Telling Stories
Harnessing Storytelling to Promote Sustainable Behaviors Among Hotel Guests
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 17721999 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Cole Lim (Independent Researcher Singapore), Eunice Eunjung Yoo (0009-0002-1236-5966, Business, Communication and Design Cluster Singapore Institute of Technology Singapore, corresponding author), Min Gyung Kim (0000-0002-1648-7138, College of Business Management Hongik University Sejong Republic of Korea) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 28 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Publication date | 2026-03-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | International Journal of Tourism Research (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1099-2340 • E-ISSN: 1522-1970 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1002/jtr.70314 |
| OpenAlex | W7154587055 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 94 |
Hotels increasingly acknowledge the significance of environmental sustainability, integrating green initiatives into their operations. Drawing from the successes of storytelling as an engagement strategy, this study explores storytelling's effectiveness as an engagement strategy for promoting towel reuse among hotel guests. With a scenario‐based experimental design involving 413 participants across “hero,” “horror,” “learning,” and control groups, the research reveals that while storytelling did not significantly boost participants' belief in the environmental benefits of towel reuse, it offers valuable insights into storytelling efficacy and demographic variances. Women exhibited a stronger belief than men. However, employing a “horror” approach notably influenced men to embrace towel reuse. In addition, business travelers showed a greater belief in storytelling effectiveness compared to leisure travelers. The study recommends hotels tailor storytelling as a targeted green engagement strategy to enhance guests' participation in environmental sustainability initiatives
Customer engagement · Public engagement · Reuse · Storytelling · Sustainability · Diverse Aspects of Tourism Research · Environmental Education and Sustainability · Environmental Sustainability in Business
Customer engagement, buyer‐seller relationships, and social media
Targeting consumers who are willing to pay more for environmentally friendly products
The Significance of Hedonic Values for Environmentally Relevant Attitudes, Preferences, and Actions
Loss or gain? The role of message framing in hotel guests’ recycling behaviour
Are lodging customers ready to go green? An examination of attitudes, demographics, and eco-friendly intentions
Environmentally Friendly Behavior
Telling tales
Empirical investigation of the roles of attitudes toward green behaviors, overall image, gender, and age in hotel customers’ eco-friendly decision-making process
Sustainable urban tourism
Do Pro-environmental Appeals Trigger Pro-environmental Behavior in Hotel Guests?
Business storytelling about energy and climate change
Mind the Gap
What influences water conservation and towel reuse practices of hotel guests
Towel reuse in hotels
All that glitters is not green
The power of persuasive communication to influence sustainable holiday choices
Application of the Theory of Planned Behavior to green hotel choice
The attitude–behaviour gap in sustainable tourism
Cognitive representations of the future
The online support group as a community
Barriers perceived to engaging with climate change among the UK public and their policy implications
Understanding how consumers view green hotels
Fear Won't Do It
Tourism gender research
Commitment and Behavior Change
A Room with a Viewpoint
| Highly cited | No |
|---|