Are tech-savvy tourists eco-friendly? Impact of intention to use sustainable technologies on willingness to pay for smart hotels

Abstract Smart hotel technologies, such as smart environments and location-based mobile notifications could be used to encourage sustainable behaviours. However, hotel guests might not enjoy interacting with these technologies, while hotel managers might see them as a cost. At the same time, despite growing interest in smart hotel innovations, there is still a research gap regarding the link between customers’ intentions to adopt these technologies and their willingness to use them in support of sustainable hotel practices. The aim of the paper is to explore the interrelationship between the hedonic value of smart hotels, and customer intention to use sustainable technologies. Drawing on the model of goal directed behaviour (MGB), we hypothesize that customers displaying a higher level of affinity for technology are more likely to associate positive emotions with smart hotels, to adopt sustainable technologies, and to pay for them. The data were collected through a computer-assisted questionnaire distributed to a representative sample of the Italian population and the hypothesis were tested using PLS-SEM. The results show that customers displaying a higher affinity for technology are more likely to associate positive anticipated emotions with smart hotels and to adopt sustainable technologies, but not to pay for them.