to implement or not without losing business.
 It is also evident from the finding that environmental concern also significantly affected the
customers’ attitude towards the environment and that in turn positively affects the intention to
implement green hotel practices which are also consistent with few previous studies (Lee et al., 2010,
Manaktola & Jauhari, 2007, Chan, 2008). Environmental concern indicates an individual’s basic
understanding and orientation towards environmental conservation and their willingness to participate
personally in resolving environmental issues (Dunlap & Jones, 2002). From this, it can be inferred that
the higher the degree of concern towards the environment higher the propensity to implement green
hotel practices. Hotel marketers and managers’ should enthusiastically develop ways to enhance the
consumers’ knowledge and concern about the environment (e.g. by developing and promoting green
campaigns for hotels) that helps build their favorable attitude towards green hotel stay. Environmental
legislations was found positively and significantly affecting the hotel manager’s intention towards
implementation of green hotel practices. Additionally, environmental legislation was also found
significantly affecting the managerial attitude towards the environment. Hotel managers’ perception
that if the norms and policies of the government towards environmental protection were positively
directed and fair, it is easy for them to implement green hotel practices. Other possible reason that
hinders the implementation of green hotel practices to follow the stringent environmental laws without
reducing customer satisfaction. Hotel companies that integrate and adopt the environmental aspect into
their strategic business decisions to reduce the environmental threat and potential obligations are in a
better position to secure investment and leading market exposure (Graci and Dodds, 2009). For
example, In Costa Rica, Rivera (2002) stated that hotels that volunteered for Certification for
Sustainable Tourism program and displayed certified greater environmental performance were able to
get a price premium along with higher sales growth. The current study’s findings should be taken as
suggestive rather than confirmed.

6. Conclusions and Limitations

From the results, it can be concluded that customers’ attitude towards environment proved to be the
strongest predictor of implementation of green hotel practices. Another variable environmental concern
has also been found significantly influencing managerial attitude and behavioral intention towards
implementation of green hotel practices. However, management views solely not responsible for
changing business perspective, but factors such as environmental legislations by government bodies
and concern for the environment, and management attitude towards environment also affect the
implementation due to its customized products and services. Whether driven by cost savings or a
principled strategy, the hotel industry is recognizing the environment, the society and their human
capital as a valuable resource to be protected for long-term business sustainability. This study extends
our understanding and sheds some light on what factors that trigger managerial behavior and intention
to implement green practices. The environmental concern may stimulate managements’ encouraging
intentions to implement green practices in hotels. Hotel marketers and managers should enthusiastically
develop ways to enhance the consumers’ knowledge and concern about the environment (e.g. by
developing and promoting green campaigns for hotels) that helps build their favorable attitude towards
green hotels. To conclude, this study prolongs earlier research by studying the role of factors influencing
the intention to implement green practices from the managerial viewpoint. Nonetheless, it is imperative
for future research to replicate this study in different business and cultural environment.
While adding knowledge to the existed scant literature, the present study is restricted to
measuring the intention to implement green hotel practices; provides no measures for actual behaviour
of hotel managers. Since previous studies supported that intention to act and real behavior was
positively correlated, there is a need to include the actual behavior concerning the intention of
implementing green hotel practices. The self-selection prejudice of managers’ to replicate themselves
as they are concerned toward the environment may be a possibility to get biased responses. Since the
data were collected from five-star and five-star deluxe hotels of five cities in India, future studies
dedicated on inclusive samples from different star category hotels and conducting a cross-cultural
comparison will be a good prospect. Along in line, little more focus on complex organizational factors
(brand, values, ethics, culture, etc.) and longitudinal approach would be an excellent opportunity to
investigate in future. Further, it is worth mentioning that the price is certainly a dominant factor which
could affect the relationship of customer’s attitude towards the environment as well as top management
attitude towards the implementation of green hotel practices. So, in future, the price could be included
in the model to measure the intention to implement green hotel practices. Lastly, the proposed
framework in the present study could be further validated in different social and cross-cultural
environment.

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