Characteristics of Green Hotels’ Potential Customers: A Case of Vietnamese Domestic Tourists
Authors: Thao Nguyen Thi Phuong , Trang Bui Thi Quynh 
Published: December 2018

Despite the fact that the green wave has spread globally over the hotel industry, the characteristics of an environmentally friendly tourist has not yet been clearly clarified and is still controversial. Therefore, the objective of this study is to describe the demographics and behavioral qualities of Vietnamese domestic tourists who are willing patrons in a green hotel. The results show that the distinguishing characteristics of green travelers seeking green lodging are that they belong to the young generation, are female, have high educational accomplishment, and have high levels of participation in daily eco-friendly activities.

Keywords: Green tourist, environmentally friendly, demographic, involvement.

References

[1] Manaktola, K., and Jauhari, V., “Exploring consumer attitude and behavior towards green practices in the lodging industry in India”, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 19 (2007) 5, 364-377.[2] Webster, F., “Determining the characteristics of the socially conscious consumer”, Journal of Consumer Research, 2 (1975) 12, 188-196.[3] Dolnicar, S., and Matus, K., “Are green tourists a managerially useful target segment?”, Journal of Hospitality Marketing and Management, 17 (2008) 3-4, 314-334.[4] Dolnicar, S., Crouch, G., and Long, P., “Environment-friendly tourists: What do we really know about them?”, Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 16 (2008) 2,197-210.[5] Millar, M., and Mayer, K., “A profile of travelers who are willing to stay in environmentally friendly hotel”, Hospitality Review, 30 (2013) 2, 90-108.[6] Kasim, A., “Socio-environmentally responsible hotel business: Do tourists to Penang Island, Malaysia care?”, Journal of Hospitality & Leisure Marketing, 11 (2004) 4, 5-28.[7] Smith, W., “Product differentiation and market segmentation as alternative marketing strategies”, Journal of Marketing, 21 (1956), 3-8.[8] Kotler, P., and Armstrong, G., Principles of marketing, (2011), 14th ed., Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.[9] Gitelson, R., and Kerstetter, D., “The relationship between sociodemographic variables, benefits sought and subsequent vacation behavior: A case study”, Journal of Travel Research, 28 (1990) 3, 24-29.[10] Quiroga, O., “Characteristics of package tourists in Europe”, Annals of Tourism Research, 17 (1990) 2, 185-207.[11] [11] Crossley, J., and Lee, B., “Characteristics of ecotourists and mass tourists”, Visions in Leisure and Business, 13 (1994) 2, 4-12.[12] Hsieh, S., O’Leary, J., and Morrison, A., “A comparison of package and non-package travelers from the United Kingdom”, Journal of International Consumer Marketing, 3 (1994), 79-100.[13] Seaton, A., The analysis of tourism demand: Market segmentation. In Seaton, A. V. and Bennett, M. M. (Eds.), Marketing tourism products: Concepts, issues, cases, (1996), London: Thomson Business Press, pp. 28-54.[14] Legoherel, P., “Toward a market segmentation of the tourism trade: Expenditure levels and consumer behavior instability”, Journal of Travel and Tourism Marketing, 7 (1998) 3, 19-39.[15] Mok, C., and Iverson, T., “Expenditure-based segmentation: Taiwanese tourist to Guam”, Tourism Management, 21 (2000) 3, 299-305.[16] Jackson, M., Inbakaran, R., and Schmierer, C., Rationalizing personality typologies in tourism? A lexical analysis, In Aicken, M. and Ryan, C. (Eds), Taking Tourism to the Limits Refereed Research Papers, (2003), University of Waikato Management School, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand, 338-360.[17] Inbakaran, R., and Jackson, M., “Understanding resort visitors through segmentation”, Tourism and Hospitality Research, 6 (2005) 1, 53-71.[18] Dimanche F., Havitz, M., and Howard, D., “Testing the involvement profile scale in the context of selected recreational and touristic activities”, Journal of Leisure Research, 23 (1991) 1, 51-66.[19] Wu, S., “An experimental study on the relationship between consumer involvement and advertising effectiveness”, Asis Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, 13 (2001) 1, 43-56.[20] Zaichkowsky, J., “Measuring the involvement construct”, Journal of Consumer Research, 12 (1985), 341-352.[21] Lee, M., and Lou, Y., “Consumer reliance on intrinsic and extrinsic cues in product evaluations: A conjoint approach”, Journal of Applied Business Research, 12 (1995) 1, 21-28.[22] Amendah, E. and Park, J., “Consumer involvement and psychological antecedents on eco-friendly destinations: Willingness to pay more”, Journal of Hospitality and Leisure Marketing, 17 (2008) 3-4, 262-283.[23] Shrum, L., McCarty, J., and Lowrey, T., “Buyer characteristics of the green consumer and their implications for advertising strategy”, Journal of Advertising, 24 (1995) 2, 71-82.[24] Laroche, M., Bergeron, J., and Barbaro-Forleo, G., “Targeting consumers who are willing to pay more for environmentally friendly products”, Journal of Consumer Marketing, 18 (2001) 6, 503-520.[25] Dolnicar, S. B., “Commonsense segmentation - A systematics of segmentation approaches in tourism”, Journal of Travel Research, 42 (2004) 3, 244-250.[26] Fairweather, J. R., Maslin, C., and Simmons, D. G., “Environmental Values and Response to Ecolabels Among International Visitors to New Zealand”, Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 13 (2005) 1, 82-98.[27] Saad, G., and Gill, T., “Application of evolutionary psychology in marketing”, Psychology and Marketing, 17 (2000) 12, 1005-1034.[28] Eagly, A. H. , Sex differences in social behavior: A social-role interpretation, (1987), Hillsdale, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum.[29] Konrad, A. M., Corrigall, E., Lieb, P., and Edgar Ritchie, J., “Sex Differences in Job Attribute Preferences among Managers and Business Students”, Group and Organization Management, 25 (2000) 2, 108-131.[30] McIntyre, R. P., Meloche, M. S., and Lewis, S. L., “National culture as a macro tool for environmental sensitivity segmentation”. In: Cravens, D. W., Dickson, P. R. (Eds.), AMA Summer Educators’ Conference Proceedings 4, (1993), American Marketing Association, Chicago, pp. 153-159.[31] Banerjee, B. and McKeage, K., “How green is my value: exploring the relationship between environmentalism and materialism”. In: Allen, C. T., John, D. R. (Eds.), Advances in Consumer Research 22. (1994), Association for Consumer Research, Provo, UT, pp. 147–152.[32] Homburg, C., and Giering, A., “Personal characteristics as moderators of the relationship between customer satisfaction and loyalty: an empirical analysis”, Psychology and Marketing, 18 (2001) 1, 43-66.[33] Im, S., Bayus, B. L., and Mason, C. H., “An empirical study of innate consumer innovativeness, personal characteristics, and new-product adoption behavior”, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 31 (2003) 1, 61-73.[34] Evanschitzky, H., and Wunderlich, M., “An examination of moderator effects: the four stage loyalty model”, Journal of Service Research, 8 (2006) 4, 330-345.[35] Wilson, M. A., ‘Nature Oriented Tourism in Ecuador: Assessment of Industry Structure and Development Needs’, FPEI Working Paper No. 20. Research Triangle Park, (1987), NC: Southeast Center for Forest. [36] Meric, H. J., and Hunt, J., “Ecotourists’ Motivational and Demographic Characteristics: A Case of North Carolina Travelers”, Journal of Travel Research, 36 (1998), 57-61.[37] Gilly, M. C., and Zeithaml, V. A., “The elderly consumer and adoption of technologies”, Journal of Consumer Research, 12 (1985), 353-357.[38] Keaveney, S. M., and Parthasarathy, M., “Customer switching behavior in online services: an exploratory study of the role of selected attitudinal, behavioral, and demographic factors”, Journal of Academy of Marketing Science, 29 (2001) 4, 374-390.[39] Henion, K. E., “The effect of ecologically relevant information on detergent sales”, Journal of Marketing Research, 9 (1972), 10-14.[40] Roberts, J. A., “Green consumers in the 1990s: profile and implications for advertising”, Journal of Business Research, 36 (1996), 217-231.[41] Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, “The Relationship between Eco-friendly Practices and Attitudes toward Green Hotels for Domestic Tourists”, VNU Journal of Science: Economics and Business, 33 (2017) 2, 101-111[42] Han, H., Hsu, L., and Lee, J., “Empirical investigation of the roles of attitudes toward green behaviors, overall image, gender, and age in hotel customers’ eco-friendly decision-making process”, International Journal of Hospitality Management, 28 (2009) 4, 519-528.