Green Attitude and Behavior of Local Tourists towards Hotels and Restaurants in West Sumatra, Indonesia

Abstract

Studies have shown the relationship between attitude, image, intention to visit and willingness to pay more for environmentally friendly services. With unique background of local tourist in West Sumatra Indonesia, this study aims to confirm the previous findings based on perspective of services marketing literatures. This explanatory study investigates causality among cross sectional data that was collected by following convenience sampling technique. The sample size is 200 local tourists, acquired with intercept approach in several main tourist destinations in West Sumatra. The data was analyzed by structural equation model. The results show that the effects of attitude toward green behavior on overall image are positive (0.446) and significant at the alpha of 0.08, with the t-statistic of 4.804. The overall image has positive impact on word of mouth (0.497) and significant at the alpha of 0.05, with the t-statistic of 4.569. The overall image also has positive impact on willingness to pay (0.523) significant at the alpha of 0.05, with the t-statistic of 5.683. These results indicate that attitude toward green behavior has significant influence on overall image of hotels and restaurants. Overall image has significant influence toward re-visit intention, positive word of mouth, and willingness to pay more for environmentally friendly hotels and restaurants. The management of the hotels and restaurants may consider this finding to improve service quality by adopting environmentally friendly practices.