Abstract
Reflecting heightened interest in environmental issues, this study examines the effect of cause-related marketing in the hotel industry regarding green practices. The study compares the effect of cause-related marketing specifically for green practices with a baseline condition, which includes no such strategy, on hotel consumers' attitudes and visit intentions. Findings support a positive effect of green practices cause-related marketing in the hotel industry on attitudes toward the hotel and intention to visit it. Application of cause-related management to the hotel industry, with a focus on green practices, is valuable for determining the general effect in general of cause-related marketing in the hotel industry. From operators' perspectives, the study offers a basis for decisions involving investment in cause-related marketing programs to promote green practices.
本研究探索了酒店业实施绿色实践的善因营销效应,尤其是与那些没有实施绿色实践的酒店相比,善因营销对消费者的态度和参观意向的影响。八十年代的行业杂志(e.g., Braedon, 1985;Freeman & Walley, 1998) 和九十年代的学术期刊(Ross et al., 1992; Smith & Alcorn, 1991;Strahilevitz & Myers, 1998) 都反映出善因营销在酒店业得到重视,因此成为营销领域的研究题目。善因营销的研究描述了这一实践是如何引导客户对赞助公司或品牌产生积极的感受(Rosset al, 1992) 和促进购买(Webb et al., 2000)。通过检验消费者对善因营销的反应(对公司,品牌和产品的感知和态度),研究人员发现消费者会对赞助善因营销的公司(Webb & Mohr, 1998)和善因营销广告(Barone et al., 2007) 持有正面的态度(Webb & Mohr, 1998),这包括购买意愿(Smith & Alcorn, 1991; Barone et al., 2007),捐赠(Barone et al., 2007) 和推荐(Barone et al,2007)。
在社会营销的背景下,善因营销得到了研究关注,如活动赞助 (e.g., Rifon et al., 2004) ,品牌延伸 (e.g., Aaker & Keller, 1990) ,明星代言 (e.g., Kamins and Gupta, 1994)。虽然营销学者强调善因营销的重要作用,但很少有研究它与酒店管理的关系。因此本研究关注善因营销对消费者的态度和参观意向的影响,尤其是与那些没有实施绿色战略的酒店对比。
实验将检验以下假设:
H1 | = |
与感受那些没有善因营销信息的客户相比,感受到带有绿色实践的善因营销信息的客户对广告的评价更好。 |
H2 | = |
与感受那些没有善因营销信息的客户相比,感受到带有绿色实践的善因营销信息的客户对酒店品牌的态度更好。 |
H3 | = |
与感受那些没有善因营销信息的客户相比,感受到带有绿色实践的善因营销信息的客户对酒店有更积极的参观意愿。 |
数据分析验证了全部三个假设,证实了酒店业绿色实践善因营销对消费者的态度和入住意向有积极影响。在酒店业实施绿色实践的善因营销是有实用价值的。而且善因营销对于解决当前如环保等一些热点问题有很有效。本研究也为经营者对善因营销项目进行投资决策提供了参考。
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the Kyungwon University research fund of 2011 (KWU-R096).