What drives participation in green loyalty programmes? Examining reactance, guilt and staff attractiveness Open Access

In recent years, the hospitality sector has increasingly focused on sustainable initiatives, attracting significant attention from industry professionals and academic researchers (Sharma et al., 2024; Yang et al., 2023). The hotel industry has been trying to implement green practices to promote hotel customers’ green behaviours (Patwary et al., 2022). This practice can be categorised as a voluntary green programme, which “utilizes the voluntary efforts of the sponsoring organization’s customers” (Giebelhausen et al., 2016, p. 56). One form of this programme is the green loyalty programme (hereafter, LP), defined as the firm’s initiatives to improve the natural environment by providing rewards (monetary and non-monetary, immediate vs delayed; see Keh and Lee (2006) for consumers who voluntarily opt into the programme (Giebelhausen et al., 2016; Liu and Mattila, 2016). The green LP can offer reward points (non-immediate and non-monetary types) to customers who exhibit environmentally friendly behaviours, which can be redeemed in the future. For example, the IHG Hotels and Resorts “Greener Stay” initiative provides 500 IHG reward points for every night the LP members opt out of housekeeping services.

The literature has explored various factors contributing to the challenges in engaging consumers with hotel green LPs. Notably, Liu and Mattila (2016) highlight that a significant barrier to the success of green LPs is the ineffective management of non-participating bystanders’ perceptions, particularly concerning status and preferential treatment. Similarly, Wang et al. (2017) indicate that the participation of customers in green LPs is heavily influenced by their perceptions of a hotel’s commitment to environmental sustainability. Whilst existing studies have focused on customers’ perceptions of green LP characteristics as predictors of their behavioural intentions, limited attention has been paid to customers’ personality factors, which constitute a fundamental part of the motivations for green behaviours (Duong, 2022). In this context, despite the emergence of literature on green programmes, our understanding of how consumers react towards green LPs is still limited. In addition, studies that simultaneously examine the impact of consumers’ personality factors and a firm’s servicescape factors – through which the benefits of LPs are communicated – on customers’ evaluation of green LPs are under-represented in the green LP literature.

Therefore, this study examines the influence of a consumer’s personality factor (i.e. trait reactance) and a consumer’s emotion (i.e. anticipated guilt) along with a firm’s servicescape factor (i.e. physical attractiveness of frontline service employees) on customers’ intentions to participate in a green LP. This study is designed to make the following contributions. First, drawing upon the psychological reactance theory (Brehm, 1966), we propose that consumers’ trait reactance – a dispositional personality factor (Hong and Faedda, 1996; Zhou et al., 2024) – may influence their intention to join green LPs. Trait reactance affects how consumers perceive threats to freedom, which is relevant to green LPs because the LP requirements may trigger reactance. This could be experienced differently by customers. We contribute to the scarce literature on the effect of consumers’ trait reactance on customers’ responses towards green LP offerings.

Second, the goal of the green LPs is to support the environment. Therefore, we suggest that customers might feel anticipated guilt about not joining. The significance of guilt in pro-environmental behaviour has been highlighted in hospitality research (Meng et al., 2022; Han et al., 2020). Thus, while trait reactance might deter participation, anticipated guilt could motivate it. We consider the joint effect of these factors on customers’ engagement with hotels’ green LPs.

Third, frontline service employees may play a key role in promoting green LPs, which has not been considered in previous research. Findings in the existing literature on the effect of this factor on customers’ information processing were mixed (Wan and Wyer, 2015). To clarify this, we explore a three-way interaction between trait reactance, anticipated guilt and employee attractiveness, using attention narrowing theory (Wilcox and Prokopec, 2019). We propose that heightened anticipated guilt narrows customer focus, causing them to prioritise self-regulation (i.e. guilt about not joining green LPs) over employee attractiveness.

Inviting customers to join a hotel’s LP is a strategic approach to identifying and retaining valuable customers, as evidenced by studies from Shin et al. (2020) and Hua et al. (2019). These programmes, characterised as structured marketing efforts, provide economic and social rewards designed to strengthen customer loyalty (Lee et al., 2021). Green LPs, in particular, represent a divergence from traditional marketing approaches by enhancing business profitability and customer satisfaction and promoting environmentally sustainable consumer practices. This dual focus contributes to developing enduring customer relationships (Liu and Mattila, 2016). Unlike typical green programmes that may simply encourage eco-friendly behaviour, green LPs specifically provide customers with LP reward points in return for their participation in green programmes that can be redeemed in the future (Liu and Mattila, 2016).

Previous literature focuses more on green programmes and their effects on consumer behaviours. We present a table of a synthesis of key literature on green programmes (see Supplementary Material Appendix S1 Table 1) that outlines the theories, factors, findings and management implications discussed in various studies, including those focused on green LPs. For instance, Wang et al. (2017) noted that green programmes can influence conservation behaviours, which are affected by factors such as firm pricing and state reactance. Similarly, Grazzini et al. (2018) and Blose et al. (2015) identified that recycling behaviours are influenced by the types of messages used in green programmes and customer perceptions. In addition, Hwang and Kandampully (2015) found that consumers’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) beliefs and feelings of gratitude enhance their attitudes towards pro-social LPs, leading to increased intention to participate. The effectiveness of these programmes is further moderated by customer characteristics, including age and gender, as well as firm-specific strategies such as programme type and message presentation (Giebelhausen et al., 2016; Theotokis and Manganari, 2015; Blose et al., 2015).

In contrast, in the earlier literature, there is limited research on the specific factors (i.e. personality and firm-related constructs) that influence the effectiveness of green LPs. For example, Flacandji et al. (2023) found that the type of green LPs impacts perceived value, though customer factors are less significant. Liu and Mattila (2016) also demonstrated that satisfaction is jointly affected by customer factors such as perceived status and pro-sociality, as well as firm factors such as price image and preferential treatment. Sharma et al. (2024) extended this understanding by identifying the role of perceived eco-innovativeness and unique green hotel attributes in driving customer adoption of eco-friendly practices.

However, despite extensive research on how customers’ perceptions of green LP characteristics affect their behavioural intentions, limited attention has been paid to the influence of customers’ personality factors, which are crucial for understanding motivations towards green behaviours (Duong, 2022; Tang and Lam, 2017). Moreover, the impact of consumers’ personality traits and a firm’s servicescape factors on the evaluation of green LPs is still underexplored, presenting a significant opportunity for further research. Our study aims to bridge this gap by examining the influence of a specific personality trait, trait reactance, on hotel customers’ participation in green LPs.

The promotion of LPs can trigger negative responses from some customers (e.g. less intention to revisit a hotel) (Ding et al., 2021). A possible explanation for this may be due to customers’ psychological reactance (Kivetz, 2005). Psychological reactance theory (Brehm, 1966) asserts that customers may avoid engaging in an action threatening their behavioural freedom. Specifically, when customers perceive an influence or promotion is attempting to restrict or control their behavioural freedom (e.g. consumption freedom), it generates an aversive state of arousal (i.e. psychological reactance). Therefore, such a motivational state will stimulate customers to restore their sense of freedom by moving in the opposite direction away from the persuasive influence or promotion (e.g. by refusing the persuasive influence or promotion) (Brehm and Brehm, 1981; Clee and Wicklund, 1980).

Although psychological reactance was initially thought to be situation-specific (Brehm, 1966), subsequent research has also considered it as a personality trait (Hong and Faedda, 1996; Zhou et al., 2024). According to these authors, trait reactance reflects an individual’s proneness to experience psychological reactance as induced by different situations. For example, customers who differ in trait reactance may react differently to reactance arousal. Specifically, highly (vs lowly) reactant consumers could experience more psychological reactance and would be more motivated to reduce reactance (Dillard and Shen, 2005).

The influence of the threat to the customers’ consumption freedom would be magnified when customers have more trait reactance compared to those with less trait reactance (Kivetz, 2005; Shen, 2015). However, as indicated in the Supplementary Material Appendix S1 Table 1, there is a notable absence of research exploring how consumers’ trait reactance influences their responses to green LP offerings. This study aims to address that gap in the green LP literature. Our research suggests that customers with higher (vs lower) trait reactance will be more likely to perceive green LP offers as a threat to their consumption freedom. Thus, the more trait reactance customers have, the less intention they will have to participate in green LPs. Therefore, we propose the following:

A feeling of guilt (or guilt hereafter) is a self-conscious emotion that has been shown to play an essential role in promoting pro-environmental behaviour (Baek and Yoon, 2017; Kapoor et al., 2021; Graton et al., 2016). Guilt is a negative emotion experienced when someone thinks they are doing something inconsistent with their standards (Hurst and Sintov, 2022). In addition, some studies (Bagozzi and Pieters, 1998; Han, 2021; Onwezen et al., 2014) have identified anticipated guilt, which refers to an individual’s anticipated feelings about an action that might violate their personal standards. When customers experience anticipated guilt, they might engage in a coping mechanism aimed at regulating their behaviour to avoid the feeling of guilt in the future (Duhachek et al., 2012; Theotokis and Manganari, 2015). For example, customers can anticipate the feeling of guilt when they think that their behaviour during their stay in the hotel is not environmentally friendly (e.g. not joining the hotel green LP). Therefore, to avoid the feeling of guilt, they would alter their decision.

Customers can experience psychological reactance induced by hotels’ green LPs, but at the same time, we would argue that customers could also anticipate feeling guilty about not joining the green LP. Such a feeling of guilt would encourage them to engage in behaviour which is good for the environment (e.g. joining a green LP). We argue that customers would anticipate guilt when they imagine how they would feel if they decided against joining the green LP. This is because not joining the green LP would contradict their goal to save the environment. Indeed, previous research has shown that feelings of guilt can be aroused if customers’ decisions go against their personal goals (e.g. protecting the environment) (Bagozzi and Pieters, 1998). Furthermore, research on reactance and anticipated guilt suggests that anticipated guilt can help customers avoid experiencing psychological reactance (Lindsey, 2005). Moreover, no prior studies on green programmes have examined the role of the joint effect of anticipated guilt and trait reactance, which will be addressed in this study.

Therefore, when customers anticipate feelings of guilt about not joining a green LP, they will take action to avoid the negative feelings (i.e. by deciding to join the green LP). Therefore, the negative association between customer trait reactance and their intention to participate in the green LP would be mitigated if anticipated guilt is present. We propose the following:

To promote a green LP, the service employee’s physical attractiveness is a visible cue that may influence customers’ decision-making. As seen in the Supplementary Material Appendix S1 Table 1, no prior research has considered the role of frontline service employees in service encounters related to promoting a hotel’s green LP. Physical attractiveness can be defined as the degree to which a person’s physical features are considered visually pleasing (Patzer, 1983). The evaluation of physical attractiveness largely depends on an individual’s subjective perception of a target’s facial appearance (Fang et al., 2020). Physical attractiveness is often the most noticeable characteristic and is typically considered a significant and visible cue in social interactions (Eagly et al., 1991).

“What is beautiful is good” is a well-known stereotype of physical attractiveness. That is, “physically attractive individuals are believed to possess a wide variety of positive personal qualities” (Eagly et al., 1991, p. 109). Numerous studies have confirmed this stereotyping (Fang et al., 2020; Langlois et al., 2000; Wu et al., 2019; Xu et al., 2020). This is akin to the well-known halo effect (Lucker et al., 1981), which refers to the phenomenon when a person’s physical attractiveness can lead to a positive evaluation of their attributes (e.g. persuasion, trustworthiness and performance) (Chaiken, 1979).

Customer–employee interaction is fundamental in hotel service settings (Fang et al., 2020; Li et al., 2022), particularly among frontline service employees. However, the debate on the effectiveness of physical attractiveness on customers’ reactions during a service encounter has not been settled. Our research contributes to this debate. For example, previous studies suggest that being highly attractive is not always advantageous (Fisher and Ma, 2014; Li et al., 2022), a phenomenon referred to as the “beauty penalty” (Li et al., 2022). For instance, Wan and Wyer (2015) identified various consumption scenarios likely to raise self-presentation concerns, demonstrating that consumers might be less inclined to interact with highly attractive service employees.

In addition, while the benefits of physical attractiveness are clear for appearance-related products, they can be detrimental in contexts requiring specialised expertise (Peng et al., 2020). Wu et al. (2021) proposed that when service employees wear face masks, the halo effect of their physical attractiveness will be eliminated. Consistent with these results, Li et al. (2022) found that physical attractiveness impacts perceived trustworthiness to a lesser degree when there is a high similarity between hosts and consumers. Hence, physical attractiveness may generate a negative impact when considering customer traits and consumption contexts (Li et al., 2019). Although service employees’ physical attractiveness has been widely considered a critical factor in influencing customers’ decision-making, there are still mixed findings about the physical attractiveness stereotype. Thus, examining the boundary conditions of the physical attractiveness stereotype is important, as suggested by Fang et al. (2020).

In addition, as pointed out by earlier research, physical attractiveness is often more salient for female than male service employee (Alaei et al., 2022; Li et al., 2022). This is because females are commonly rated more highly on beauty than males (Fisher and Ma, 2014). When both males and females are equally physically attractive as receptionists, females were rated higher in terms of physical attractiveness than males because being a receptionist is regarded as a “feminine” job (Pinto et al., 2020). Therefore, our research investigates the influence of female hotel employees’ physical attractiveness on green LP participation.

The attention narrowing theory suggests that when customers regulate their behaviour by anticipating negative emotions (e.g. anticipated guilt), their attentional focus is narrowed (Wilcox and Prokopec, 2019). In our research context, the information about the benefits of joining a green LP is relevant, whilst the physical attractiveness of hotel employees is less relevant regarding either joining or not joining the LP. Therefore, when customers anticipate a higher level of guilt, the physical attractiveness of the hotel frontline service employees will not influence their decisions regarding either joining or not joining the LP. This is because customers’ attention has been narrowed.

Note that these customers might still notice the hotel frontline service employees’ physical attractiveness. Still, it would have little role in affecting their decisions regarding whether or not to join the programmes. Nevertheless, customers who anticipate less guilt would pay more attention to less relevant information, e.g. the physical attractiveness of service employees, which may create a halo effect which might increase the persuasiveness of the green LP promotion. Therefore, the customers who perceive the service employee as less (vs more) attractive would be less (vs more) likely to join the green LP.

Furthermore, according to attention narrowing theory (Wilcox and Prokopec, 2019), we argue that when customers anticipate less guilt, their attentional scope while assessing green LP information will be greater than customers anticipating more guilt. Consequently, customers who anticipate less (vs more) guilt will be more likely to focus on less relevant information (e.g. the physical appearance of frontline service employees) in the environment.

We argue that if customers find frontline service employees physically attractive, they may evaluate the green LP more positively (i.e. halo effect), making it more likely for them to join it. On the other hand, if they perceive the frontline service employees as less attractive, the halo effect may have less impact, making it less likely for them to join the green LP. Based on this argument, we hypothesise that the negative relationship between trait reactance and the intention to join a green LP will be strongest among customers who both anticipate less guilt for not participating in a green LP and perceive frontline service employees as less attractive. Our theorising leads to a three-way interaction effect (Dawson and Richter, 2006) among trait reactance, anticipated guilt and physical attractiveness. That is, the significance of the three-way interaction can determine whether the moderating effect of anticipated guilt on the relationship between trait reactance and participation intention is influenced by the other moderator (i.e. physical attractiveness). Therefore, we propose the following hypotheses (see Figure 1 for conceptual model):

Across four studies (i.e. three preliminary studies and a main study), we aim to explore the conditions under which the negative influence of trait reactance on customers’ intentions would be reduced. In the preliminary studies 1A and 1B, we aim to further confirm that anticipated guilt, rather than anticipated shame, is relevant in our research context (see our discussion in detail in Supplementary Material Appendix S2). Preliminary Study 1B replicated Preliminary Study 1A and further ruled out the possibility that respondents might not be affected by the scenario and thus be unable to make a selection (see Supplementary Material Appendix S3). In Preliminary Study 1C, we aim to test the physical attractiveness of female vs male receptionists when their appearances look identical (e.g. clothes, posture, background colour, location, facial expression). We use Preliminary Study 1C to support the view that female receptionists will be rated as more attractive than male receptionists when they look similar (see Supplementary Material Appendix S4).

In the main study, we aim to demonstrate a significant three-way interaction effect among trait reactance, anticipated guilt about not joining a green LP and the physical attractiveness of hotel staff. Note that our dependent variable in the main study is intention to participate in a green LP. This means that participation in the green LP requires members to engage in pro-environmental behaviours during their stay in the hotel to earn loyalty points. Therefore, if members agree to participate in the green LP, they are expected to engage in pro-environmental behaviours. Nevertheless, non-members might still engage in pro-environmental behaviours during their stay in the hotel. However, they would not be able to reap the benefits of the green LP as the members would.

We employ the scenario-based survey method, chosen for its ability to replicate the impact of LPs within realistic contexts such as hotel environments, thereby enhancing the applicability and pertinence of LP management strategies (Steinhoff and Palmatier, 2016). However, as highlighted by previous literature, using surveys raises concerns about the validity of findings (Bell et al., 2022). Our decision against using experimental methods in this study stems from the challenges associated with manipulating variables such as the physical attractiveness of frontline service employees – categorising them into groups perceived as either highly attractive or less attractive. This challenge arises due to the subjective nature of physical attractiveness.

We collected data using an online survey via Qualtrics through a non-probabilistic sampling technique. We cooperated with a Chinese research agency located in Shenzhen. Participation was voluntary. We included a cover letter in the survey that conveyed the nature of the research, assured respondents of their anonymity, emphasised voluntary involvement and underscored the confidentiality of their responses. The agency sent the questionnaire link to its panel members and used a filtering system to ensure that only the respondents who held Chinese nationality and currently lived in mainland China participated. We targeted only Chinese customers because Chinese consumers contribute significantly to outbound tourism worldwide, becoming a key growth driver for many destinations (Pershikov, 2023) and contributing to significant environmental problems (Wei et al., 2023).

Our initial sample size was 898. However, 62 cases were removed due to inattentive and careless responses calculated using the long string index and the Mahalanobis distance (DeSimone et al., 2015). Specifically, we detected careless responses using the “R package careless” (Yentes, 2021), leaving an effective sample size of 836. Of the respondents, 56.2% were female, while the average age of respondents was 32 years old (ranging from 23 to 56 years). Most respondents (77.4%) had a bachelor’s degree, and most were employed full-time (89.6%). The demographic information of respondents is displayed in Table 1.

Our research used a hypothetical scenario of the check-in process at a middle-market international hotel chain. We had two reasons for using this stimulus: first, the scenario material about middle-market international hotel chains has been commonly used in earlier literature (Hang et al., 2020). Furthermore, some middle-market hotels globally operate green LPs (e.g. IHG and Marriott). Second, the hypothetical scenario allowed us to avoid the respondents having any pre-existing knowledge of a hotel brand.

Respondents were presented with a scenario which included a description and an image of a female receptionist at a fictional middle-market international hotel chain (ABC). The scenario described a situation where the respondents were first-time visitors to the ABC hotel for leisure. A female receptionist helped with the check-in process and introduced the ABC hotel’s green LP to respondents. The female receptionist was smiling, wearing a uniform and standing behind a counter (see  Appendix). After going through the scenario, respondents were asked to answer a realism check question [i.e. “Please indicate that the scenario described above is”, (1 = very unrealistic; 5 = very realistic)] and reported their understanding of the scenario [i.e. “I can imagine myself in the scenario”, (1 = strongly disagree; 5 = strongly agree)].

All constructs were measured using a seven-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree, except where otherwise mentioned. A translation and back-translation process was used to ensure the accuracy of the Chinese translation of the original English measures. An 11-item scale (α = 0.97), as in Hong and Faedda (1996), was used to measure trait reactance. The anticipated guilt scale consisted of three items (α = 0.89) adopted from Amatulli et al. (2019). We measured respondents’ perceptions of the physical attractiveness of the receptionist using a three-item scale (α = 0.79) from Kim and Kim (2021). A three-item scale by Bamberg et al. (2015) was used to measure intention to participate in green LPs (α = 0.76).

For control variables, we measured respondents’ perception of the ABC hotel’s motive by using a single-item scale from Gao and Mattila (2014) (“Please indicate your perception of the motivation of the ABC hotel in promoting the green loyalty programmes” (from 1 = self-interested to 7 = environment interested). We used this single item because earlier literature had indicated that customers’ perceptions of a hotel’s underlying motives could influence intention (Chernev and Blair, 2015; Wang et al., 2017). A three-item scale (α = 0.76) measuring pro-environmental attitudes was adapted from Zhang et al. (2021). These three items were included because prior literature had demonstrated that pro-environmental attitudes would influence customers’ green behaviour (Graton et al., 2016). The results of realism checks, ease of processing, confirmatory factor analysis and common method bias are displayed in the Supplementary Material Appendix S5.

To test our hypotheses, we conducted a hierarchical regression using SPSS version 27. First, we mean-centred the key psychometric constructs (i.e. trait reactance, anticipated guilt, physical attractiveness) before generating the proposed interaction term to produce a meaningful interpretation (Hayes, 2013). Next, we created three two-way interaction terms (i.e. trait reactance × anticipated guilt, trait reactance × physical attractiveness, anticipated guilt × physical attractiveness) as well as a three-way interaction term (trait reactance × anticipated guilt × physical attractiveness). In our analysis, we first entered the covariates (i.e. perceived hotel motive and pro-environmental attitude; Model 1). Next, we entered trait reactance as the main effect variable (i.e. Model 2), followed by the two-way interaction terms (i.e. Model 3) and finally, the three-way interaction term (i.e. Model 4).

Our results are presented in Table 2. Our results revealed that the two control variables, perceived motive (b = 0.15, p < 0.001) and pro-environmental attitude (b = 0.74, p < 0.001), as expected, both had a significant positive influence on customers’ intention (i.e. Model 1). The main effect of customers’ trait reactance on intention to join the green LP (i.e. Model 2) was significant (b = −0.03, p < 0.05), supporting H1 that respondents’ trait reactance has a negative association with the intention to join ABC hotel’s green LP. According to Model 3, the interaction between trait reactance and anticipated guilt was significant (b = 0.05, p < 0.001), supporting H2. Moreover, Model 4 shows that the three-way interaction among trait reactance, anticipated guilt and physical attractiveness was negative and significant (b = −0.03, p < 0.05), supporting H3. To further validate our findings, we conducted a slope difference test to confirm the three-way interaction effects (see details in the Supplementary Material Appendix S5). In addition, following recommendation by Daryanto (2019) and Daryanto and Lukas (2022), we conducted an additional check for potential spuriousness of our significant moderation effect. The results of the analysis revealed that no threat to the validity of the moderation effect was found (see details in the Supplementary Material Appendix S5).

In this research, we explored the conditions under which customers may join a green LP when they experience psychological reactance induced by green LP offers. As hypothesised, we found that when customers have a high level of trait reactance, they show a low intention to join the green LP as a way of addressing the threat to their consumption freedom. This result corroborates findings in LP research where trait reactance has been found to be negatively related to customers’ reactions towards LP offerings (Bertini and Aydinli, 2020; Kivetz, 2005; Wendlandt and Schrader, 2007). As our study is conducted in the context of green LPs, we extend the findings from the general LP research into a new specialised context.

Regarding the second hypothesis, we found that anticipated guilt moderates the relationship between trait reactance and intention to join a green LP. This result is consistent with findings in the literature on the problem-focused coping strategy of guilt (Duhachek et al., 2012), in which customers tend to amend their future behaviour to reach a desirable outcome (e.g. protecting the environment) (Theotokis and Manganari, 2015). We extend this line of research by indicating how the moderating role of anticipated guilt increases the persuasiveness of green LP promotion.

Regarding the third hypothesis, which is the three-way interaction hypothesis, we found that anticipated guilt and physical attractiveness jointly moderate the trait reactance-intention to join a green LP. In addition, according to Table 2, the two-way interaction effect between trait reactance and physical attractiveness on the green LP participation intention is insignificant, and the direct impact of physical attractiveness on customers’ intention to join a green LP is significant. This suggests that while physical attractiveness may not directly interact with trait reactance to shape customer decisions, it still plays a role in driving overall customer participation in green LPs. This three-way interaction suggests that the influence of these factors on customers’ intentions to join a green LP is more complex and interdependent than previously understood. Specifically, this three-way interaction highlights how the combination of these variables can either enhance or diminish a customer’s likelihood of participating in environmentally friendly initiatives.

To our knowledge, this is the first study to uncover a three-way interaction involving a personality trait (trait reactance), a servicescape factor (employee attractiveness) and a customer emotion (anticipated guilt). The findings provide insights for scholars and practitioners on mitigating the negative impact of psychological reactance and encouraging participation in green LPs.

The role of trait reactance in customer responses to green LPs has rarely been examined in the existing literature. To our knowledge, this research is the first to empirically demonstrate the boundary conditions under which customers’ trait reactance influences their intention to join green LPs. While previous studies have shown that psychological reactance induced by LP offerings can lead to negative customer reactions (e.g. Ding et al., 2021), our study identifies conditions under which this negative influence does not occur. Specifically, we provide evidence that customers, regardless of their level of trait reactance, respond similarly to green LP promotions when they anticipate a higher degree of guilt about not joining. This highlights the need to move beyond examining only the negative outcomes of psychological reactance and to better understand the factors that can alter its impact on customer decision-making in the context of green LPs.

Although previous research has established that anticipated guilt is effective in promoting sustainable behaviour among hotel customers (e.g. Theotokis and Manganari, 2015), no studies have explored its role in mitigating psychological reactance triggered by green LP offers. Our findings indicate that the level of anticipated guilt plays a crucial role: high anticipated guilt is key to persuading customers to join green LPs, while low anticipated guilt fails to effectively promote green LPs among high-trait-reactance customers. By associating anticipated guilt levels with customers’ trait reactance, this research addresses the question of how to enhance the promotional effectiveness of green LPs.

The literature on the effect of frontline service employees’ physical attractiveness presents mixed findings (Fang et al., 2020; Li et al., 2022; Wu et al., 2021). Our results reveal a positive effect of employees’ physical attractiveness on customers’ intention to join a hotel’s green LP, consistent with the halo effect (e.g. Langlois et al., 2000). This supports the idea that attractive frontline employees can positively influence customer decisions in a hotel setting. However, this effect disappears when customers experience high anticipated guilt about not joining the green LP. In such cases, customers’ attention narrows, and they pay less attention to the employees’ physical appearance. This offers new insights into the limitations of the halo effect and demonstrates a novel boundary condition for its influence.

In addition, our research examines the joint effect of physical attractiveness and anticipated guilt through the lens of attention-narrowing theory (e.g. Wilcox and Prokopec, 2019). Unlike previous studies such as Li et al. (2022), which focused on contexts where service failures attributed blame to firms, our research explores anticipated guilt arising from customers’ perceived failure to contribute to environmental goals. This provides a fresh perspective on the interplay between service employees’ physical attractiveness and customers’ emotions in shaping decisions related to green LPs.

This research has two key implications for hotel managers and marketers aiming to promote green LPs and encourage pro-environmental behaviour. First, our findings reveal that green LP promotions are less effective when customers experience low anticipated guilt about not joining. To increase the persuasiveness of such promotions, managers should design strategies to heighten customers’ guilt about environmental neglect. For instance, hotel managers could incorporate assessments of anticipated guilt in pre-arrival surveys to gauge customers’ environmental attitudes. Based on these insights, promotional appeals can be tailored to encourage green LP participation. Hotels can also educate guests on environmental issues through strategic interactions and visual prompts. For example, during check-in, staff could highlight the hotel’s environmental initiatives and demonstrate how guest choices contribute to sustainability. In-room materials and digital displays can visually reinforce these messages. Scandic Hotels, for instance, uses stickers with messages like “Turn off the tap for the sake of the planet” to encourage water conservation (Scandic, 2024).

Second, when considering the physical attractiveness of service employees, managers should also account for customers’ anticipated guilt. Our findings suggest that the positive influence of employees’ attractiveness on green LP promotion is limited to situations of low anticipated guilt. High anticipated guilt diminishes the halo effect of attractiveness, as customers focus more on their own environmental behaviour than on the employees’ appearance. Consequently, relying solely on physical attractiveness is not always effective. Instead, other factors, such as employee demeanour, communication skills and presentation, should be emphasised.

Rather than focusing on appearance in hiring decisions, hotels should prioritise training programmes that enhance employees’ confidence, communication skills and warmth, such as encouraging smiles which are perceived as both attractive and approachable (Li et al., 2022). These adjustable attributes allow hotels to maintain inclusive hiring practices while still improving customer engagement and relationships. Instead of relying on appearance, managers should prioritise training programmes that enhance employees’ communication skills, confidence and professionalism. For instance, training methods like Avatar-led Green Training (Hao et al., 2024) can significantly enhance organizational citizenship behaviour for the environment and green creativity by fostering workplace spirituality. By investing in employee development, hotels can ensure all staff contribute effectively to promoting green LPs, fostering a fair and inclusive workplace while improving customer experiences.

Several limitations in our research provide avenues for future research. First, while our focus is on hotels’ green LPs, future research could investigate how our findings can be replicated in the non-reward point LP where the rewards are not accumulative (e.g. planting a tree as a reward for engaging in the green LP) because it might create less reactance (i.e. customers do not need to accumulate points to redeem a reward).

Second, previous literature has demonstrated that if customers are sceptical about the motives behind the CSR programme of the firm, they will be less positive towards the CSR initiatives (Rahman et al., 2015; Nguyen et al., 2023). For example, Rahman et al. (2015) found that scepticism has a negative impact on hotel customers’ intention to participate in its linen reuse programme. Future research needs to explore the relationship among scepticism, trait reactance, anticipated guilt and physical attractiveness.

Third, we only focus on a specific culture (i.e. China). However, the standards and importance of physical attractiveness in service contexts vary in different cultures (Sugiyama, 2015). Future research could further examine our findings in different cultures.

Finally, our research pertains to the likelihood of joining the hotel’s green LP and does not include the observation of actual participation. Due to the attitude-behaviour gap in the sustainable hospitality literature, not all pro-environmental behavioural intentions will automatically translate into actual pro-environmental behaviour (Khan et al., 2024). Thus, future research could replicate our findings in a real-world field setting to further examine the interrelationship between intention to join green LPs and actual participation.

The authors would like to acknowledge that this paper has been adapted from the original PhD thesis work of Dr. Jingxi Huang (the first author), titled “Studies on the Influence of Customer Trait Psychological Reactance on Customer Behaviour in the Context of Green Loyalty Programmes”.

Imagine that you are checking into the ABC hotel for leisure purposes. ABC Hotel is a middle-market international hotel chain. This is the first time you have visited this hotel. As soon as you arrive at the reception desk, you are greeted by a female receptionist. The female receptionist asks for your last name and is able to pull up your reservation in seconds on the screen. At the end of your check-in, she tells you about the ABC hotel’s green LP. You learn that the green LP rewards guests if they exhibit pro-environmental behaviour while they are staying in the hotel (e.g. reuse towels). If you join this green LP, you can earn 100 green points for each booking. These green points can be used as 10 Chinese Yuan (CNY) for your future booking.

The supplementary material for this article can be found online.