Are vegetarian customers more “green”?

ABSTRACT

This research investigates whether customers’ preferences for a certain diet (vegetarianism) may extend to another indirectly related hospitality choice (lodging at a green hotel). The study results show that, compared with non-vegetarians, vegetarian customers demonstrate higher level of green values and are more likely to choose a green hotel. The reasons that vegetarian customers prefer a green hotel are discovered by a serial-mediation effect: the normative motivations that make people become vegetarians are congruent with the green values extended by hotels that incorporate CSR initiatives and implement green practices, which leads to vegetarian customers’ preference for a green hotel.

KEYWORDS:

• CSR
• sustainability
• green consumption
• vegetarianism
• service innovation

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Purdue University [Arnold I. Cohen Faculty Development Endowment].