The Nexus between Green Perceived Quality, Green Satisfaction, Green Trust, and Customers' Green Behavioral Intentions in Eco-Friendly Hotels: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach.

With the growing awareness of the climate change effects, hotel customers progressively intend to favor green products and services that minimize adverse environmental effects. The key factors affecting customers' green behavioral intentions in the hospitality industry context are still under research. Accordingly, this study primarily aims at empirically investigating the nexus between green perceived quality (GPQ), green satisfaction (GS), green trust (GT), and customers' green behavioral intentions (CGBIs) in a sample of five-star eco-friendly hotels in Egypt. More specifically, the study first endeavors to investigate the direct impact of GPQ on GS, GT, and CGBIs besides exploring the direct impact of GS and GT on CGBIs in addition to examining the potential effect of GS and GT as mediators in the nexus between GPQ and CGBIs. To achieve the study's aim and associated objectives, a self-administrated questionnaire was developed and distributed to a convenience sample of local guests staying at certified five-green star hotels. A total of 500 questionnaires were distributed, and only 304 valid forms, representing 60.8%, were used in the statistical analysis. Seven hypotheses, reflecting the direct and indirect relationships between study constructs, were examined by using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) with bootstrapping technique. The study findings revealed that GS, GT as well as CGBIs are significantly positively affected by GPQ, respectively. Furthermore, GT and GS have a significant positive effect on CGBIs. Moreover, GT as well as GS partially mediate the nexus between GPQ and CGBIs. From the previous findings, it could be concluded that the increase in investment in enhancing GPQ significantly contributes to the improvement in GS, GT, and CGBIs. Additionally, the higher the GT, GPQ, and GS, the greater the revisit intention to green hotels, positive green word-of-mouth (GWoM), and intention to pay a premium for staying in environmentally friendly hotels. As a result, for enhancing CGBIs and sustaining a customer-hotel long-term relationship, hotel operators should make efforts towards maintaining GT, improving GPQ, and increasing customers' GS as key predictors of CGBIs in the hotel industry context.