Green Meetings – Do They Matter to their Closest Stakeholders?

Abstract

The meeting industry may have negative influence on the environment; however, the research in this field is limited. The current study contributes to the gap by being the first to compare the perceptions of green meetings, their importance, and behaviour intentions by three main stakeholder groups: meeting venue managers, meeting organizers, and meeting delegates. A cross-sectional questionnaire study sampled 199 well-educated respondents aged 21–66 years. Role distribution included 39 meeting venue mangers, 43 meeting organizers, and 117 meeting delegates. Green meetings were perceived positively. Female delegates perceived green meetings more positively than did males. Venue managers perceived green meetings more positively compared to meeting delegates while organizers' perceptions fell between the two and did not differ significantly from the perceptions of others. Next, stakeholder perceptions of green meetings and behaviour intentions in relation to green meetings predicted the importance of green meetings. Finally, the importance of green meetings and the frequency of attending such meetings (low attendance predicted strong behaviour intentions) predicted behaviour intentions in relation to green meetings. Industry's stakeholders intended to adopt environmental practices, follow the guidelines of environmental codes of conducts required of the convention business, and personally contribute to the environmental benefits.

Key Words:

• sustainability
• green meetings
• conference
• business tourism
• MICE
• Stavanger