The intention-behaviour gap in sustainable hospitality: a critical literature review

The intention-behaviour gap in sustainable hospitality: a critical literature review

2024 | Nayla Khan, Diletta Acuti, Linda Lemerie, Giampaolo Viglia
The study by Nayla Khan, Diletta Acuti, Linda Lemarie, and Giampaolo Viglia critically reviews the literature on the intention-behaviour gap in sustainable hospitality. The review aims to identify limitations in existing research, evaluate the extent of the intention-behaviour gap in hospitality literature, and provide practical guidance for future research. The authors conducted a five-step process to analyze 71 scientific articles from 14 hospitality journals. Key findings include: 1. **Research Setting and Sustainability Practices**: Most studies focus on tourism and accommodation, with a limited geographical scope, and primarily examine environmental sustainability practices. 2. **Intention-Behaviour Gap**: The gap between consumer intentions and actual behaviour is significant, especially in the hospitality sector. This gap is often overlooked in the literature, and self-reported measures are common, leading to inconsistent findings. 3. **Methodological Issues**: Methodological weaknesses, such as social desirability bias and lack of rigorous data collection methods, contribute to the gap. Recent studies are exploring new methodologies like online review content analysis and AI-powered tools to address these issues. The study offers four directions for future research: 1. **Investigate Diverse Sustainable Practices**: Explore a broader range of sustainable practices and their impact on consumer behaviour. 2. **Expand the Scope of Research Settings**: Include other sectors like restaurants and diverse geographical locations. 3. **Integrate Existing Knowledge on the Intention-Behaviour Gap**: Adapt and contextualize existing theories to better understand sustainable behaviour in hospitality. 4. **Combine Traditional Methods with Emerging Technologies**: Leverage AI and IoT devices to collect more accurate and real-time data on consumer behaviour. The study provides theoretical and practical implications for researchers, policymakers, and marketers, emphasizing the need for more robust and generalizable findings to bridge the intention-behaviour gap in sustainable hospitality.The study by Nayla Khan, Diletta Acuti, Linda Lemarie, and Giampaolo Viglia critically reviews the literature on the intention-behaviour gap in sustainable hospitality. The review aims to identify limitations in existing research, evaluate the extent of the intention-behaviour gap in hospitality literature, and provide practical guidance for future research. The authors conducted a five-step process to analyze 71 scientific articles from 14 hospitality journals. Key findings include: 1. **Research Setting and Sustainability Practices**: Most studies focus on tourism and accommodation, with a limited geographical scope, and primarily examine environmental sustainability practices. 2. **Intention-Behaviour Gap**: The gap between consumer intentions and actual behaviour is significant, especially in the hospitality sector. This gap is often overlooked in the literature, and self-reported measures are common, leading to inconsistent findings. 3. **Methodological Issues**: Methodological weaknesses, such as social desirability bias and lack of rigorous data collection methods, contribute to the gap. Recent studies are exploring new methodologies like online review content analysis and AI-powered tools to address these issues. The study offers four directions for future research: 1. **Investigate Diverse Sustainable Practices**: Explore a broader range of sustainable practices and their impact on consumer behaviour. 2. **Expand the Scope of Research Settings**: Include other sectors like restaurants and diverse geographical locations. 3. **Integrate Existing Knowledge on the Intention-Behaviour Gap**: Adapt and contextualize existing theories to better understand sustainable behaviour in hospitality. 4. **Combine Traditional Methods with Emerging Technologies**: Leverage AI and IoT devices to collect more accurate and real-time data on consumer behaviour. The study provides theoretical and practical implications for researchers, policymakers, and marketers, emphasizing the need for more robust and generalizable findings to bridge the intention-behaviour gap in sustainable hospitality.
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