The framing effect and sustainable hotel booking behaviour: A nudge marketing study

This study examines whether message framing affects visitors' propensity to adopt more sustainable choices by emphasising the possible gains or losses associated with certain behaviours. The research seeks to assess the efficacy of gain-and-loss framing in motivating individuals to book sustainable hotel accommodations while travelling. This article utilises the theoretical frameworks of prospect theory and framing effects. We studied 116 people who booked hotels online in a randomised, controlled study. The three groups consisted of a control group, a gain-frame group informed about the benefits of sustainable hotels, and a loss-frame group informed about the disadvantages of non-sustainable hotels. The significant difference among the three scenarios was evident; the gain-frame effect was more pronounced. Implementing gain-frames may influence consumers' decision-making about more sustainable hotel bookings. This report provides actionable insights for marketers, including successful tactics to communicate hotel companies' sustainable practices and business values. It enhances the existing knowledge by using nudge marketing and framing effects to demonstrate their potential use in encouraging sustainable habits in hotel bookings