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Article

Experiential Value, Overall Image, Revisit Intention, and Willingness to Pay a Premium in the Context of Environmentally Certified Hotel Restaurants: The Moderating Effect of Environmental Consciousness

by
Ju-Hee Ko
1,
Hee-Seog Kang
2 and
Jung-Woon Seo
3,*
1
Department of Hotel and Tourism, Hanyoung University, Yeosu 59720, Republic of Korea
2
Link 3.0 Project Group, Uiduk University, Gyeongju 38004, Republic of Korea
3
Department of Hotel and Foodservice Management, Cheongju University, Cheongju 28503, Republic of Korea
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Sustainability 2023, 15(17), 12913; https://doi.org/10.3390/su151712913
Submission received: 27 July 2023 / Revised: 18 August 2023 / Accepted: 24 August 2023 / Published: 26 August 2023
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) in Hospitality and Tourism Sector)
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Review Reports Versions Notes

Abstract

:
This study applies experiential value and overall image to identify antecedents of customers’ behavioral intention (revisit intention and willingness to pay a premium) toward environmentally certified hotel restaurants (ECHRs). Data from 391 individuals who responded that they had already visited at least one of three selected ECHRs of five-star hotels in South Korea were analyzed. The results show that playfulness had the greatest positive influence on the overall image of ECHRs, followed by service excellence and consumer return on investment. However, aesthetics had a negative effect on the overall image. Moreover, overall image was found to positively influence revisit intention and willingness to pay a premium. Thus, playfulness, service excellence, and consumer return on investment are important for inducing customers’ revisit intention and willingness to pay a premium in ECHRs. In addition, the moderating roles of environmental consciousness on the associations of overall image with revisit intention and with willingness to pay a premium were confirmed. The research design and results contribute to the literature on eco-friendly restaurants in the hospitality industry. Therefore, the theoretical framework verified in this study can be used as a basis for customer experience research on eco-friendly restaurants in hotels.

1. Introduction

As industrial activities have significant negative impacts on the environment, organizations, including those in the hospitality sector, have adopted various environmental strategies [1,2,3,4]. The hospitality industry has a particularly negative impact on the natural environment, putting increasing pressure on related companies to operate in an eco-friendly manner [5]. In addition, because of the strong consumer demand for eco-friendly products and services in recent years, the importance of eco-friendly and environmentally sustainable practices has been emphasized in the hospitality industry [6]. Indeed, eco-friendly initiatives are now widely adopted across industries, including the hospitality industry [7,8].
On the one hand, the hospitality industry improves the standard of living of consumers by providing them with conveniences such as accommodation, foods, and performances. On the other hand, water pollution, household waste, greenhouse gases, and food waste generated by this industry can be major causes of environmental pollution [6]. Therefore, hotels are increasingly implementing environmental certification programs to promote environmental management and engage with environmentally conscious consumers. Environmental certification serves as a means to distinguish real, fully green businesses from the simple provision of “green” products and services, and promotes the voluntary implementation of sustainability practices in hotels [5,9].
Even if consumers have environmental considerations or values, there currently are not many cases of research conducted with a direct focus on eco-friendly consumer behavior or consumption [10]. Therefore, studies that can narrow the gap between environmental considerations and values and actual actions are required. Many researchers have studied the eco-friendly practices [11,12,13,14,15] and green attributes [16,17] of eco-friendly hotels, restaurants, and coffee shops from the perspective of consumer behavior. However, they have very limitedly focused on customers’ eco-friendly experiences per se. Overall, experience is an important aspect of consumer perception of value in the service industry [18,19]. Accordingly, scholars have argued that eco-friendly experiences represent the value, usefulness, and experiential moments that can be derived from a hotel’s eco-friendly attributes [20]. In particular, full-service restaurants can gain a competitive advantage by increasing the experiential value of their products in addition to providing quality products and services [21]. Therefore, this study attempts to investigate the value inherent in eco-friendly experiences, an examination that has been overlooked by previous academicians. To this end, we applied the empirical value theory proposed by Mathwick et al. [19]. We share the belief of Mathwick et al. [19] and Sweeney and Soutar [22] that a multidimensional conceptualization of value perception is necessary to fully understand how consumers value a good/service [21]. Therefore, this study focuses on the relationship among customers’ experiential value, overall image, revisit intention, and willingness to pay a premium for environmentally certified hotel restaurants (ECHR).
Hotels mainly create eco-friendly policies to solve environment-related problems, and these policies provide various advantages, such as the possibility of engaging in differentiation strategies, positive image enhancement strategies, and corporate social responsibility strategies [4,23,24]. Indeed, eco-friendly practices improve corporate image, customer evaluation [25,26], satisfaction, repurchase (revisit), and word-of-mouth intention [27,28,29]. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct an in-depth investigation of the factors that lead to consumer experiential value, behavioral intention, and ECHR overall image from an eco-friendly perspective. This study also uses customer environmental consciousness as a moderator of the relation between ECHR overall image and consumer behavioral intentions. Consumers with stronger environmental consciousness have a higher awareness of brands with an eco-friendly image and show positive future action intentions toward such brands [13]. This allows us to assume that the relationship between ECHR overall image and consumer behavioral intentions varies by customer environmental consciousness level, and this assumption warrants further exploration.
Previous studies examining experiential value in the hospitality context have mainly focused on luxury hotels [30], full-service restaurants [21], pop-up restaurants [31], capsule hotels [32], and casinos [33]. However, in light of the growing consumer demand for eco-friendliness, this study focuses on eco-friendly hotel restaurants, specifically ECHRs. The reason for limiting our study to hotel restaurants rather than hotels in their entirety is that restaurants are being increasingly recognized for their ability to help mitigate many negative environmental impacts (e.g., reducing solid waste, and saving water and energy). This makes hotel restaurants more important than the other hotel departments regarding eco-friendliness [29]. Previous studies [21,30,31,32,33] have revealed that experiential values play an important role in consumer behavior. However, until now, no study has been conducted that investigated the role of applied experiential value and overall image as antecedents and their effect on customers’ behavioral intentions toward eco-friendly hotels or restaurants. Additionally, very few studies [34] have investigated the relationship between the overall image and behavioral intention in eco-friendly hotels or restaurants. Few attempts have been made to confirm the moderating role of customers’ environmental consciousness on the overall image and behavioral intention regarding an eco-friendly hotel or restaurant. This study attempts to fill this gap by integrating the overall image and environmental consciousness into experiential values to predict customers’ behavioral intentions regarding the ECHR. The design of this study differs from that of previous studies [21,30,31,32,33] on experiential values in non-eco-friendly hotels and restaurants in the hospitality industry. The results suggest the role of experiential values and environmental consciousness in predicting future consumer behavior towards eco-friendly restaurants, making a theoretical contribution to the hospitality literature. Our study has strong practical implications for the development of effective eco-friendly business strategies for sustainability-related endeavors.

2. Literature Review and Hypotheses

2.1. Experiential Value

Mathwick et al. [19] proposed the concept of experiential value to explain how the consumers’ evaluations of products and services are based on multidimensional experiences [35]. Thus, the concept of experiential value refers to the perception of value generated from consumer experience [21] and customers’ perceptions of relative preference for product attributes or service performance at service contact points [19]. Moreover, consumers’ experiential value perception is based on interactions involving either direct usage or distanced appreciation of goods and services that provide consumer preferences [19,31,35].
Holbrook [36] classified experiential values as intrinsic or extrinsic, active or reactive, and self- or other-directed. Based on this classification, Mathwick et al. [19] conceptualized and developed measures of experiential value, consisting of four dimensions, as follows: consumer return on investment (CROI), service excellence, aesthetics, and playfulness [37]. CROI is derived from the consumers’ calculation of return on investment for consumption episodes, which comprises an assessment of the economic usefulness of a product/service and a perception of the consumption experience gained from efficient use of time [38]. Service excellence refers to the quality, expertise, and skills required to meet customer expectations [21,35], and perceptions of such excellence are based on the level at which consumers perceive that a store delivers on its promises and professionally performs service tasks [39]. Aesthetics is manipulated as a sub-dimension of visual appeal and entertainment to express consumer admiration for aesthetics and emotive elements of products and services [37]. Finally, playfulness refers to the consumers’ enjoyment of participating in activities that provide a feeling of escape from everyday life [19,35].
When an individual visits a service location and purchases a product or service, the consumption experience is integrated into future service consumption-related decision-making processes, such as choosing a tourism destination [40]. This process of integration helps memorable experiences form images in a person’s mind [41,42]. Since tourists compare the cost and enjoyment they can obtain from an activity during related decision-making, CROI is considered a determinant of the overall perception of a destination [43,44]. Accordingly, the experiential value of a service plays an important role in the conceptualization of service brand image. O’Cass and Grace [45] state that experience is a useful concept for understanding service brand image because it represents the customer’s view of the service and the symbolic meaning generated during service consumption [46]. Moreover, the physical evidence of a hotel building is an important “atmosphere” factor influencing customer experience and choice [47] and has been shown to have a decisive impact on service evaluation [48]. Scholars also show that playfulness can enrich the dining experience and, in turn, improve consumers’ overall perception of restaurant brands [44].
Several tourism and hospitality studies have confirmed the significant relationship between experiential values and image. Hung, Lin, Yang, and Lu [49] confirmed that the visiting tourists’ overall image of Macau, China, is enhanced if CROI and service excellence are achieved, or if playfulness and aesthetics are achieved together through the experiential value perspective. According to Tsai and Wang [44], CROI has a positive effect on place food image. They [44] argued that service excellence can add value to the customers’ experience and improve a restaurant’s image, and the aesthetics of the food tourism experience can strengthen the image of the food brand. Wang et al. [50] divided the sub-factors of destination image into four categories—product image, facility and quality image, service image, and price image—and confirmed their relationship with experiential value. The results showed that CROI, service excellence, and aesthetics had positive effects on all four subfactors of destination image. The integration of playfulness was found to have a positive effect on products, facilities, and image quality. In a study targeting customers of nostalgic restaurants, Chen et al. [41] identified experiential value as an antecedent of restaurant image enhancement. In the context of beach resorts, indoor/outdoor physical evidence has been identified as an important factor strengthening the overall image [51]. Thus, the four dimensions of experiential value (i.e., CROI, service excellence, aesthetics, and playfulness) have been identified as important antecedents of image. In the current study, these four factors are proposed as important predictors of overall image improvement for ECHRs. Therefore, based on previous research, the following hypotheses were proposed:
Hypothesis 1 (H1). 
CROI has a significant positive effect on overall image.
Hypothesis 2 (H2). 
Service excellence has a significant positive effect on overall image.
Hypothesis 3 (H3). 
Aesthetics has a significant positive effect on overall image.
Hypothesis 4 (H4). 
Playfulness has a significant positive effect on overall image.

2.2. Overall Image

Image can be conceptualized as an individual’s overall perception of a place based on information acquired and processed over time [52]. Researchers have extensively discussed the concepts of destination image, product image, and brand image [53]. According to Ragab, Mahrous, and Ghoneim [54], destination image is “a set of feelings, emotions, attitudes, or traveler’s overall perception that a tourist has toward a destination” [55]. Some destination researchers have described overall image as the sum of beliefs, thoughts, and impressions that individuals may have about a place [34]. Kotler, Haider, and Rein [56] defined overall image as the global set of consumers’ beliefs, impressions, and ideas about a company, brand, product, service, or destination. Han and Hyun [57] defined the overall image of a luxury hotel restaurant as a set of beliefs and impressions customers have about restaurant products and their attributes.
Tourists with a positive perception or impression of a destination are more likely to choose that destination [58]. This is also applicable to eco-friendly hotels, as a high recognition of the image of the hotel as being eco-friendly leads to high likelihood of the hotel being selected as a destination [53]. Furthermore, researchers have described that the competitive climate surrounding the hotel industry in recent years has occurred primarily because most hotels offer homogenous products and services [59]. Accordingly, improving hotel overall image is an effective way to help it stand out from its competitors [60].
Several hospitality studies support the impact of overall image on customers’ decision-making processes. A study by Ryu, Han, and Kim [61] supported the relationship between overall image and behavioral intention, as the overall image of a restaurant was found to play an important role in shaping behavioral intentions in a fast casual restaurant situation. Han et al. [34] confirmed that customers’ overall image of an eco-friendly hotel has a positive effect on visit intention, word of mouth, and willingness to pay more; they also showed that it is important for eco-friendly hotel managers to enhance the hotel’s eco-friendly image. Lee et al. [52] found that the overall image of an eco-friendly hotel had a positive effect on word of mouth, willingness to pay a premium, and revisit intention [62]. Martínez García de Leaniz et al. [5] further depicted that the image of an environmentally certified hotel was an antecedent of improved intention to stay and pay a premium. Overall, the literature suggests a positive association between overall image, revisit intention, and the willingness to pay a premium. Therefore, based on previous research, the following hypotheses were proposed:
Hypothesis 5 (H5). 
Overall image has a significantly positive effect on revisit intention.
Hypothesis 6 (H6). 
Overall image has a significantly positive effect on willingness to pay a premium.

2.3. Behavioral Intention

Fishbein and Ajzen [63], using the theory of reasoned action to examine individuals’ deliberate decision-making processes, first described behavioral intention as the most accurate predictor of actual behavior [34]. Ajzen and Fishbein [64] further posited that behavioral intention corresponds to the probability of a consumer engaging in a specific behavior and represents an immediate precursor of actual behavior. Behavioral intention is also considered an important aspect of brand loyalty and refers to “a stated likelihood to engage in a behavior” [57,65]. In other studies, behavioral intention is a consumer’s belief and will to express a specific future behavior after forming an attitude toward a certain object [66,67].
Several key dimensions have been studied to investigate customer behavioral intentions. Zeithaml and Bitner [68] suggested that behavioral intentions include positive word of mouth, recommendation to others, promotion of affection, revisit accompanied by others, and willingness to pay a premium. Behavioral intention in the green hotel context has been presented as consumer intention to stay, spread word of mouth, and pay a premium price to stay in an environmentally certified hotel [5,69]. In this study, behavioral intention refers to the established likelihood that a customer will visit an ECHR and be willing to pay a premium.

2.4. Moderating Effect of Environmental Consciousness

Schlegelmilch, Bohlen, and Diamantopoulos [70] defined environmental consciousness as “an evaluation of, or an attitude towards facts, one’s own behavior or other’s behavior with consequences for the environment” [71]. In addition, Cottrell [72] stated that environmental consciousness is a concept that motivates eco-friendly behavior, consciousness, or individual values aimed at solving problems related to environmental pollution. Consumers have become increasingly environmentally conscious, owing to various environmental awareness efforts, and have become willing to purchase eco-friendly products that have fewer harmful impacts on society [73]. Environmentally conscious consumers are concerned about the environmental issues that our society currently faces (i.e., production and consumption activities) and generally engage in pro-environmental behaviors [74,75]. Therefore, because of these changing consumer behaviors, the related organizations need to provide eco-friendly products that comply with and are based on consumer preferences [73,76]. Even during hotel selection decision-making, a person who is more environmentally conscious (vs. those less environmentally conscious) may be more likely to consider environmental issues (e.g., environmental certifications) [5]. Consumers are also more likely to develop positive behavioral intentions (e.g., intention to visit, intention to spread word of mouth, and willingness to pay a premium) toward environmentally certified hotels to satisfy their personal values and increase their level of self-esteem [5].
Previous studies have investigated the role of environmental consciousness as a moderator of customers’ decision-making processes for eco-friendly restaurants. In a study on the food service industry, Namkung and Jang [26] revealed that restaurant customers’ environmental consciousness moderates the evaluation of eco-friendly practices, eco-friendly brand image, and willingness to revisit. Jeong and Jang [77] found that a group with high environmental consciousness (vs. low environmental consciousness) showed higher consumer efficiency and stronger relationships among the three components of eco-friendly practice, eco-friendly brand image, and behavioral intention. In addition, according to Martínez García de Leaniz et al. [5], hotel customers’ environmental consciousness moderates the causal relationship between eco-friendly image and behavioral intention: the higher the environmental consciousness, the greater the influence of an eco-friendly image on the intention to stay at the hotel, use positive word of mouth, and pay a premium price. Based on these findings, this study proposes hypotheses 7 and 8 (H7 and H8, respectively), assuming that the environmental consciousness of ECHR customers moderates the relationship between overall image and behavioral intention and overall image and willingness to pay a premium.
Hypothesis 7 (H7). 
Environmental consciousness significantly moderates the relationship between overall image and revisit intention.
Hypothesis 8 (H8). 
Environmental consciousness significantly moderates the relationship between overall image and willingness to pay a premium.
All the hypotheses are shown in the research model depicted in Figure 1.

3. Methodology

3.1. Research Instrument

This study analyzed the following seven factors: the four sub-dimensions of experiential value (CROI, service excellence, aesthetics, and playfulness), overall image, revisit intention, and willingness to pay a premium. All variables were measured using multiple items adapted from measurement tools in the literature on the eco-friendly hotel industry. The four items on CROI were based on the studies by Wu and Liang [30] and Tsai and Wang [44], and the three items on service excellence were extracted from the research conducted by Gupta et al. [20] and Taylor et al. [31]. The three items on aesthetics were taken from the research by Wu and Liang [30] and Tsai and Wang [44], and the four items on playfulness were taken from the studies by Tsai and Wang [44] and Gupta et al. [20]. The four items on overall image were taken from the studies by Han et al. [34], Kubickova et al. [53], and Wang et al. [60]; the four items on revisit intention were extracted from the study by Teng and Wu [78]. The three items on willingness to pay a premium were extracted from the studies by Han et al. [34] and Martínez García de Leaniz et al. [5]. To measure consumer environmental consciousness, seven items were used and extracted from the study by Huang, Lin, Lai, and Lin [79].
Questionnaire items were translated from English to Korean using a blinded reverse translation method. The translated questionnaire was carefully reviewed by an expert panel consisting of three professors majoring in hotel and restaurant management and three eco-friendly hotel operators. The questionnaire was responded to on a 7-point Likert-type scale ranging from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (7).

3.2. Sampling and Data Collection

The Ministry of Environment, an agency of the Korean government, is implementing an eco-friendly hotel certification system to select hotels that actively participate in environmental improvement programs and the efficient use of resources. The eco-friendly hotel service certification standards reflect the results of the process evaluation of hotel services and various environmental improvement programs implemented domestically and internationally in seven sectors: water, waste, chemicals, energy, green purchasing, environmental management, and auxiliary facilities. It comprises 66 environmental and quality standards [80]. In this study, three 5-star hotels (Lotte Hotel, Walkerhill Hotel, and Intercontinental Hotel) with eco-friendly hotel certification were selected for sampling. Survey participants were male and female residents of South Korea who visited at least one of the three selected ECHRs.
Data collection was conducted online through ENTRUST, a global online research company, from 1–15 April 2023. Respondents were asked if they had eaten at one or more of the three ECHRs in the last three months. After explaining the purpose of this study to participants who responded that they had experience of dining at one or more of the three ECHRs and obtaining their informed consent, the survey was conducted. The study design was approved by the appropriate ethics review board. The questionnaire was distributed to 5000 panel members, among which 423 responded to the questionnaire. After removing 32 questionnaires with extreme outliers, 391 questionnaires were included in the final analysis.
To test for potential non-response bias, a t-test was conducted to compare early (those who responded within the first seven days) and late respondents (those who responded within the last seven days) [81]. No significant difference between the two groups was found, allowing us to conclude that non-response bias was not a major concern in the context of this study. Table 1 summarizes the participants’ demographic characteristics.

3.3. Data Analysis

This study used SPSS version 25.0 and AMOS version 25.0 as data analysis tools. Based on the two-step approach of Anderson and Gerbing [82], confirmatory factor analysis was performed to test the suitability of the measurement model as well as its convergent and discriminant validity. Structural equation modeling was performed to test the hypothesized relationship between the seven constructs proposed in the conceptual model and the moderating effect of environmental consciousness.

4. Results

4.1. Measurement Model

A measurement model comprising all construct measures and seven latent variables was generated via confirmatory factor analysis using the maximum likelihood estimation method. The goodness-of-fit statistics of the confirmatory factor analysis showed an adequate fit to the data (χ2 = 494.542, df = 222, χ2/df = 2.228, RMR = 0.049, GFI = 0.908, NFI = 0.954, IFI = 0.974, CFI = 0.974, and RMSEA = 0.056). All items were significantly loaded onto the relevant latent construct (p < 0.01) (see Table 2). As reported in Table 2, the average variance extracted (AVE) of the constructs were greater than the 0.50 threshold proposed by Hair, Hult, Ringle, and Sarstedt [83]; the values ranged from 0.573–0.800. This shows support for the convergent validity of each construct [84]. Additionally, the composite reliabilities of the constructs were greater than 0.70, ranging from 0.842–0.943, indicating that all constructs in the model have acceptable internal consistency [83].
Finally, as suggested by Fornell and Larcker [84], discriminant validity was evaluated by comparing the correlation coefficients of the latent variables with the square root of the AVE of each latent variable. Table 3 shows that the results suggest proper discriminant validity, as the square root of the AVE of each latent variable was greater than the corresponding correlation coefficient.

4.2. Common Method Bias

Common method bias (CMB) may exist in cross-sectional studies that use a single data collection source. Therefore, Harman’s one-factor test was performed to determine the presence of CMB. An exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was performed by loading all variable items into a single factor without rotation. The EFA was performed by injecting the 25 items of CROI, service excellence, aesthetics, playfulness, overall image, and behavioral intention. The analysis showed that the variance of a single factor was 48.3%, satisfying the criterion of less than 50% [85]. Therefore, this study confirms the absence of CMB problems.

4.3. Structural Model

The fit of the structural model describing the relationships among the constructs was assessed to test the study hypotheses established through structural equation modeling path coefficients. The model fit indices were χ2 = 564.200, df = 223, p = 0.000, CMIN/df = 2.530, RMR = 0.068, GFI = 0.897, NFI = 0.947, IFI = 0.967, CFI = 0.967, and RMSEA = 0.063, meeting the standard assessment criteria. Table 4 presents the results of each hypothesis test describing the causal relationship between each construct pair. CROI positively and significantly influenced overall image (β = 0.270, t = 1.982, p = 0.047), supporting H1. Service excellence positively and significantly influenced overall image (β = 0.616, t = 4.833, p = 0.000), supporting H2. Aesthetics negatively and significantly influenced overall image (β = −0.218, t = −2.008, p = 0.045), rejecting H3. Playfulness positively and significantly influenced overall image (β = 0.716, t = 5.243, p = 0.000), supporting H4. Overall image positively and significantly influenced revisit intention (β = 0.890, t = 14.427, p = 0.000), supporting H5. Finally, H6 was supported because overall image positively and significantly influenced the willingness to pay a premium (β = 0.535, t = 8.732, p = 0.000).

4.4. Moderating Effect of Environmental Consciousness

We used multiple group analyses to empirically determine the moderating role of environmental consciousness [86]. First, the sample (N = 391) was divided into two subgroups, namely, a low environmental consciousness (n = 210) and a high environmental consciousness (n = 181) group. The moderator score (environmental consciousness score) was calculated by adding the seven items of the environmental consciousness scale. We then performed a multi-group analysis based on the median splitting of the moderator scores [87] (see Table 5).
To evaluate the differential effects between the two groups, the chi-square difference between the unconstrained and constrained models was evaluated using the difference in degrees of freedom [82]. First, we evaluated H7, namely, the moderating effect of environmental consciousness on the relationship between overall image and revisit intention: the chi-square difference between the unconstrained and constrained models was not significant at the 0.05 level, and environmental consciousness did not play a moderating role in the relationship (Δχ2 = 2.542 < χ20.05(1) = 3.84, df = 1); H7 was rejected.
Second, we evaluated H8, that is, the moderating effect of environmental consciousness on the relationship between overall image and willingness to pay a premium: the chi-square difference between the unconstrained and constrained models was significant at the 0.05 level, and environmental consciousness played a moderating role in the relationship (Δχ2 = 6.158 < χ20.05(1) = 3.84, df = 1); H8 was supported.

5. Discussion

In this study, the four factors of experiential value and overall image were set as antecedents of customers’ behavioral intentions toward ECHRs, and the relationships of these factors were confirmed. ECHRs in South Korea were sampled from three five-star hotels, and customers who had experience in using these restaurants were included in the sample. The results confirmed that the overall image of ECHRs was positively influenced by CROI, service excellence, and playfulness. The importance of these variables for ECHRs in the current study supports the findings of a previous study [49]. Playfulness was the variable with the largest influence on overall image in the current research, meaning that the ECHR’s eco-friendly menu, professionalism, and high-quality human services are critical aspects in enhancing overall image. In addition, if customers perceive the economic value of the food provided by the EHCR positively and feel comfortable during their stay, this can lead them to experience an improvement in their perceived quality of life. However, unlike the results of a previous study [49], aesthetics was found to negatively influence overall image. This means that although ECHRs may have aesthetic elements in the interior or overall atmosphere, their aesthetics are deficient in terms of eco-friendliness.
Additionally, it was confirmed that the overall image of ECHRs, which is formed through experiential value, positively influences consumer revisit intentions and willingness to pay a premium. This supports the findings of previous studies [5,34,52], which identified a relationship between previous overall image and behavioral intention. Although some prior studies had integrated overall image into a decision-making model, knowledge of the function of overall image in the context of ECHRs remained limited. The current study clearly highlights the important role of overall image in forming consumer behavioral intention in the context of ECHRs.
Assuming that the relationship between customer overall image and behavioral intention in the context of ECHRs would differ by environmental consciousness, we examined the moderating effects of environmental consciousness. Indeed, there were differences in the relationship between overall image and willingness to pay a premium by environmental consciousness: the influence of overall image on the willingness to pay a premium was greater in the group with high environmental consciousness (vs. low environmental consciousness). Thus, if the ECHR uses eco-friendly ingredients, environmentally conscious customers may be willing to pay a premium even if the food is expensive due to the use of eco-friendly ingredients. However, the relationship between overall image and revisit intention was not moderated by environmental consciousness. These findings partially support the findings of previous studies [5,26,77]. The results of this study are meaningful because it explains that customers have an overall image and behavioral intention toward the ECHR through experiential value in an eco-friendly context. Based on this analysis, we provide the following theoretical and practical implications.

5.1. Theoretical Implications

A major theoretical implication of this research relates to the experiential value theory. Many studies have used experiential value as a cognitive evaluation of the value that customers directly experience in service contexts. However, previous studies were limited as they did not address the relationship between customer value and the overall image of the eco-friendly restaurant experience after the COVID-19 pandemic, which brought forward even greater concern for the environment among consumers. In order to overcome these limitations and differentiate itself from past literature, this study applied the experiential value theory and environmental consciousness to ECHRs, which were overlooked in previous empirical studies focused on restaurants [41,44,49]. This is the first study in the hospitality industry to identify the relationship between customer experiential value and the overall image of ecofriendly restaurants. This study found that playfulness, service excellence, and CROI play important roles in improving customers’ overall image of eco-friendly restaurants. Additionally, it was confirmed that the overall positive image presented to customers is an important antecedent of behavioral intention, and the moderating role of environmental consciousness was verified. As a result, this study contributes to the hospitality literature by applying experiential value theory, which has mainly been applied to research on non-eco-friendly hotels and restaurants and eco-friendly restaurants, and to identify its role.

5.2. Practical Implications

From a practical perspective, the findings of this study show that ECHRs could work to reinforce customers’ perception of playfulness. The findings depict that consumers can experience pleasurable moments in ECHRs and feel as if they are outside their daily lives. However, there is a limit to the amount of pleasure that can be evoked by relying only on eco-friendly foods, especially if consumers experience a lack of aesthetics. Therefore, ECHRs could design their entire service environments to revolve around eco-friendliness, which may allow consumers to experience the pleasure and aesthetics of the locale. These findings also emphasize that relying just on environmental certification limits potential improvements in consumer experiential value. From the perspective of service environments, the overall image of ECHRs could be strengthened by providing an attractive eco-friendly architecture, interior decorations, and integrating the natural environment into the architecture.
ECHRs can also engage more with consumers and deliver messages through action and eco-friendly evidence. This can be accomplished by improving the eco-friendly positioning and image of the ECHR through eco-friendly campaigns. For example, Starbucks advertises its eco-friendly activities by broadcasting its eco-friendly campaigns at regular intervals within its stores. Although the business environments of ECHRs differ from those of coffee shops, the fact remains that ECHRs can and should publicize their own eco-friendly campaigns using their menu boards, table tent cards, and even badges on employees’ uniforms. Moreover, employees can provide evidence to consumers about eco-friendly activities, meaning that ECHRs could strengthen their provision of education to human staff on how to promote the company’s eco-friendly activities. For example, as employees encounter and engage with customers visiting the ECHR, they could briefly explain the restaurant’s eco-friendly activities (e.g., informing the guests regarding the benefits of using their personal tumblers) and encourage engagement in eco-friendly practices.
Regarding menu composition, it may be important to develop more vegan menus, as these have the potential to reduce carbon emissions by using vegetable proteins. In addition, it may be vital for ECHRs to reduce carbon emissions from transportation during the import and distribution of food materials; this can be operationalized by actively using regional and national food ingredients. Considering that our results confirmed that environmentally conscious consumers are willing to pay a premium even if the food price of ECHRs is somewhat high, the company’s eco-friendly menu may be a key factor in sustaining environmentally conscious consumers. ECHRs could thus endeavor to address consumers’ environmental concerns and secure a competitive advantage by clearly positioning the restaurant’s interior and menu as eco-friendly.

6. Conclusions and Limitations

As mentioned above, this study used the concepts of experiential value, overall image, revisit intention, willingness to pay a premium, and environmental consciousness to identify consumer behavior regarding ECHRs in a situation where customer concern about the environment increased, namely, after the COVID-19 pandemic. This research also managed to identify the structural relationships between the variables of interest and confirm the suitability of the proposed model. In doing so, this research, its design, and its results contribute to the literature on eco-friendly restaurants in the hospitality industry. Therefore, the theoretical framework proposed and verified in this study’s model has the potential to serve as a basis for research on customer experience in eco-friendly restaurants in hotels.
This study had several limitations and provides various future research directions. First, because the data were collected only in South Korea, the generalizability of the results may be limited because perceptions of eco-friendliness may differ by country. Second, since ECHRs are fine dining restaurants, there are some limitations in applying the results of this study to casual dining or quick service restaurants. Third, demographic variables such as sex, age, income, education, and type of visitation (single, family, or group) were not fully considered in the analyses and require further investigation. Finally, this study investigated consumer behavior in consumers that had already experienced the services of an ECHR, and researchers could thus extend this study and its findings by conducting examinations before and after customers experience the ECHR.

Author Contributions

J.-H.K. and J.-W.S. conceived and designed the experiments; J.-H.K. performed the experiments and analyzed the data; J.-H.K., H.-S.K. and J.-W.S. wrote the paper. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Funding

This research received no external funding.

Institutional Review Board Statement

Not applicable.

Informed Consent Statement

Not applicable.

Data Availability Statement

The data presented in this study are available upon request from the corresponding author.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Sustainability 15 12913 g001
Figure 1. Research model.
Figure 1. Research model.
Sustainability 15 12913 g001
Table 1. Demographic characteristics of participants.
Table 1. Demographic characteristics of participants.
Demographic CharacteristicsFrequencyPercentage
GenderMale21154.0
Female18046.0
Age20–29 years4411.3
30–39 years7920.2
40–49 years9323.8
50–59 years10827.6
Above 60 years6717.1
Educational levelHigh school6717.1
Two-year university5915.1
Four-year university21956.0
Graduate school4611.8
Monthly incomeBelow 30007218.4
USD 3000–39997017.9
USD 4000–49999323.8
USD 5000–59996215.9
Above USD 60009424.0
OccupationStudent246.1
Office workers20953.5
Professional job6917.7
Self-employed359.0
Others246.1
Table 2. Measurement model assessment.
Table 2. Measurement model assessment.
Variables and ItemSL aCR bAVE c
CROI (α = 0.904)
I do not think that dining in an ECHR is a waste of time.0.7310.8440.573
Eco-friendly food makes me feel relaxed.0.818
Dining in this ECHR improves my quality of life.
Eco-friendly food has good economic value.		0.859
0.839
Service excellence (SE) (α = 0.887)
The employees at an ECHR are more attentive than employees at typical restaurants.0.7890.8420.606
The service at an ECHR makes me feel more special and valued than service at typical restaurants.0.894
I think this ECHR has expertise in offering eco-friendly food.0.872
Aesthetics (AT) (α = 0.934)
The dining environment of this ECHR has an eco-friendly appeal.0.9130.9160.778
The eco-friendly decorations of this ECHR are attractive.0.905
The atmosphere of this ECHR is wonderful.0.948
Playfulness (PF) (α = 0.938)
Dining in this ECHR is so enjoyable that it makes me feel comfortable and relaxed.0.8470.8940.680
I loved the eco-friendly orientation.0.865
The eco-friendly aspects of this ECHR are pleasant.
I enjoyed the eco-friendly dining provided.		0.934
0.912
Overall image (OI) (α = 0.902)
Overall, I have a positive image regarding this ECHR for dining out.0.7580.9430.666
The overall image of the ECHR is positive to me.0.785
Overall, I have a favorable image of the ECHR and I would consider dining here.
Overall, I think that ECHRs are great.		0.849

0.876
Revisit intention (RI) (α = 0.927)
I am willing to patronize an ECHR when dining out.0.8610.9030.700
I plan to eat at an ECHR when dining out.0.876
I make an effort to dine at an ECHR when dining out.0.860
I express my intentions to patronize an ECHR when dining out.0.900
Willingness to pay a premium (WP) (α = 0.942)
It is acceptable to pay more to dine at an ECHR.0.9410.9230.800
I am willing to pay more to dine at an ECHR.0.921
I am willing to spend extra money for having dinner at an ECHR.0.900
Note: a Standard Loading; b Composite Reliability; c Average Variance Extracted.
Table 3. Correlations of analyses between the variables.
Table 3. Correlations of analyses between the variables.
Variable1234567
1. CROI0.757
2. SE0.5430.778
3. AT0.5790.6570.882
4. PF0.6750.5410.6950.825
5. OI0.2550.4710.3080.3090.816
6. RI0.5270.5790.5530.5920.4340.837
7. WP0.2320.2090.1560.2050.2420.2840.894
Mean3.9474.2494.1013.9734.7954.4134.466
S.D.1.0641.1051.1771.2420.9001.0821.126
Note: (1) CROI = customer return on investment, SE = service excellence, AT = aesthetics, PF = playfulness, OI = overall image, RI = revisit intention, and WP = willingness to pay a premium. (2) Diagonal elements show the square root of the average variance extracted; below the diagonal is the corresponding correlation coefficient. (3) All correlation coefficients are significant at the 0.001 level.
Table 4. Results of the structural model analysis.
Table 4. Results of the structural model analysis.
Hypothesesβt-Valuep-ValueDecision
H1CROI → OI0.2701.982 *0.047supported
H2SE → OI0.6164.833 **0.000supported
H3AT → OI−0.218−2.008 *0.045rejected
H4PF → OI0.7165.243 **0.000supported
H5OI → RV0.89014.427 **0.000supported
H6OI → WP0.5358.732 **0.000supported
Note: * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01.
Table 5. The moderating effects of environmental consciousness.
Table 5. The moderating effects of environmental consciousness.
HypothesesLow Group
(n = 210)
β (t-Value)		High Group
(n = 181)
β (t-Value)		Unconstrained
Model
χ2 (df = 446)		Constrained
Model
χ2 (df = 447)		∆χ2
(df = 1)
H70.866 (9.875 **)0.889 (8.507 **)
1108.293		1120.8352.542
H80.271 (3.007 **)0.508 (5.683 **)1124.4516.158
Note: ** p < 0.01.
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Ko, J.-H.; Kang, H.-S.; Seo, J.-W. Experiential Value, Overall Image, Revisit Intention, and Willingness to Pay a Premium in the Context of Environmentally Certified Hotel Restaurants: The Moderating Effect of Environmental Consciousness. Sustainability 2023, 15, 12913. https://doi.org/10.3390/su151712913

AMA Style

Ko J-H, Kang H-S, Seo J-W. Experiential Value, Overall Image, Revisit Intention, and Willingness to Pay a Premium in the Context of Environmentally Certified Hotel Restaurants: The Moderating Effect of Environmental Consciousness. Sustainability. 2023; 15(17):12913. https://doi.org/10.3390/su151712913

Chicago/Turabian Style

Ko, Ju-Hee, Hee-Seog Kang, and Jung-Woon Seo. 2023. "Experiential Value, Overall Image, Revisit Intention, and Willingness to Pay a Premium in the Context of Environmentally Certified Hotel Restaurants: The Moderating Effect of Environmental Consciousness" Sustainability 15, no. 17: 12913. https://doi.org/10.3390/su151712913

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