Factors Influencing Malaysian Local Tourists' Intention to Stay at Green Hotels

Sustainable tourism is gaining critical importance, yet sustainable accommodation practice in Malaysia faces multiple challenges, including tourists′ negative attitudes stemming from limited environmental awareness, weak subjective norms in supporting green hotel choices, low perceived behavioural control due to insufficient knowledge, ineffective electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) in environmental messaging and unclear perceived value of eco-friendly accommodations. The research examines the impact of tourists′ attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control, eWOM and perceived value on Malaysian local tourists′ intention to stay at green hotels. Additionally, the moderating effect of environmental knowledge on these relationships are investigated. This study employed a quantitative methodology, surveying 415 local Malaysian tourists through convenience sampling. Data were analyzed using multiple regression analysis via the Statistical Packages for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 26. The results reveal that tourists′ attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control, eWOM and perceived value significantly influenced tourists′ intention to stay at green hotels. Furthermore, environmental knowledge moderated the relationships between eWOM, perceived value, and intention to stay at green hotels. Consumer awareness and demand for sustainable practices drive industry trends, compelling hotels to continuously innovate in their sustainability efforts. Hotel operators should prioritize environmental initiatives to promote acceptance of sustainable practices in hospitality. They should also incorporate educational components in their marketing communications to strengthen the impact of eWOM and value perceptions, considering the moderating role of environmental knowledge. In terms of theoretical contributions, this study applies the theory of planned behaviour (TPB). It incorporates eWOM and perceived value with environmental knowledge as a moderator in the proposed research framework focusing on Malaysian local tourists′ intention to stay at green hotels. Positive attitudes contribute to tourists′ eco-friendly choices and shape their preferences for sustainable accommodations, and social media is crucial in raising tourists′ environmental awareness.