Huang, Jingxi, Daryanto, Ahmad, Hogg, Margaret and Chan, Jin ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6275-9763 (2025) What drives participation in Green Loyalty programmes? Examining reactance, guilt, and staff attractiveness. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management. ISSN 0959-6119 (Print), 1757-1049 (Online) (In Press)

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Abstract

Purpose – This study addresses the challenge of encouraging customers to join hotels’ green loyalty programmes (LPs) by examining the impact on customers’ decisions of their trait reactance, anticipated guilt, and the physical attractiveness of service employees.
Design – We conducted three preliminary studies and one main study using scenario-based online surveys targeting Chinese hotel customers. The first two preliminary studies (N1A = 100, N1B = 158) explored the negative emotions (guilt vs. shame) linked to non-participation in green LPs, while the third study (N1C = 110) examined gender’s role in perceived physical attractiveness. The main study (N = 836) tested the three-way interaction effect.
Findings – This analysis confirms that guilt, rather than shame, plays a significant role in the decision-making process for participating in green LPs. The results reveal that trait reactance strongly deters participation intention when customers anticipate low guilt and perceive service employees as less attractive. Notably, higher anticipated guilt renders trait reactance ineffective in influencing intentions, regardless of employees’ attractiveness.
Research implications: Our results reveal that a high level of anticipated guilt is the key to boosting customers’ intention to participate in a hotel’s green LP, which can mitigate the negative impact of customers’ trait reactance.
Originality – This is the first study to demonstrate how anticipated guilt can lessen the negative effects of customers’ trait reactance on their intention to participate in green LPs. Additionally, our findings reveal that guilt not only narrows customers’ attentional focus but also influences how the attractiveness of service employees affects their decision-making processes. Our work introduces a new angle on how emotional responses (anticipated guilt) interact with physical cues (employee attractiveness) in shaping customer decisions concerning the hotel’s green initiatives.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	customer reactance, anticipated guilt, physical attractiveness, attention narrowing, Green loyalty programmes
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor > HD28 Management. Industrial Management
Faculty / School / Research Centre / Research Group:	Greenwich Business School Greenwich Business School > Networks and Urban Systems Centre (NUSC) Greenwich Business School > School of Business, Operations and Strategy
Last Modified:	09 Jan 2025 11:01
URI:	http://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/49322

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