The effects of hotels’ environmental sustainability communication strategies on social Media engagement and brand advocacy: The roles of communication characteristics and customers’ personality traits
Restricted accessResearch articleFirst published online July, 2025
The effects of hotels’ environmental sustainability communication strategies on social Media engagement and brand advocacy: The roles of communication characteristics and customers’ personality traits
Prior research has overlooked the significance of two distinct communication strategies used by hotels over social media platforms to foster environmental sustainability (ES), namely informative communication strategy (ICS) and engaging communication strategy (ECS). Understanding the role of these communication strategies in cultivating social media engagement (SME) with sustainability content, and deciphering the conditions that govern these relationships have yet to be addressed. The current study endeavors to fill these research voids. First, it investigates the effects of ICS and ECS on SME with sustainability content. Second, it examines the moderating effects of two key communication characteristics (perceived intensity and perceived transparency) and two customers’ personality traits (conscientiousness and extraversion) in the investigated relationships. Finally, it establishes the potential role of sustainability-oriented SME in generating online brand advocacy. Data from Japan-based online panelists were analyzed using AMOS 28. The results generally lend support to the study's hypothesized relationships. ICS and ECS are equally important in driving SME. Their effects are positively moderated by the intensity and transparency of the ES communication as well as by customers’ conscientiousness and extraversion. SME is positively associated with online brand advocacy. The article discusses the implications of the findings, and closes with the study's limitations and directions for future research.
AbbeyJDMeloyMG (2017) Attention by design: using attention checks to detect inattentive respondents and improve data quality. Journal of Operations Management53: 63–70.
2.
AbitbolALeeSY (2017) Messages on CSR-dedicated Facebook pages: what works and what doesn’t. Public relations review43(4): 796–808.
3.
AguirreCRuiz de MayaSPalazón VidalM, et al. (2023) Consumer motivations for engaging with corporate social responsibility on social media. Spanish Journal of Marketing 27(2): 202–220.
4.
AhnJKwonJ (2020) Green hotel brands in Malaysia: perceived value, cost, anticipated emotion, and revisit intention. Current Issues in Tourism23(12): 1559–1574.
5.
AksoyNYaziciN (2023) Does justice affect brand advocacy? Online brand advocacy behaviors as a response to hotel customers’ justice perceptions. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services73: 103310.
6.
AmatulliCDe AngelisMStoppaniA (2021) The appeal of sustainability in luxury hospitality: an investigation on the role of perceived integrity. Tourism Management83: 104228.
7.
AndreassenCHetlandJPallesenS (2010) The relationship between ‘workaholism’, basic needs satisfaction at work and personality. European Journal of Personality24(1): 3–17.
8.
AuliaSASukatiISulaimanZ (2016) A review: customer perceived value and its dimension. Asian Journal of Social Sciences and Management Studies3(2): 150–162.
9.
Barbulescu A, Moraru AD and Duhnea C (2019) Ecolabelling in the Romanian seaside hotel industry—marketing considerations, financial constraints, perspectives. Sustainability 11(1): 265.
10.
BernardSRahmanIDouglasA (2023) Sustainability communication in hotels: the role of cognitive linguistics. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research: 10963480231158757.
11.
BossenCKottaszR (2020) Uses and gratifications sought by pre-adolescent and adolescent TikTok consumers. Young Consumers21(4): 463–478.
12.
BozkurtSGligorDBabinB (2021) The role of perceived firm social media interactivity in facilitating customer engagement behaviors. European Journal of Marketing55(4): 995–1022.
13.
BrownTDacinP (1997) The company and the product: corporate associations and consumer product responses. Journal of Marketing61(1): 68–84.
14.
ButtSPhillipsJ (2008) Personality and self reported mobile phone use. Computers in Human Behavior24(2): 346–360.
15.
CaoDMeadowsMWongD, et al. (2021) Understanding consumers’ social media engagement behaviour: an examination of the moderation effect of social media context. Journal of Business Research122: 835–846.
16.
Casado-DíazJMDrihaOSimónH (2022) The gender wage gap in hospitality: new evidence from Spain. Cornell Hospitality Quarterly63(3): 399–417.
17.
ChangCDibbS (2012) Reviewing and conceptualising customer-perceived value. The Marketing Review12(3): 253–274.
18.
ChoMFureyLMohrT (2017) Communicating corporate social responsibility on social media: strategies, stakeholders, and public engagement on corporate Facebook. Business and Professional Communication Quarterly80(1): 52–69.
19.
ChuSChenHGanC (2020) Consumers’ engagement with corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication in social media: evidence from China and the United States. Journal of Business Research110: 260–271.
20.
ConfenteIKucharskaW (2021) Company versus consumer performance: does brand community identification foster brand loyalty and the consumer’s personal brand?. Journal of Brand Management28: 8–31.
21.
ConnerMRodgersWMurrayT (2007) Conscientiousness and the intention-behavior relationship: predicting exercise behavior. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology29(4): 518–533.
22.
CozzioCVolggerMTaplinR, et al. (2020) Nurturing tourists’ ethical food consumption: testing the persuasive strengths of alternative messages in a natural hotel setting. Journal of Business Research117: 268–279.
23.
de AzambujaGRodriguez PeñaGVargasE (2023) The impact of customer engagement on customer happiness. Journal of Consumer Behaviour22(4): 1025–1041.
24.
DhaneshGDuthlerGLiK (2022) Social media engagement with organization-generated content: Role of visuals in enhancing public engagement with organizations on Facebook and Instagram. Public Relations Review48(2): 102174.
25.
DolanRConduitJFrethey-BenthamC, et al. (2019) Social media engagement behavior: a framework for engaging customers through social media content. European Journal of Marketing53(10): 2213–2243.
26.
D'Souza C, Apaolaza V, Hartmann P, et al. (2021). Marketing for sustainability: travellers' intentions to stay in green hotels. Journal of Vacation Marketing 27(2): 187–202.
27.
DuSBhattacharyaCSenS (2010) Maximizing business returns to corporate social responsibility (CSR): the role of CSR communication. International Journal of Management Reviews12(1): 8–19.
28.
EiseneggerMSchranzM (2011) Reputation management and corporate social responsibility. In: The Handbook of Communication and Corporate Social Responsibility, Chichester, UK: A John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., Publication, pp. 128–146.
29.
EttingerAGrabner-KräuterSOkazakiS, et al. (2021) The desirability of CSR communication versus greenhushing in the hospitality industry: the customers’ perspective. Journal of Travel Research60(3): 618–638.
30.
FalkeASchröderNHofmannC (2022) The influence of values in sustainable consumption among millennials. Journal of Business Economics92(6): 899–928.
31.
FarrukhMRazaAMansoorA, et al. (2023) Trends and patterns in pro-environmental behaviour research: a bibliometric review and research agenda. Benchmarking: An International Journal30(3): 681–696.
32.
FernandezPHartmannPApaolazaV (2022) What drives CSR communication effectiveness on social media? A process-based theoretical framework and research agenda. International Journal of Advertising41(3): 385–413.
33.
FornellCLarckerDF (1981) Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error. Journal of Marketing Research18(1): 39–50.
34.
GalatiASakkaGCrescimannoM, et al. (2019) What is the role of social media in several overtones of CSR communication? the case of the wine industry in the Southern Italian regions. British Food Journal121(4): 856–873.
35.
GeisenE (2022) Improve data quality by using commitment request instead of attention checks. Qualtrics XM Blog. https://www.qualtrics.com/blog/attention-checks-and-data-quality/.
36.
Gil-SotoEArmas-CruzYMorini-MarreroS, et al. (2019) Hotel guests’ perceptions of environmental friendly practices in social media. International Journal of Hospitality Management78: 59–67.
37.
Gil de ZúñigaHDiehlTHuberB, et al. (2017) Personality traits and social media use in 20 countries: how personality relates to frequency of social media use, social media news use, and social media use for social interaction. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking20(9): 540–552.
38.
González-RodríguezMRDíaz-FernándezMCFontX (2020) Factors influencing willingness of customers of environmentally friendly hotels to pay a price premium. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management32(1): 60–80.
39.
GrazziniLRodrigoPAielloG, et al. (2018) Loss or gain? The role of message framing in hotel guests’ recycling behaviour. Journal of Sustainable Tourism26(11): 1944–1966.
40.
GulatiS (2022) Social and sustainable: exploring social media use for promoting sustainable behaviour and demand amongst Indian tourists. International Hospitality Review36(2): 373–393.
41.
HairJFBlackBBabinBJ (2010) Multivariate Data Analysis: Global Edition. 7th ed., Harlow: Pearson Education.
42.
HanHHyunSS (2018) Role of motivations for luxury cruise traveling, satisfaction, and involvement in building traveler loyalty. International Journal of Hospitality Management70: 75–84.
43.
HollebeekLKulikovskajaVHubertM, et al. (2023) Exploring a customer engagement spillover effect on social media: the moderating role of customer conscientiousness. Internet Research 33(4): 1573–1596.
44.
HoppTFisherJ (2021) A psychological model of transparent communication effectiveness. Corporate Communications: An International Journal26(2): 403–419.
45.
IacobucciDPosavacSKardesF, et al. (2015) Toward a more nuanced understanding of the statistical properties of a median split. Journal of Consumer Psychology25(4): 652–665.
46.
IslamJRahmanZHollebeekLD (2017) Personality factors as predictors of online consumer engagement: an empirical investigation. Marketing Intelligence & Planning35(4): 510–528.
47.
JamalASharifuddinJ (2015) Perceived value and perceived usefulness of halal labeling: the role of religion and culture. Journal of Business research68(5): 933–941.
48.
JhaAVermaN (2023) Social media sustainability communication: an analysis of firm behaviour and stakeholder responses. Information Systems Frontiers25(2): 723–742.
49.
JooSMillerEFinkJ (2019) Consumer evaluations of CSR authenticity: development and validation of a multidimensional CSR authenticity scale. Journal of Business Research98: 236–249.
50.
KapoorPBalajiMJiangY (2021) Effectiveness of sustainability communication on social media: role of message appeal and message source. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management33(3): 949–972.
51.
KapoorPBalajiMJiangY, et al. (2022) Effectiveness of travel social media influencers: a case of eco-friendly hotels. Journal of Travel Research61(5): 1138–1155.
52.
KimS (2019) The process model of corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication: CSR communication and its relationship with consumers’ CSR knowledge, trust, and corporate reputation perception. Journal of Business Ethics154(4): 1143–1159.
53.
KimSFergusonM (2018) Dimensions of effective CSR communication based on public expectations. Journal of Marketing Communications24(6): 549–567.
54.
KimSKimHLeeS (2021) How event information is trusted and shared on social media: a uses and gratification perspective. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing38(5): 444–460.
55.
KlineR (2005) Principles and Practice of Structural Equation Modeling. 2nd ed.New York: The Guilford Press.
56.
KocE (2019) Service failures and recovery in hospitality and tourism: a review of literature and recommendations for future research. Journal of Hospitality Marketing and Management28(5): 513–537.
57.
KumarV (2020) Building customer-brand relationships through customer brand engagement. Journal of Promotion Management26(7): 986–1012.
58.
KutaulaSGillaniALeonidouL, et al. (2022) Integrating fair trade with circular economy: personality traits, consumer engagement, and ethically-minded behavior. Journal of Business Research144: 1087–1102.
59.
KwokLHuangY (2019) Green attributes of restaurants: do consumers, owners, and managers think alike?International Journal of Hospitality Management83: 28–32.
60.
LaukkanenMTuraN (2022) Sustainable value propositions and customer perceived value: clothing library case. Journal of Cleaner Production378: 134321.
61.
LeeEAhnJKimYJ (2014) Personality traits and self-presentation at Facebook. Personality and Individual Differences69: 162–167.
62.
LiadeliGSotgiuFVerleghP (2023) A meta-analysis of the effects of brands’ owned social media on social media engagement and sales. Journal of Marketing87(3): 406–427.
63.
LiuYKouYGuanZ, et al. (2020) Exploring hotel brand attachment: the mediating role of sentimental value. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services55: 102143.
64.
LuoYJiangHZengL (2023) Linking informative and factual CSR communication to reputation: understanding CSR motives and organizational identification. Sustainability15(6): 5136.
65.
LyonTMontgomeryA (2013) Tweetjacked: the impact of social media on corporate greenwash. Journal of Business Ethics118: 747–757.
66.
MajeedSKimWGKimT (2023) Perceived green psychological benefits and customer pro-environment behavior in the value-belief-norm theory: the moderating role of perceived green CSR. International Journal of Hospitality Management113: 103502.
67.
MarkGGanzachY (2014) Personality and Internet usage: a large-scale representative study of young adults. Computers in Human Behavior36: 274–281.
68.
MathurMLawrenceDChakravartyA (2023) Leveraging consumer personality and social media marketing to improve a brand's social media equity. International Journal of Consumer Studies47(3): 1076–1094.
69.
MoranGMuzellecLJohnsonD (2020) Message content features and social media engagement: evidence from the media industry. Journal of Product & Brand Management29(5): 533–545.
70.
MorsingM (2006) Corporate social responsibility as strategic auto-communication: on the role of external stakeholders for member identification. Business Ethics: A European Review15: 171–182.
71.
MuntingaDMoormanMSmitE (2011) Introducing COBRAs: exploring motivations for brand-related social media use. International Journal of Advertising30(1): 13–46.
72.
NasrAKRashidiradMYoganathanV, et al. (2022) CSR marketing through social media and contextual effects on stakeholder engagement: a multinational cross-industry analysis. Information Systems Frontiers: 1–18.
NimriRPatiarAJinX (2020) The determinants of consumers’ intention of purchasing green hotel accommodation: extending the theory of planned behaviour. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management45: 535–543.
ÖzgüvenNMucanB (2013) The relationship between personality traits and social media use. Social Behavior and Personality: An International Iournal41(3): 517–528.
77.
PaganiMGoldsmithRHofackerC (2013) Extraversion as a stimulus for user-generated content. Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing7(4): 242–256.
78.
PangAShinWLewZ, et al. (2018) Building relationships through dialogic communication: organizations, stakeholders, and computer-mediated communication. Journal of Marketing Communications24(1): 68–82.
ParkHJiangY (2021) A human touch and content matter for consumer engagement on social media. Corporate Communications: An International Journal26(3): 501–520.
81.
Pavalache-Ilie M and Cazan AM (2018) Personality correlates of pro-environmental attitudes. International Journal of Environmental Health Research 28(1): 71–78.
82.
PeltierJDahlAJVandersheeBA (2020) Antecedent consumer factors, consequential branding outcomes and measures of online consumer engagement: current research and future directions. Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing14(2): 239–268.
83.
PertegalMÁOlivaARodríguez-MeirinhosA (2019) Development and validation of the Scale of Motives for Using Social Networking Sites (SMU-SNS) for adolescents and youths. PloS One14(12): e0225781.
84.
PiyathanavongVGarza-ReyesJKumarV, et al. (2019) The adoption of operational environmental sustainability approaches in the Thai manufacturing sector. Journal of Cleaner Production220: 507–528.
85.
PradhanBKishoreKGokhaleN (2023) Social media influencers and consumer engagement: A review and future research agenda. International Journal of Consumer Studies 47(6): 2106–2130.
86.
PurohitSAroraVRadiaK (2023) Masstige consumption, brand happiness, and brand advocacy: A service perspective. International Journal of Consumer Studies. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijcs.12944.
87.
RenFTanYWanF (2023) Know your firm: managing social media engagement to improve firms sales performance. MIS Quarterly47(1): 227–261.
88.
RyanTXenosS (2011) Who uses Facebook? An investigation into the relationship between the big five, shyness, narcissism, loneliness, and Facebook usage. Computers in Human Behavior27(5): 1658–1664.
89.
SchlosserA (2020) Self-disclosure versus self-presentation on social media. Current Opinion in Psychology31: 1–6.
90.
SeidmanG (2013) Self-presentation and belonging on Facebook: how personality influences social media use and motivations. Personality and Individual Differences54(3): 402–407.
91.
ShaikhAAKarjaluotoHHäkkinenJ (2018) Understanding moderating effects in increasing share-of-wallet and word-of-mouth: a case study of Lidl grocery retailer. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services44: 45–53.
92.
ShethJNNewmanBIGrossBL (1991) Why we buy what we buy: a theory of consumption values. Journal of Business Research22(2): 159–170.
93.
SweeneyJPayneAFrowP, et al. (2020) Customer advocacy: a distinctive form of word of mouth. Journal of Service Research23(2): 139–155.
94.
TafesseW (2016) An experiential model of consumer engagement in social media. Journal of Product & Brand Management25(5): 424–434.
95.
TajeddiniKGamageTCHameedWU, et al. (2022) How self-gratification and social values shape revisit intention and customer loyalty of Airbnb customers. International Journal of Hospitality Management100: 103093.
96.
TanfordSKimMKimE (2020) Priming social media and framing cause-related marketing to promote sustainable hotel choice. Journal of Sustainable Tourism28(11): 1762–1781.
97.
TangJHChenMCYangCY, et al. (2016) Personality traits, interpersonal relationships, online social support, and facebook addiction. Telematics and Informatics33(1): 102–108.
98.
TölkesC (2018) Sustainability communication in tourism–A literature review. Tourism Management Perspectives27: 10–21.
99.
ViererblBKochT (2022) The paradoxical effects of communicating CSR activities: why CSR communication has both positive and negative effects on the perception of a company’s social responsibility. Public Relations Review48(1): 102134.
100.
WallaceETorresPAugustoM, et al. (2021) Outcomes for self-expressive brands followed on social media: identifying different paths for inner self-expressive and social self-expressive brands. Journal of Business Research135: 519–531.
101.
WebsterCSundaramDS (2009) Effect of service provider's communication style on customer satisfaction in professional services setting: the moderating role of criticality and service nature. Journal of Services Marketing23(2): 103–113.
102.
WhaiteEShensaASidaniJ, et al. (2018) Social media use, personality characteristics, and social isolation among young adults in the United States. Personality and Individual Differences124: 45–50.
103.
WilkVSoutarGHarriganP (2020) Online brand advocacy (OBA): the development of a multiple item scale. Journal of Product & Brand Management29(4): 415–429.
104.
WongA (2023) How social capital builds online brand advocacy in luxury social media brand communities. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services70: 103143.
105.
YuanKChanWMarcoulidesGA, et al. (2016) Assessing structural equation models by equivalence testing with adjusted fit indexes. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal23(3): 319–330.
106.
ZeithamlVA (1988) Consumer perceptions of price, quality, and value: a means-end model and synthesis of evidence. Journal of Marketing52(3): 2–22.
107.
ZutshiACreedABhattacharyaA, et al. (2022) Sustainability during the COVID pandemic: analysis of hotel association communication. Current Issues in Tourism25(23): 3840–3853.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
