Don't change my towels please: Factors influencing participation in towel reuse programs

Towel reuse is the flagship of hotel environmental practices. This paper examines the effects of consumer demographic, psychographic and behavioral characteristics influencing a two-stage decision making process including participation and support to a towel reuse program. A meta-analysis shows that 53% of customers are willing to financially support green hotels. A survey of 1304 Greek and foreign hotel customers in tourism hot spots in Greece reveals that 72% of hotel customers would adopt a towel reuse program while 44.1% are willing to pay extra an average of 2.15 euros per day to support it. Younger customers and customers that book high-priced hotels or with higher length of stay exhibit higher willingness to pay extra for towel reuse programs. As rising water and energy shortages in specific tourism hotspots bring hotels' environmental integration under increased scrutiny, the focal findings hold significant implications for hotel managers and tourism policy makers. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.