مدیریت بازاریابی سبز: چشم انداز مدیران هتل هنگ کنگ

In view of the serious environmental problems we are currently facing, taking action to protect our planet is becoming more persuasive and important. Along with various environmental initiatives, the concept of green marketing emerged in the late 1980s. Some hotels have taken various initiatives to position themselves as green hotels, including the use of eco-labels as a marketing ploy to attract customers. Nevertheless, some of the hotels that use these green marketing strategies have been accused of “green washing”. The main aim of this study is to investigate Hong Kong hotel manager perceptions of the relative importance of different green marketing strategies. Questionnaires containing 30 attributes were distributed to this effect. The findings reveal that hotel managers equally perceive “Hotel green marketing should begin with green product and service design”, “Hotels provide products and services that do no harm to human health” and “The Internet is an effective channel to market a hotel's green initiatives to customers directly” as the top green marketing ploys. Independent t-tests and one-way ANOVA were also used to examine significant differences in the way hotel managers with different professional backgrounds and individual demographic characteristics rate the importance of hotel-related green marketing strategies. The findings indicate that lower-grade hotels tend to adopt lean green marketing strategies, whereas hotels with larger sizes or formal environmental management systems are likely to adopt shaded or extreme green marketing strategies. The study also provides a number of insights to help hotel managers and especially marketers better understand the implementation and importance of different green marketing strategies, thereby allowing them to employ suitable measures to avoid the “green washing” designation and attract more green-conscious travellers.

Many hotels have responded to environmental problems such as global warming, the depletion of the stratospheric ozone layer and over-consumption of non-renewable resources by implementing environmental programmes or adopting environmental management systems (EMSs), either for the sake of the environment, for economic reasons or to build a positive image (Chan, 2008). Some hotels use the label “green hotel” as a marketing ploy to attract customers (Pizam, 2009), as it is believed to play a critical role in customers’ decision-making processes and behavioural intentions (Prendergast and Man, 2002). However, many companies have become cautious about launching environmentally conscious promotions for fear of being accused of “green washing” (Peattie and Crane, 2005). Thus, it is not clear how hotel managers evaluate hotels’ green marketing strategies. There is a wealth of studies on environmental management practices, the driving forces of these practices and other environment-related systems, customer perceptions of environmental practices and so forth, but few studies have examined hotel managers’ perceptions of green marketing strategies. The design and alteration of a hotel's business model, including green marketing strategies, are affected by the external influence of the hotel's customers. Notwithstanding, internal influences such as hotel manager attitudes towards company strategies cannot be neglected, as the decisions made by top managers significantly affect company performance despite the required assistance of their subordinates. Few studies examine managers’ considerations of important hotel components. In addition, studies that investigate hotel green strategies based on manager points of view are also limited. There is no empirical evidence on how hotel managers evaluate a hotel's green marketing strategy. Therefore, the main aim of this study is to investigate hotel manager perceptions of green marketing strategies to provide hoteliers with essential insights into facilitating the development of such strategies. To support this aim, the study addresses the following research objectives: 1. to examine what hotel managers consider important green marketing strategies and 2. to suggest possible green marketing strategies to hotel marketers.

There have been few studies on green marketing in the hotel industry. This study attempts to address important green marketing ploys from the perspective of hotel managers. Despite small sample size, its findings should be viewed as a preliminary step to understanding the implementation of green marketing strategies in the hotel industry. The survey results show that the level of green marketing awareness belonging to the hotel managers involved in this study was high. More than 85% of the hotel managers surveyed indicated that they had a reasonable and substantial understanding of green marketing. This study also identifies some green marketing ploys that hotel managers perceive as important. Ranked in order from most important to least, these ploys are as follows: (1) “Hotel green marketing should begin with green product and service design”, “Hotels provide products and services that do no harm to human health” and “The Internet is an effective channel to market a hotel's green initiatives to customers directly”; (2) “Green hotels can elevate industry members’ positive image and reputation to attract green-conscious tourists who will normally demand green accommodation when travelling” and (3) “Hotels here are sincerely instituting programmes that save water and energy, reduce solid waste, use resources economically and protect the planet's ecosystems”. From the findings, a number of managerial implications can be drawn: • The importance placed upon these ploys indicates that hotels should start with good green product and service designs that do no harm to human health or the environment. Holjevac (2003) stated that the hotel of the future will be a “green hotel” in which hotel products and services are subordinate to the preservation of nature and environment. Becoming a green hotel can be the first step for a great green marketing strategy, hoteliers should therefore demonstrate their commitments to environmental protection by starting with different environmental measures and services to reduce waste, the use of energy and water, and other consumptions. More in-depth studies should be carried out to investigate which environmentally friendly products and services in hotels are preferred by customers in terms of functional performance and quality so that hoteliers can develop the products and services that cater to their needs. With such green products and services, a hotel can likely be differentiated with the positive publicity generated. • A certified green hotel that sincerely institutes environmental programmes is certainly a credit that can also help elevate the green image of the hotel's business partners, eventually leading to improved business. Hotel marketers should therefore focus on promoting their green awards such as the internationally recognised ISO 14001 to their customers, as many industry analysts predict that the environmental protection certificates will eventually serve as the benchmark for the global market (Chan and Hawkins, 2012). Since reputation counts now more than ever, and many green customers ask if they purchase a green product and service with high environmental standard. With these green labels, customer confidence in a hotel‘s green products and services can likely be enhanced. Hotel marketers should also actively inform their business partners, such as travel operators and wholesalers, about their green achievements in order to communicate their green image to their target markets and the public at large. • Nowadays, many customers access a company's environmental information via Internet, the Internet is, therefore, an efficient and effective green marketing promotional method. In fact, many large hotels consider using Internet as a cheaper, more efficient, and more environmentally friendly communication tool than traditional paper method (Hoof and Combrink, 1998). With the technology, hotel marketers can consider utilising social media tools such as Twitter and Facebook more in green marketing. • More importantly, hotel marketers should clearly demonstrate their real motive to implement green marketing or they will put themselves at the risk of “greenwash” accusations. They are also advised to ensure any claims in green promotion should be well substantiated with evidence. • Hotel managers should hurry to investigate green marketing, as their commitment to sustainable development is the key to the long-term success of their businesses (Mihalic, 2000). Hotel management should cultivate the green corporate culture in which a hotel company and its employees at all levels must support a truly green marketing strategy to succeed. The findings in this study can serve as a reference for the hotel industry. Hotels will find it valuable to better understand the importance of different green marketing ploys and formulate a suitable green marketing implementation strategy. The author hopes that the findings can be used to enhance green marketing implementation in the hotel industry and, at the same time, recommend possible strategies to make hotels’ green marketing strategies more effective. In particular, this study also lays a foundation for further in-depth study of different hotel green marketing strategies. The author suggests that further studies can be conducted on lower-grade and smaller-sized hotels, as these types of hotels may experience more challenges in green marketing implementation.