Tourists’ water conservation behavior in hotels: the role of gender

Abstract

Hotels and destination managers are increasingly expressing concern about the impacts of climate change and sustainable water use, especially in crowded and water-scarce destinations. The aim of this study is to examine gender differences in hotel guests’ reported water conservation behavior (WCB) when on vacation. The study examines several factors that can potentially affect these gender differences, namely attitudes toward water conservation, normative and hedonic motives, destination problem awareness, and destination attachment. Data from a sample of 680 hotel guests reveal significant gender differences, with specific factors affecting the WCB of guests of each gender. Attitudes exert a positive influence on guests’ WCB. This influence is greater for women than for men. Normative motives also positively influence attitudes, although this effect is greater for men than for women. Conversely, hedonic motives negatively influence water conservation attitudes, and this effect is greater for women than for men. Lastly, destination problem awareness positively influences normative motives, while destination attachment negatively influences hedonic motives. No gender effect is found for these relationships. The implications for research and practice in sustainable tourism and pro-environmental behavior are presented.