The Influence of Hotels' Green Activities on Customers' Ethical Behavior: The Case of Five-star Hotels in Alexandria

Due  to the rising  ecological  consciousness  in the  hospitality industry , green hotel seems to be growing  niche in the competitive lodging industry and the number of consumers  who are  interested  to stay at green hotel has also increased. In addition, the impact of the hotel industry on the environment is quite large because it is an economic sector undergoing rapid growth. The hotels consume lots of water, energy, and unrecyclable products that in the end endanger the environment. A typical hotel can emit daily or yearly between 160 and 200 kg/m2 per room per floor of carbon dioxide (co2). It is conceivable that ecological awareness can influence on consumer behavior. Lately, consumers have become more possible to express their environmental consciousness by purchasing environmentally friendly products and services.
Therefore, This study examine to what extent the hotels apply green activities, particularly in Alexandria-Egypt; to identify the relationship between ethics conducts for consumers and hotel green activities; to explore the most effect demographics factors on customers'ethical  behavior; to discover the degree up to which potential consumers intend to stay at green hotel, boycott or act discursively against un ethical hotels; and finally to look into the relation between customers’ attitude and their actual behaviors towards green hotel. In order to achieve these objectives, (10100) web-based, on-site questionnaires and manually forms were randomly distributed to five-star hotels’ consumers in Alexandria governorate –Egypt. The returned and valid questionnaires were (1080) questionnaires (98,2%). The checklist was another method applied to reveal the least applied green activities among hotels and to support the result of the questionnaire. Data were described using mean, standard deviation, Pearson coefficient correlation, Spearman coefficient linear regression. The study highlighted that there is a positive significant relationship between hotel green activities and ethical consumer behavior.  In addition, hoteliers did not take the advantage of the ethical consumer behavior of growing opportunities. Although, hoteliers applied certain activities, they ignored the role of engaging customers in green activities and announcing the environmental efforts for the community, which appeared stagnation of ethical consumer behavior.