Semester
Summer
Date of Graduation
2021
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Type
PhD
College
Chambers College of Business and Economics
Department
Marketing
Committee Chair
Michael Walsh
Committee Member
Ajay Aluri
Committee Member
Emily Tanner
Committee Member
Xinchun Wang
Abstract
While sustainability has become an important brand differentiator in many industries, current research suggests that tourism businesses rarely use sustainability labels in their communications, e.g., on their websites or other types of advertisements.
This dissertation examines the role of sustainability labels in increasing consumer preferences for sustainable travel destinations. Drawing on social exchange theory and anthropomorphism framework, we propose that sustainability labels increase consumer visit intentions, willingness to recommend a destination to someone else, and willingness to pay price premium for the sustainable offer. These effects are mediated by perception of goal congruence and connectedness with a destination. We further propose that increase in positive consumer responses to sustainable communications occurs due to inclusion of anthropomorphic elements in sustainability labels.
Three pretests and one study are designed to examine the hypothesized relationships. This research contributes to the literature by identifying goal congruence and connectedness as two important mechanisms that mediate relationships between presence of sustainability labels and positive behavioral intentions.
Recommended Citation
Kizilova, Elvira, "Getting Connected: Exploring the Role of Sustainability Labels In Tourism Marketing Communications" (2021). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 8312.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/8312