Green Marketing Strategies on Customer-Based Brand Equity a Study in Green Hotels in Matale District

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to examine the impact of Green Marketing Strategies (GMS) on Customer-Based Brand Equity (CBBE) in green hotels in Sri Lanka. The paper opens by identifying CBBE as a paradox for GMS and a short discussion on CBBE as a vital strategic bridge. The paper provides some accessible reflections on CBBE and GMS within green hotels. Three main dimensions that measure the CBBE are brand loyalty, perceived brand quality, and brand trust; while GMS are green product, green price, green place, and green promotion. A green hotel focuses its business practices on sustainability, with the emphasis on reducing carbon emissions, water usage, waste reduction, etc. Green hotels are located in eco-friendly locations. The survey approach has been used as the research strategy and this is a cross-sectional study. The population of this study was hotel customers who visited green hotels located in Matale District, Sri Lanka within the period of the last two years. A sample of 400 green hotel customers was selected by administrating the purposive sampling technique. A self-administrated questionnaire with a five-point Likert scale was utilized for collecting the primary data. The authors conducted a pilot survey to examine the internal consistency of the construct with the support of a reliability test. The collected data was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics with the support of the statistical package SPSS 21. Cronbach’s alpha values confirmed the reliability of the collected data. Results of linear regression analysis indicated that there is a significant, positive impact of GM strategies on CBBE in the hotel industry in Sri Lanka. The regression model further confirmed that green price and green place strategies significantly contributed to the CBBE, while green product and green promotion strategies are insignificant. This study makes a valuable contribution to the literature given the growing importance of ecological and sustainability concerns and the efforts green hotels have been making to have a better understanding of green consumers.