A systematic literature review on the application of normative feedback intervention to promote pro-environmental behavior: Implications for the tourism and hospitality sectors

There have been growing calls for cost-effective interventions to promote pro-environmental behavior (PEB) among tourism and hospitality consumers. Normative feedback intervention (NFI), a behavioral intervention from behavioral science and social psychology, has proven cost-effective in encouraging PEB across various disciplines. However, limited efforts have been made to systematically understand its potential in promoting PEB within tourism and hospitality. To address this gap, this paper systematically reviews 104 multidisciplinary studies examining NFI's impacts on PEB through a two-stage analysis. The multidisciplinary findings highlighted key features, including research contexts, targeted PEB types, and research methods and theories employed. Additionally, three research themes emerged: (1) research foci on key NFI dimensions, (2) mediators and moderators of NFI's impacts on PEB, and (3) underlying theories explaining NFI's impacts on PEB. This research also identifies key research gaps and outlines future directions. To better inform the design and implementation of NFI in tourism and hospitality, this review proposes several sector-specific factors that may significantly affect NFI's impacts on PEB in these sectors, including tourist and consumer types, trip purposes, hotel types, and implementation scenarios. Theoretical and practical contributions to advancing PEB intervention research, both holistically and within tourism and hospitality, are also discussed.