The effect of the environmental image and environmental applications of accommodation businesses, and the environmental awareness of tourists on willingness to pay a price premium: Investigation of the changes according to the X, Y, Z generations

With this study, it is aimed to examine the environmental image and environmental practices of accommodation establishments and the effect of tourists' environmental awareness on willingness to pay a price premium: changes according to X, Y, Z generations. For this purpose, data were collected from 370 domestic and foreign tourists operating in Muğla and staying in hotels with environmentally friendly facilities (green star) certificate in July and August 2021 and by interviewing 10 accommodation business managers, information was obtained about what the eco-friendly practices of the hotels are and how the customers staying at the hotel feedback on environmentally friendly practices. As a result of analyzes, it was determined that the majority of the participants (72.2%) did not know that the accommodation business they stayed in was an environmentally friendly facility. When evaluated in general according to the results of the descriptive analysis made on the scales, it was revealed that the environmental awareness of the participants was high. However, it was determined that the answers of the participants to the statements in the environmental image and environmental practices of the hotel were mainly in the direction of "neither agree nor disagree". In addition, it was determined that the majority of the participants gave a positive answer as "agree" to the statements in the section about the tendency to overpay. As a result of the ANOVA test, which was carried out to determine whether there is a significant difference between the environmental awareness, the environmental image of the hotel, the environmental practices of the hotel and the tendency to overpay, it was determined that there was no significant intergenerational difference. As a result of the multiple linear regression analysis carried out to examine the environmental image and environmental practices of accommodation establishments and the effect of environmental awareness of tourists on the tendency to overpay, according to the X, Y, Z generations, as a result of the multiple linear regression analysis, it is necessary to explain the effect of tourists' environmental awareness, hotel's environmental image and environmental practices on the tendency of tourists to overpay. It has been determined that the X and Y generations have a significant contribution, but the Z generation has no significant contribution. It has been revealed that the effect of environmental awareness on the tendency to overpay is more in the X generation compared to the Y generation. It has been revealed that the effect of environmental image and environmental practices of accommodation establishments on the tendency to overpay does not differ according to the X generation, Y generation and Z generation. As a result of the interviews with the hotel businesses, it has been revealed that they mainly benefit from solar energy, they use the drip system in garden irrigation, the linens are changed every 3 days, they attach importance to chemical and waste management, recycling and environmental education, and they have activities related to environmental and beach cleaning. In addition, it was determined that hotel customers gave positive feedback to environmentally friendly practices in hotel businesses. In line with the results obtained from the research, suggestions were presented to hotel operators, managers and marketers with environmentally friendly facility (green star) certificates, and to academicians in future scientific research on this subject.