Environmental protection is not a good thing to do, but it must be practiced in order to survive. Protecting the environment is no longer a future event, but it is time to actively practice today and now. The discussion of the environment has become an essential factor for all fields of industry to consider. Natural disasters caused by climate change lead to hurricanes, heavy rains, typhoons, earthquakes and forest fires, and its extent is growing day by day. As the seriousness of environmental pollution has emerged as a big issue in the society, it is bringing changes in consumers'' desires and behaviors, as well as in the hotel industry. Even in the hotel industry, eco-friendly management and practice have become a very important strategic point from the future perspective. Not only are hotels practicing eco-friendly management activities through the establishment of systems such as carbon footprint and renewable energy sources, but they also are striving to alleviate environmental problems through various eco-friendly campaigns such as green card system, bulk-size amenities, single-use plastics free, and etc. in order to invite consumers to participate in saving the planet. As consumers are more environmentally conscious and demand green products, it is necessary to understand consumers'' behavior toward eco-friendly management in the hotel industry.
The purpose of this study is to investigate the consumption value of consumers visiting eco-friendly hotels by classifying them according to their type, and to find out the impact of these consumption values on consumer-hotel brand identification, brand attachment, and relationship continuity intention. In particular, by looking at the moderating effect of environmental involvement on hypotheses, it is expected to identify the degree of environmental involvement of domestic hotel users and analyze which value plays an important role in their consumption behavior. Further, it is attempted to contribute to the establishment of customer-oriented marketing strategies for hotel companies.
To achieve the purpose of this study, 400 questionnaires were distributed to consumers who have used the eco-friendly hotel within the last three years, and a total of 364 samples were analyzed. The collected data were subjected to frequency analysis, multiple response analysis, exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, correlation analysis, SEM analysis, multiple regression analysis, mediating effect analysis, and multiple group analysis using SPSS 22.0 and AMOS 23.0.
The results are as follows.
First, consumption value showed significant influence on brand identification and brand attachment. Functional value, emotional value, and epistemic value influenced significantly on brand identification, whereas functional value, emotional value, epistemic value, and conditional value showed significant influence on brand attachment. Second, brand identification has positive effect on brand attachment and relationship continuity intention. In addition, brand attachment has positive effect on relationship continuity intention. Finally, the study also highlighted the moderating effect of environmental involvement between brand identification and brand attachment. In other words, when hotel brand identification affects brand attachment, the higher the environmental involvement, the greater the impact.
Based on the results of this study, the key implications and significance are as follows.
First, this study has contributed to expand the knowledge of the role of consumption value in eco-friendly hotels. Second, by identifying the current status of eco-friendly hotels in Korea and limiting the scope of them, it is expected to play a role as a basic data for future studies. Third, it is meaningful that environmental involvement was first introduced in the context of eco-friendly hotel. Finally, in line with the changing environment, analyzing the factors that influence the behavior of eco-friendly consumers in the hotel industry can practically increase efficiency of marketing strategies and campaigns in hotel management.