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Review

Unveiling the Untapped Potential of Green Consumption in Tourism

by
Neringa Vilkaite-Vaitone
1,2,* and
Vilma Tamuliene
1,2
1
Department of Business and Rural Development Management, Faculty of Bioeconomy Development, Vytautas Magnus University, Studentu Str. 11, LT-53361 Akademija, Lithuania
2
Department of Management, Faculty of Business Management, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University (VILNIUS TECH), Sauletekio Av. 11, LT-10223 Vilnius, Lithuania
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Sustainability 2024, 16(1), 230; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16010230
Submission received: 2 November 2023 / Revised: 21 December 2023 / Accepted: 25 December 2023 / Published: 26 December 2023
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Development: Consumer Behavior and Circular Economy)
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Abstract

:
This paper aims to systematically review the existing literature to better understand multiple, complex facets of green consumption behaviour in the tourism sector and identify areas for future research. This review followed the PRISMA approach and analysed 92 studies published between 2009 and 2023 in high-impact journals. The present systematic review of scholarly studies on green consumption behaviour in tourism contributes to the existing literature, providing up-to-date research findings. Research has shown that studies on green consumption behaviour have predominantly centred on the accommodation industry. The Theory of Planned Behaviour has been widely utilised as a theoretical framework for such research. However, previous findings lack generalisability, and cross-cultural comparisons are insufficient. As a result, it is imperative to conduct additional research to create frameworks and models that can assist marketers in diverse cultural contexts. Additionally, expanding the scope of inquiry into green consumption behaviour within the tourism sector is crucial.

1. Introduction

The current global challenge of climate change has brought about an urgent need to address sustainability issues and promote environmental awareness. As a result, green consumption has gained significant personal and social relevance. Its rapid expansion has positioned it as a crucial study area in ecological consumption practices. Organisations in today’s marketplace are faced with pressure to go green. When this greenness can be reached only with customers onside, green consumption becomes a widely discussed topic. As individuals become more conscious of environmental pollution and the depletion of natural resources, eco-labelling, packaging recycling options, and organic compositions are gaining more attention [1]. These trends propel society towards a more sustainable approach to consumption that aligns with environmental preservation [2]. Green consumption has become a crucial area of interest for scholars and practitioners. Media, scientists, and business leaders emphasise the significance of green consumption.
Greening consumption patterns have become a global issue in the tourism industry, which is considered a driving force of economic growth [3]. With sustainability becoming more important to tourists than ever [4], marketers are adopting green marketing solutions to encourage environmentally friendly behaviour, such as reducing carbon emissions, preventing food waste, and saving energy and water. To combat environmental damage effectively, tourism organisations need to understand the consumption behaviour of their customers, i.e., the tourists, and choose the most suitable green marketing strategies.
The topic of green consumption behaviour has gained increased attention from scholars. International research mainly focuses on the gap between motivation and behaviour when choosing eco-friendly options [5,6,7]. Other studies examine the impact of intrinsic and extrinsic factors [8,9,10,11] and theories explaining green consumption behaviour [5,12,13]. Some research delves into green consumption behaviour in the context of tourism [12,14,15,16,17,18,19]. Past research has provided valuable insights, but the findings have a sharp lack of consistency. There exists a need for more comprehensive evidence to map out the existing intellectual territory fully. While existing review-based studies have explored green consumption behaviour [20,21], they have not explicitly focused on the tourism context. To address this gap, this paper aims to systematically review the literature to gain a deeper understanding of the different facets of green consumption behaviour in the tourism sector and identify areas for future research. This paper focuses on answering the following research questions:
RQ1. What is the current state of knowledge on green consumption behaviour in tourism?
RQ2. What are the main research development paths that emerge from the literature analysis?
To address the research questions, the current study meticulously examined the existing literature on green consumption behaviour in the tourism sector, pinpointing its key features. Additionally, it delved into the various theoretical perspectives that can shed light on this concept and identified the factors that influence tourists’ green consumption behaviour. Drawing insights from a systematic literature review, the study also outlines potential areas for future research in the realm of green consumption within the tourism industry.
The present study contributes to the literature on green consumption by systematically examining the antecedents of this phenomenon. Drawing on a range of theoretical sources, we identify and organise the fundamental categories of variables relevant to understanding the relationships underlying green consumption. This analysis provides a valuable resource for scholars interested in further investigating the complexities of green consumption in the tourism sector.
In particular, our research highlights the importance of cultural background as a contextual factor that may influence the strength or weakness of green consumption. This crucial aspect of green consumption has not yet been fully explored within the tourism industry. By providing a solid foundation for future research, our study enhances the understanding of green consumption and its implications for sustainable tourism.
This article is structured as follows. The next section provides a detailed overview of the research methodology used in the study. The subsequent section includes an analysis of the results obtained. The authors then discuss the findings and suggest future avenues for research on green consumption behaviour in the tourism sector. Lastly, the article provides conclusions that reveal theoretical and practical implications and research limitations.

2. Literature Review

With the growing emphasis on environmental issues among consumers [22], it has become crucial for businesses to comprehend their customers’ intentions to consume sustainably and their actual behaviour. This understanding can provide valuable insights for organisations to delve into the domain of green marketing.
The concept of green consumption entails adopting attitudes and behaviours that minimise environmental impact, including reducing energy consumption, promoting recycling, and selecting environmentally friendly products [23]. Green consumption intention can be defined as a specific environmentally friendly behaviour that individuals engage in to demonstrate their concern for the environment [24]. This intention is anticipated to lead to actual consumption, which involves participating in green practices and consuming environmentally friendly products [25,26].
According to Amin and Tarun [27], sustainable consumption behaviour is based on recyclable products that have not been subjected to animal testing, are organic and fresh, and are ozone-friendly. This implies that green consumption is centred on green products, which involve manufacturing techniques that ensure stability for future generations [21]. As per Ge et al. [28], green consumption necessitates consumers to increase their efforts, such as paying environmental premiums for green products and modifying their original consumption habits. It is evident that green consumption is a critical aspect of responsible consumption and sustainable living.
Green consumption is a complex phenomenon that is shaped by a multitude of factors. The determinants of green purchasing behaviour are generally theory-specific, with the Theory of Planned Behaviour being a significant framework in explaining this phenomenon [27,29]. Attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control, and intentions have been identified as key factors that explain green consumption behaviour in various contexts. While Zhu et al. [30] grounded their research on green food consumption on the Theory of Planned Behaviour, they suggested classifying the determining factors as internal and external. According to scholars, internal influencing factors are related to consumers’ personal values, while external factors involve aspects of the social environment or governmental management. Ge et al. [28] have also confirmed the relevance of internal factors by stating that green consumption requires consumers to increase their efforts, such as paying environmental premiums for green products and changing their consumption habits. Xie et al. [31] have emphasised that many individual characteristics shape green consumption behaviour.
Sharma et al. [21] conducted a systematic literature review on the factors influencing green purchase behaviour. The review followed the Theory–Context–Characteristics–Methodology framework and covered 151 empirical studies on green purchase intention and behaviour published between 2000 and 2021. Four main groups of factors were identified: country level, industry level, product level, and consumer level [21].
Prior research has established that demographic characteristics are crucial in elucidating green consumption intentions and actual behaviours. Shahsavar and colleagues [32] have identified demographics as the most influential factors in pro-environmental behaviour. Notably, gender, age, education, occupation, and income are among the key factors significantly impacting green consumption behaviour [32,33,34,35,36,37,38].
The current state of research on green consumption involves the development of scales to measure the phenomenon. For instance, Quoquab and Mohammad [2] proposed the measurement of green consumption using cognitive, affective, and conative dimensions. The theory of mind serves as a theoretical basis to explain the construct of green consumption, which elucidates how individuals perceive and interpret other people’s behaviour by considering their thoughts and wants [2].
Despite the growing interest in green consumption, there has been a lack of attention towards examining how existing studies have contributed to this area of research, particularly in the tourism sector. Furthermore, the classification, variety, and roles of various factors that determine green purchasing behaviour in tourism contexts remain unexplored and require further investigation. Therefore, it can be argued that there is a significant knowledge gap in the existing literature on green consumption.

3. Materials and Methods

The authors conducted a systematic literature review to address the research questions using the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) approach. By adhering to PRISMA guidelines, this study ensures the replicability and scientific adequacy of the review. Using a guideline checklist strictly followed in the article also adds to the credibility and validity of the research findings.
As the first step, we developed a review protocol and a search strategy. To find relevant publications for the topic, we followed specific review questions to select appropriate search keywords. We used the following algorithm for the search on the topic: (“Green Consumption” OR “Sustainable consumption “OR “Sustainable purchasing” OR “Green purchase” OR “Green purchasing” OR “Green consumer” OR “Green customer”) AND (“Hospitality” OR “Hotel” OR “Tourism” OR “Tourist” OR “Travel”). We utilised the Clarivate Analytics Web of Science (CA WoS) and Scopus search engines to find pertinent articles. These search engines are well regarded worldwide as leading sources and have been extensively utilised in previous studies [39,40]. The focus on high-impact journals indexed in the selected engines ensured the thoroughness and interdisciplinary approach. As a result, we gathered 228 records from CA WoS and 247 from Scopus, allowing us to comprehensively analyse the topic at hand.
In the next step, we identified relevant publications and conducted a practical screening process. We only included peer-reviewed academic journal publications, excluding books, conference proceedings, and editorials. This ensured that our review only considered peer-reviewed articles. Additionally, the analysis was limited to English-language papers. After removing duplicates, 239 studies were transferred to the thematic screening. The screening resulted in the exclusion of 101 studies that were not relevant to the research scope. For example, the study by Tabash et al. [41] was excluded at this stage. Although the authors investigated the impact of religious tourism on economic development, energy consumption, and environmental degradation and mentioned the keywords “green consumption”, “tourism”, “tourist”, and “hotel”, the article did not explicitly focus on green consumption behaviour, which was our research topic.
Further, the full-text versions of all 113 remaining publications were read entirely, and the articles contributing to answering research questions were sorted out. As a result of this exclusion, the total number of articles included in the systematic literature review decreased from 475 to 92 (Figure 1).
The initial step in obtaining valuable insights into research questions is transforming the data into a usable format. To attain this objective, all pertinent articles were scrupulously categorised in MAXQDA and MS Excel spreadsheets through a rigorous coding process. These codes acted as tags, enabling the retrieval and categorisation of similar data. Following this, the collected data were analysed through descriptive and thematic approaches. For the descriptive analysis, we employed a deductive approach and focused on classifying papers according to the year, journals, authors, methods applied, and research context, including the industries addressed, if any. We followed the classification Williams and Horodnic [42] suggested for the tourism industries. They offered a typology of tourism industries, including visitor accommodation, food and beverage serving activities, railway, road, water, air passenger transport, transport equipment rental, travel agencies, other reservation service activities, cultural activities, sports, and recreational activities. The thematic analysis was more inductive and designed to characterise the phenomenon of green consumption behaviour. We aimed to identify the theories addressing green consumption behaviour and determinants.

4. Results

The current study reviewed 92 papers on green consumption behaviour in the tourism sector. In the upcoming subsections, we will outline the results from the systematic literature review. Firstly, we will highlight the distribution of papers across the time, journal, and geography. Secondly, we will briefly overview the theoretical and methodological approaches used in these studies and the tourism industries. Finally, we will present a comprehensive list of factors determining green consumption behaviour.
Figure 2 displays the distribution of papers throughout the years. It reveals that there has been a steady increase in research on green consumption behaviour in the tourism industry over time. All of the papers that were analysed and met the criteria for inclusion were published between 2009 and 2023. Notably, the number of papers on this topic significantly rose from 2019 onward. Specifically, 75 of the 92 papers included in the review (82%) were published between 2019 and 2023, indicating a growing scholarly interest in green consumption behaviour in tourism.
Table 1 presents a ranking of journals based on the number of papers they published and their impact factor. These data were computed in 2022, and we retrieved the Journal Impact Factor (IF) and Citation Indicator (JCI) from CA WoS and CiteScore, SJR, and SNIP indicators from Scopus. In total, the selected 92 papers were published across 48 different journals. The first eight journals published almost half of all the papers (48%). Only 19 journals published two or more papers about green consumption behaviour in tourism. It is important to note that this distribution across journals shows a high degree of fragmentation in the literature, except for “Sustainability”, which published 12 articles between 2019 and 2022.
Research locations helped to provide a view of geographical trends in green consumption behaviour research. We found that most studies focused on specific areas within a single country, like hotels, cities, or places of interest. China ranked as the leader with twenty publications, followed by the U.S. with twelve, Malaysia with eight, Taiwan with seven, and Turkey with five. India and South Korea came next with four studies each, while Portugal, Pakistan, and the United Kingdom had three. Spain and Italy were each covered in two studies. Distinct studies were conducted in Poland, Bangladesh, Norway, Ghana, Indonesia, South Africa, Thailand, and Vietnam. Out of the literature set, three studies were international. For instance, Mehmetoglu [43] researched 900 international tourists from the UK, Germany, and France visiting Northern Norway. Another study compared European and non-European tourists’ sustainable consumption values and choices [44]. The third study analysed respondents from Europe, Brazil, and North America to determine if sustainable consumption behaviour affects luxury service purchase intentions in the hospitality industry [45]. Asia had the highest number of studies (60%) in the literature set.
Most (77%) of the studies in the tourism sector used at least one specific theory to understand green consumption behaviour. The rest did not use any guiding theory. The Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) is commonly applied in green tourism and is also dominant in explaining conventional customer behaviour [29]. TPB demonstrates that attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control can explain consumption intentions and behaviour. TPB has also been modified to analyse various possible impacts not included in the original model [27,46]. However, some scholars have criticised TPB for ignoring external and situational factors determining customer behaviour. To address this, Tang et al. [47] combined TPB with the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), which includes factors representing individual perception, to explain green consumption behaviour in urban and rural destinations. Other theories and models, such as the Stimulus–Organism–Response (SOR), Value–Belief–Norm (VBN), Signalling, and Goal-Framing theories, have also been utilised in the literature. In most studies, behavioural theories have helped shed light on the multi-faceted issue of green consumption behaviour.
The papers on green consumption behaviour were sorted into three groups based on their research methods: qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-method. Qualitative studies utilised interviews, focus group discussions, and observations, while quantitative studies collected data through surveys, experiments, online research, or Application Programming Interface (API) streaming. Mixed-method studies combined both approaches. Most studies (84%) were quantitative, only 9% were qualitative and 8% were mixed-method. This distribution suggests that survey data are preferred by scholars for modelling and testing relationships related to green consumption behaviour. Researchers commonly use structural equation modelling (SEM) to test their models, indicating that the research stream has matured and confirmatory works are prevalent.
In Table 2, we can see which tourism industries were examined in the literature review. The most commonly studied industry was accommodations, with 51 studies covering hotels, eco-accommodations, and peer-to-peer accommodations [45,48,49,50,51,52,53,54]. Other tourism industries were only touched upon in one to four studies each. Most empirical studies focused on a single industry, with only a few publications comparing industries. Rahman [55] tested the assumption that product involvement may affect behavioural intentions for different green products, using organic wines, green hotels, and green cars as examples. Another cross-industry comparison study examined sustainable consumption in green hotels and restaurants [56]. Brzustewicz and Singh’s [57] survey covered organic/vegan food, sustainable energy, and sustainable transport, but it did not involve cross-industry comparisons since the data were collected from Twitter and only specific industries were covered in the discovered topics.
The analysed studies focused on factors influencing green consumption behaviour. Table 3 categorises the factors based on their relationship type (independent, mediating, or moderating).
In the reviewed literature, 79 different independent variables were addressed. Subjective norms were found to be a common factor in many publications [27,72,73], with 33 studies examining subjective norms’ impact on green consumption behaviour. Attitude (towards tourism setting/green behaviours) was present in 25 publications. Environmental consciousness was covered in 24 articles, while environmental knowledge was discussed in 18. Many (17 studies) tested the influence of perceived value (altruistic, green, biospheric, hygiene, emotional, environmental, epistemic, and experiential). Perceived behavioural control, based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB), was included in 15 studies as one of the model elements. A considerable number of models explaining the phenomenon of green consumption behaviour included customer satisfaction, perceived quality, corporate social responsibility, image, and behavioural intention.
Mediation was studied using 39 unique mediating variables across the research. Certain variables in the studies were considered necessary for an independent variable to affect a dependent one. Moderation was explored by scholars using 11 different moderating variables. After reviewing the literature, it was found that certain factors such as environmental consciousness, knowledge, perceived value, social responsibility, and others can either strengthen or weaken the relationship between independent and dependent variables.
The scrutinised literature set involved studies that explored green consumption behaviour as a dependent variable, mediator, or moderator. While these studies matched the chosen keywords, we filtered out those that only used green consumption as a dependent variable to ensure the rigorous identification of green consumption in the tourism sector. Some studies had multiple dependent variables, but we included them in the analysis if at least one of the variables covered green consumption behaviour.
The present discourse aims to propose a comprehensive framework for classifying factors determining green consumption behaviour in the context of tourism. Drawing upon a systematic literature review, we suggest that these factors can be divided into four distinct groups, namely, (1) factors determined by touristic organisations, (2) individual tourists’ factors, (3) context factors, and (4) tourists’ demographic profile.
In this regard, we suggest an extension of the Theory of Planned Behaviour, positing that in the case of green consumption, the intention may be determined by various external and internal factors. External factors comprise a range of tourism organisation endeavours, such as eco-branding, eco-labelling, green marketing tools, social responsibility initiatives, service quality, environmental promotion, green supply chain management, eco-innovativeness, price, sensory appeal, discounts, and the like.
We propose to group individual tourists’ factors into those related to the personality of the tourist, his or her attitude, and behaviour. Personality-related factors involve altruism, attachment to authenticity, self-confidence, optimism, emotional well-being, motivation, persuasiveness, self-expression, status consciousness, and the like. Attitudinal factors cover perceived value, environmental knowledge, environmental consciousness, connectedness to nature, commitment, brand trust, perceived costs, and the like. Behavioural factors include habit strength, willingness to pay, and price sensitivity.
Context factors include social environment (social and environmental sustainability, social norms, stakeholders’ environmental pressure), health environment (health concern, health risk, destination identification, green spaces, tourism experiences, destination trust, entertainment of rural tourism experience, green ambient conditions), and security (crisis and security, risk perception, uncertainty and fear of COVID-19, unusualness of environment), among others.
Additionally, we argue that the demographic profile of tourists, including education, religiosity, age, gender, income, ethnicity, marital status, and generation, can impact green consumption behaviour. Based on the framework proposed by Zhu et al. [30], we suggest that tourism organisation endeavours, as a set of external factors, may impact individual tourists’ factors. Both groups’ factors impact green consumption intention, which leads to green consumption behaviour. However, individual tourist factors mediate the relationship between tourism organisation endeavours and green consumption intention, indicating their crucial role in fostering green consumption behaviour (Figure 3).
Context factors moderate the relationship between green consumption intention and actual behaviour. It means that green consumption intention can result in stronger consumption behaviour in a better context.

5. Discussion

This study, which has reviewed the literature on green consumption behaviour, represents the first attempt to consolidate relevant research in the tourism sector. Based on the findings of the analysis, we have identified research gaps and possible avenues for future research.
The growing interest in green consumption behaviour reflects the view that green solutions become an attractive strategy for differentiating in a highly competitive tourism market. However, while most research focuses on the positive aspects of environmentally sustainable behaviour, [74] has shed light on a different perspective. The authors have pointed out the potential negative impact of green consumption on individuals, specifically related to emotional exhaustion and unneeded behaviour. This highlights the need for further research into the effects of green consumption on individuals.
The latest research on green consumption behaviour in the tourism sector indicates a significant increase in interest, particularly from Asian countries. The research has primarily focused on Chinese tourists, whose green consumption behaviour is heavily influenced by their collective culture [75]. Therefore, the results obtained from these studies may not apply to European countries, which were only studied in 13% of the literature pool. The vast differences in cultural dimensions make it difficult to generalise the results even for countries within the same continent. The research findings underscore the need further to investigate the cultural nuances of the countries under study. Despite the apparent cultural differences, the impact of these differences on green consumption has yet to be fully explored and warrants further academic inquiry. Therefore, it is crucial to understand the target markets and why some tourists are reluctant to consume in a way that has zero, minimal, or reduced harmful environmental impact. This knowledge is essential for European countries to make a more significant effort to preserve the planet.
As stated by Miao and Wei [76], behaviour is influenced by context. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that green consumption behaviour in tourism may vary based on the industry. Most green consumption behaviour research has focused on the accommodation industry, as hotels and other accommodation facilities are the most convenient domains to study. Other tourism industries have relatively little literature available. Furthermore, the studies usually focus on individual industries, with few cross-industry comparisons available [55,56,57]. To improve the generalisability of research findings, we encourage empirical studies to be conducted on other tourism industries besides accommodation. Additionally, cross-industry research is necessary to gain a more comprehensive understanding of green consumption behaviour in the tourism sector.
Tourists are diverse in their interests, preferences, perceptions, and behaviour, all of which are influenced by a range of factors such as physiology, psychology, culture, and economics [77]. Culture, in particular, plays a significant role in consumption behaviour [77,78,79,80,81], as people from different cultures have different interpretations of consumption behaviour [79]. However, most studies in the tourism sector are limited to one country: either the tourists’ country of origin or the destination country. Mehmetoglu [43] identified predictors of sustainable consumption in tourism by involving three tourist-generating countries in Northern Norway (UK, Germany, and France), but there is a lack of studies that include multiple nationalities to compare cultural diversity in green consumption behaviour. Scholars such as Toni et al. [53], Kwon and Ahn [26], and Chi et al. [66] have highlighted this need as well. Therefore, we conclude that there is a demand for conclusive and consistent findings in studies investigating green consumption behaviour across different cultural backgrounds.
Too few studies have explained how cultural differences affect people’s consumption behaviour regarding green tourism products. Soldatenko and Backer [77] reviewed different studies about cross-cultural motivations in tourism and nationalities. Meanwhile, Chan and Chau [78] used a qualitative exploratory approach to examine how Asian and non-Asian tourists choose green tourism products. Starting from these studies, we aim to better understand how tourists from different cultures make conscious decisions about the consumption of green tourism products.
In order to address the gap in cross-cultural research on green consumption in tourism, we advocate for empirical studies utilising a proposed conceptual model of green consumption behaviour. Recognising the significance of cultural backgrounds and the existence of distinct groups of tourists concerning their green consumption habits, we propose including cultural factors as contextual variables. This addition would enable the investigation of how cultural backgrounds may enhance or diminish the relationship between the intention to consume sustainably and the actual behaviour exhibited.
If cultural differences are not handled properly, it can result in service failure and misunderstandings within the tourism industry [78]. Therefore, it is important to consider culture as a critical element in understanding consumers’ conscious green consumption behaviour in tourism.
The acquisition of knowledge concerning the factors that influence green consumption, along with their diverse range and typology, can significantly aid researchers in gaining an in-depth, empirical understanding of tourists’ green consumption behaviour. It is recommended that the proposed conceptual model be subjected to empirical testing within various cultural contexts and across different tourism industries. By incorporating culture as a contextual factor within the model, marketers can effectively target specific tourist segments. Additionally, the results obtained from applying the model may provide policy-makers with valuable information regarding the design of initiatives and incentives aimed at enhancing green consumption practices. The awareness of the factors that influence green consumption behaviour will assist tourism practitioners in promoting the potential of their country and attracting tourists more effectively. Understanding the impact of cultural differences on green consumption behaviour could help segment markets, design promotional programs, and create green marketing strategies that cater to each cultural segment.

6. Conclusions

The adoption of green solutions has the potential to significantly contribute to our planet’s wellness, health, and sustainability through the tourism industry. This study has reviewed research on green consumption behaviour within the tourism sector to outline its current state and suggest areas for future research.
This review is valuable for understanding a specific research area by synthesising the current empirical literature. Since there is limited research on green consumption behaviour, especially in the tourism industry, this paper helps to bring together existing knowledge and provide new insights into the factors that influence environmentally conscious buying habits.
This research was able to pinpoint the gaps in the literature on green consumption behaviour in tourism, which led to a conceptual contribution of this paper: the identification of possible avenues for future research. This paper also offers practical implications, serving as a valuable resource for time-conscious tourism professionals who cannot access the available literature. Specifically, this paper summarises the current research on green consumption behaviour, identifying the factors determining such behaviour. This information can be beneficial for those in the tourism industry who are looking to implement sustainable solutions. Additionally, there is potential for cross-cultural research to be conducted in the future. We hope that academic literature will continue to guide the industry as it moves towards sustainability.
Certain limitations to this study should be noted. Firstly, the dataset solely consisted of academic articles that were written in English. This means that other forms of publications or articles written in other languages were not included, which may have affected our findings. Future studies should consider including a broader scope of studies to overcome this limitation. Secondly, to balance this research’s depth and breadth, some relevant papers related to the research field may have been missed due to the exclusion of specific keywords in the search. Future studies could benefit from considering the inclusion of other keywords related to the phenomenon of green consumption behaviour. Lastly, the current systematic literature review focused solely on the tourism sector. It is recommended that future studies review the current state of the art in other sectors or conduct cross-sectoral comparisons to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the phenomenon.

Author Contributions

Conceptualisation, N.V.-V. and V.T.; methodology, N.V.-V. and V.T.; software, N.V.-V.; validation, N.V.-V.; formal analysis, N.V.-V.; investigation, N.V.-V.; resources, N.V.-V.; data curation, N.V.-V.; writing—original draft preparation, N.V.-V.; writing—review and editing, N.V.-V. and V.T.; visualisation, N.V.-V.; supervision, V.T.; project administration, V.T.; funding acquisition, N.V.-V. and V.T. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Funding

This project has received funding from the Research Council of Lithuania (LMTLT), agreement No. P-PD-22-105.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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Figure 1. The PRISMA flow diagram.
Figure 1. The PRISMA flow diagram.
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Figure 2. Publication volume in the literature across the years.
Figure 2. Publication volume in the literature across the years.
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Figure 3. A conceptual model of green consumption behaviour.
Figure 3. A conceptual model of green consumption behaviour.
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Table 1. Journals, impact factors, and citation measures.
Table 1. Journals, impact factors, and citation measures.
JournalNo. of Articles%PublisherJIF 1, 2022 (CA Wos)JCI 2, 2022 (CA WoS)Citescore 3, 2022SJR 4, 2022SNIP 5, 2022
Sustainability1213.0Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI)3.90.75.80.71.2
Journal of Sustainable Tourism66.5Taylor & Francis9.01.718.93.03.1
International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management44.3Emerald Publishing11.12.113.62.52.1
Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management44.3Elsevier8.31.910.11.81.9
Business Strategy and Environment33.3Wiley-Blackwell--17.82.92.8
International Journal of Hospitality Management33.3Elsevier11.73.018.32.92.7
Journal of China Tourism Research33.3Taylor & Francis1.90.53.70.61.0
Journal of Cleaner Production33.3Elsevier11.11.518.52.02.4
Journal of Environmental Planning and Management33.3Taylor & Francis3.90.97.10.91.2
Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research33.3SAGE4.20.98.01.41.5
Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing33.3Taylor & Francis7.22.014.92.12.1
British Food Journal22.2Emerald Publishing3.33.45.40.60.9
Frontiers in Psychology22.2Frontiers Media S.A.3.81.14.50.91.4
GeoJournal of Tourism and Geosites22.2Editura Universitati din Oradea--3.20.30.8
Heliyon22.2Elsevier4.00.85.60.61.3
Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management22.2Taylor & Francis12.51.916.62.52.4
Tourism Management Perspectives22.2Elsevier8.71.912.81.92.3
Tourism Review22.2Emerald Publishing7.81.612.81.92.1
Turyzm22.2Lodz University Press--0.60.10.1
Others2931.5------
1 JIF—Journal Impact Factor. It is a journal-level metric that is calculated from data indexed in WoS Core Collection. 2 JCI—Journal Citation Indicator. It is a measure of the average Category Normalised Citation Impact of citable items published by a journal over a recent three-year period. 3 CiteScore is a measure of average citations received per document published in the serial. 4 SJR is the SCImago Journal Rank. It is a measure of weighted citations received by a serial. 5 SNIP—Source Normalised Impact per Paper. It is a measure of actual citations received relative to citations expected for the serial’s subject field.
Table 2. Tourism industries in which empirical studies were applied.
Table 2. Tourism industries in which empirical studies were applied.
IndustriesNo. of
Articles		%Researched SettingsSelected
References
Accommodation for visitors5155.4Hotels (green, luxury), eco-accommodations, peer-to-peer (P2P) accommodations[45,48,49,50,51,52,53]
Food and beverage serving activities44.3Organic/local/vegan/green food, jams and marmalades [58,59,60]
Railway, road, water, and air passenger transport33.3Air travel[61,62]
Cultural activities22.2Festivals, marine parks[63,64]
Sports and recreational activities11.1Tiger reserves [65]
Other33.3Eco locations, community-based tourism enterprises, craft shopping tours[66,67,68]
Multiple industries33.3Organic/vegan food, sustainable energy, sustainable transport
Organic wines, green hotels, green cars
Restaurants, airlines		[55,56,57]
Not specified 2527.2-[43,47,69,70,71]
Total 92100.0--
Table 3. Factors determining green consumption behaviour in the tourism sector.
Table 3. Factors determining green consumption behaviour in the tourism sector.
Type of
Relationship		Factors
Independent variables Subjective norms, environmental knowledge, perceived behavioural control, attitude, environmental consciousness, perceived value, sustainable consumption behaviour, perceived quality, corporate social responsibility, green organisational practices, social norms, education, emotions, hedonic motives, image, perceived ease of use, religiosity, age, eco-brand, eco-label, gender, green marketing tools, green trust, income, status gratification, action skills, altruism, anticipated regret, attachment to authenticity, motivation, beliefs, consumer self-confidence, cultural experience, dispositional optimism, energy-saving norms, entertainment of rural tourism experience, environmental advertisement, escapism of experience, aesthetics of experience, ethnicity, explanatory-style optimism, fear of COVID-19, gain motives, green ambient conditions, green availability, green certification, green image congruence, green items, green marketing orientation, green measures, green price sensitivity, green spaces, green supply chain management, habit strength, health concern, interpersonal relation, marital status, message (appeal, framing, source), perceived consumer effectiveness, perceived control, perceived eco-innovativeness, perceived health risk, perceived informativeness, perceived persuasiveness, perceived price, personality traits, political orientation, psychological transformation costs, self-expression, sensory appeal, social and environmental sustainability, social media, stakeholders’ environmental pressure, uncertainty of COVID-19, unusual environment, vegetarianism, willingness to pay
Mediating variables Attitude, subjective norm, environmental consciousness, perceived value, customer satisfaction, behavioural intention, actual behaviour, the ascription of responsibility, emotional well-being, perceived behavioural control, desire, emotions, environmental communication, environmental knowledge, green image, perceived impact, promotion focus, willingness to pay more, brand identification, brand trust, commitment, connectedness to nature, consumer positive affectivity, crisis and security risk perception, customer–company identification, destination identification, eco-innovation adoption, green innovation, green place dependence, green place identity, green trust, hotel green practices, identity congruency, marketing orientation, perceived costs, perceived price, perceived quality, tourism experiences
Moderating variables Environmental consciousness, environmental knowledge, perceived value, social responsibility, cash discount incentives, destination trust, sustainable consumption behaviour, gender, generation, perceived behavioural control, status consciousness
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Vilkaite-Vaitone, N.; Tamuliene, V. Unveiling the Untapped Potential of Green Consumption in Tourism. Sustainability 2024, 16, 230. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16010230

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Vilkaite-Vaitone N, Tamuliene V. Unveiling the Untapped Potential of Green Consumption in Tourism. Sustainability. 2024; 16(1):230. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16010230

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Vilkaite-Vaitone, Neringa, and Vilma Tamuliene. 2024. "Unveiling the Untapped Potential of Green Consumption in Tourism" Sustainability 16, no. 1: 230. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16010230

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