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Stimulating!food!waste!reduction!behaviour!among!hotel!guests!through!
context!manipulation!
Hannes!Antonschmidt
a
,
*
,!Dagmar!Lund-Durlacher
b!
a
SRH!Berlin!University!of!Applied!Sciences,!Dresden!School! of!Management,!Dresden,!Germany!
b
Department!of!Tourism!and!Service!Management,!Modul!University! Vienna,!Vienna,!Austria!!!
A R T I C L E !I N F O ! !
Handling!Editor:!Cecilia!Maria!Villas!Bˆ
oas!de!
Almeida!!
Keywords:!
Food!waste!
Consumer!behaviour!
Environmentally!conscious!consumption!
Environmental!communication!
Experimental!design!
Hospitality!industry!
A B S T R A C T ! !
Food!waste!is! a! signi"cant!problem!in! the! holiday!hotel!industry.! However,! although!sustainability!theorists!
argue!for!consumer-oriented! behavioural!interventions,!there! is!a!lack! of! empirical!studies!that! could!clearly!
demonstrate!the!effectiveness!of!such!interventions.!This!study!addresses!this!research!gap!and!uses!an!experi-
mental!design!to!be!able!to!identify!cause-and-effect-relationships!between!an!intervention!promoting!food!waste!
reduction!and!real!guest!behaviour.!The!study!context!is!an!all-you-can-eat!buffet!restaurant!in!a!typical!sun-and-!
beach!holiday!hotel.!
The!experimental!results!demonstrate!a!direct!effect!of!the!context!manipulation,!as!re#ected!in!a!signi"cant!
14.4%!reduction!in!edible!plate!waste.!In!contrast,!attitudes!remained!constant!highlighting!that!their!change!is!
not!a!necessary!condition!for! behaviour!change.!Furthermore,! signi"cant!differences!in! attention!to!the! tools!
were!found!between!the!three!contact!points!‘entrance!to!the!restaurant’,!‘buffet’,!and!‘guest!table’ with!‘guest!
table’ being!by!far!the!strongest!contact!point.!In!summary,!it!can!be!said!that!consumers!can!be!encouraged!to!
act!responsibly!even!in! hedonistic,! unrestricted! consumption!contexts!if!the! communication! tools! are! placed!
effectively.!Hotels!thus!have!the!opportunity!to!involve!their!guests!in!environmental!protection!measures.!!!
1. Introduction!
Within! the! EU-28,! around! 88! million! tonnes! of! food! waste! are!
disposed!of!across!the!supply!chain!each!year.!Food!waste!from!the!food!
service!industry!has!been!identi"ed!as!one!of!the!main!contributors!with!
11!million!tonnes!(Stenmarck!et!al.,!2016).!
Depending!on!the!type!of!business!and!hygiene!standards,! around!
20–60%!of!all! food!purchased!by!holiday! hotels!ends!up!in! the!trash!
(Lund-Durlacher!et!al.,!2016).!Almost!80%!of!this!amount!of!waste!can!
be!avoided!either!by!producers!or!consumers!(Filimonau!and!De!Coteau,!
2019).!This!situation!not!only!re#ects!poor!cost!management!by!hotels!
and!food!service!businesses!(Filimonau!and!De!Coteau,!2019;!Okumus,!
2019),! but! is! also! highly! concerning! from! an! ethical! perspective,!
considering!that!there!are!nearly!one!billion!undernourished!people!in!
the!world!(FAO,!IFAD,!UNICEF,! WFP,!WHO,!2019).! In!addition,!food!
waste!leads!to! unnecessary! consumption! of!natural!resources!such! as!
land! and! water! and! generates! unnecessary! emissions! of! CO
2!
(from!
transport!and!food!production!processes),!methane!gas!(from!livestock!
farming! and! land"lls)! and! nitrous! oxide! (from! fertiliser! use),! which!
contribute!signi"cantly!to!climate!change!(G¨
ossling!and!Peeters,!2015;!
Intergovernmental!Panel!on!Climate!Change!IPCC,!2019;!Juvan!et!al.,!
2018;!Lund-Durlacher!et!al.,!2016).!Scherhaufer,!Moates,!Hartikainen,!
Waldron,!and!Obersteiner!(2018)!show!that!186!Mt!of!CO
2
-equivalent!
emissions!are!attributable!to!food!waste!in!Europe!alone.!Reducing!food!
waste!could!reduce!these!negative!environmental!impacts.!
In! the! quest! for! strategies! for! reducing! food! waste,! sustainability!
theorists!argue!for!a!stronger!role!of!the!consumer!(Ehgartner,!2018).!
However,!the!empirical!basis!for!the!effectiveness!of!consumer-oriented!
behavioural! interventions! is! scanty.! In! particular,! there! is! a! lack! of!
experimental!designs!that!could!clearly!demonstrate!the!effectiveness!of!
such!interventions.!This!study!addresses!this!research!gap!and!uses!an!
experimental!design!to!be!able!to!identify!cause-and-effect-relationships!
between!an!intervention!promoting!food!waste!reduction!and!real!guest!
behaviour.!
The!study’s!two!speci"c!objectives!are:!!
(1)!To!test!the!impact!of!communication!tools!on!hotel!guests’ food!
waste! attitudes! and! behaviours.! This! will! examine! how! con-
sumers!respond!to!food!waste!information!in!a!hedonistic!travel!
* Corresponding!author.!
E-mail!address:!hannes.antonschmidt@srh.de!(H.!Antonschmidt).!!
Contents!lists!available!at!ScienceDirect!
Journal!of!Cleaner!Production!
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jclepro
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.129709!
Received!18!September!2020;!Received!in!revised!form!19!October!2021;!Accepted!11!November!2021!!!
-RXUQDO RI &OHDQHU 3URGXFWLRQ
context!and!whether!they!change!their!food!waste!attitudes!and!
behaviours.!!
(2)!Based! on! the! assumption! that! not! all! contact! points! of! the!
communication!tools!are!equally!effective,!the!second!objective!
of!the!study!is!to!"nd!out!which!contact!points!are!most!suitable!
for!in#uencing!behaviours.!
The!corresponding!research!questions!are:!
RQ!1:!Can!the!use!of!point-of-consumption!communication!tools!that!
promote! ‘waste! prevention’ to! sun-and-beach! holiday! hotel! guests!
reduce!the!amount!of!edible!plate!waste?!
RQ!2:!Which!contact!point!to!promote!‘waste!prevention’ achieves!
the!highest!attention!values!by!sun-and-beach!holiday!hotel!guests?!
The!paper!contributes!to! the! academic! discourse! on!consumer!re-
sponsibility! and! engagement! in! environmental! protection.! Based! on!
Stern’s!Attitude-Behaviour-Context!(ABC)!theory,!the!study!examines!
his!assumption!that!consumer!behaviour!(B)!is!an!”interactive!product!of!
personal! sphere! attitudinal! variables! (A)! and! contextual! factors! (C)”
(Stern,!2000,!p.!415)!and!may!change!if!A!or!C!are!varied.!In!our!study,!
attitudinal!variables! include!personal!beliefs,!norms,!values,!and!‘pre-
dispositions’ to!act!in!an!environmentally!conscious!way,!especially!in!
relation! to! food! consumption! during! holidays.! Contextual! factors!
include!food!waste!information!signs!(‘communication!tools’)!placed!at!
various!locations!in!the!hotel!restaurant.!
The!paper!is!structured!as!follows:!A!literature!review!"rst!introduces!
the!problem!of!food! waste! in! food!services!and!outlines!strategies! to!
in#uence!consumer!behaviour!with!regard!to!food!waste.!Subsequently,!
research! hypotheses! are! derived! based! on! the! literature.! The! quasi-!
experimental! approach! used! to! test! the! hypotheses! is! described! in!
detail!in!the!following!section,!along!with!a!description!of!how!the!ex-
periments!were!conducted! in!the!test!hotel.! The!results!are!then! pre-
sented!before!conclusions!are!drawn!and!a!discussion!contextualises!the!
"ndings.!
2. Literature!review!
In!order!to! address!the!issue!of! food!waste!in!holiday! hotels,!it!is!
necessary!to!describe!the!context!of!holiday!hotels,!outline!the!speci"c!
problem!of!food!waste!in!holiday!hotels!and!review!those!factors!that!
in#uence!the!extent!of!food!waste.!In!addition,!previous!studies!on!food!
waste!prevention!can!serve!as!a!"rst!reference!point!for!the!development!
of!appropriate!communication!tools.!
2.1. The!holiday!hotel!context!
Addressing!the!holiday!hotel!context!is!important!because!the!pur-
chase!situation!there!differs!from!regular!purchase!situations!in!several!
ways.!Holiday!hotels!can!be!seen!as!a!hedonistic!context!where!the!focus!
is!on!individual!enjoyment!and!maximising!individual!bene"ts!at!min-
imal! individual! costs! (Dolnicar! et! al.,! 2017).! Accordingly,! the! moral!
obligation!to!behave!in!an!environmentally!conscious!way!is!lowest!in!
this! type! of! accommodation! (Dolnicar! and! Grün,! 2009).! Providers!
respond!to!this!hedonistic!motive!by!offering!unrestricted!consumption!
options!in!their!hotels,!especially!with!regard!to!food!(Koc,!2013).!It!is!
therefore!likely!that!a!mutually!reinforcing!effect!of!individual!behav-
iour!and!context!prevails!(Burke!et!al.,!2009).!
Depending!on!the!type!of!hotel,!food!can!be!classi"ed!as!one!of!the!
most! important! enjoyment! components! of! a! trip! (McKercher,! 2016).!
Therefore,!hotels!often!face!a!dilemma!between!customer!satisfaction!
and!restrictive! waste! prevention! measures! (Okumus! et! al.,!2020).! In!
all-you-can-eat! situations,! guests! can! consume! as! much! food! as! they!
want!after!paying!a!lump-sum!for!the!entire!travel!package!in!advance.!
Guests!are!therefore!not!constrained!in!their!consumption!by!short-term!
direct!costs.!Tavares!and!Kozak!(2015)!"nd!that!food!is!considered!the!
most! important! item! when! purchasing! such! all-inclusive! packages.!
However,!the!unrestricted!consumption!options!often!lead!to!tendencies!
of!unsustainable!overconsumption!(Farmaki!et!al.,!2017;!Woosnam!and!
Erul,!2016).!
Dolnicar!et!al.!(2017),!who!did!not!achieve!the!expected!behavioural!
effect! with! their! experimental! manipulation! in! a! Slovenian! holiday!
hotel,!conclude!(p.!8)!that!the!“effectiveness!of!pro-environmental!ap-
peals!in!triggering!pro-environmental!behaviour!is!context!dependent”
and!that!“pro-environmental!appeals!are!ineffective!in!hedonic![holiday!
hotel]! contexts”.! However,! in! a! recent! study! in! two! Slovenian!
sun-and-beach! holiday! hotels,! Dolnicar! et! al.! (2020)! achieve! a! 34%!
reduction! in! edible! plate! waste! through! a! game-based! intervention.!
Results!from! other!studies!(e.g.! Bohner!and!Schlüter,! 2014;!Goldstein!
et!al.,!2008)!also!show!that!communication!tools! can! be! effective! in!
certain!hedonistic!holiday!hotel!contexts.!
2.2. Consumer!attitudes!and!behaviour!with!respect!to!food!
An!online!survey!(n!=7915)!on!the!topic!of!sustainable!food!on!
holiday!shows!that!there!are!positive!attitudes!towards!sustainable!food!
among!package!tourists!(Lund-Durlacher!et!al.,! 2016).!L´
opez-S´
anchez!
and! Pulido-Fern´
andez! (2016)! "nd! that! for! most! tourists,! attitudes,!
values,!and!behaviours!towards!sustainability!are!consistent.!This!pos-
itive! linear! relationship! between! attitudes! or! values! and! sustainable!
consumption!is!con"rmed!by!several!empirical!studies!(do!Paço!et!al.,!
2018;!Jacobs!et!al.,!2018;!Landon!et!al.,!2018;!Paul!et!al.,!2016;!Shin!
et!al.,!2017).!
Similarly,!however,!several!studies!in!the!tourism!context!report!an!
attitude-behaviour!gap!where!tourists!report!pro-sustainable! attitudes!
but!do!not!behave!sustainably!in!reality!(Juvan!&!Dolnicar,!2014,!2016).!
Miao!and!Wei!(2013)!provide!a!possible!explanation!for!this!phenome-
non:!they! show! that! the! in#uence! of! pro-environmental! attitudes!on!
environmental!behaviour!is!lower!in!a!hotel!environment!than!in!a!home!
environment.!Still,!as!Guagnano!et!al.!(1995)!argue,!some!in#uence!of!
attitudes!can!be!expected!in!most!contexts.!
2.3. Food!waste!in!hotels!
The!problem!of!food!waste!in!out-of-home!consumption!was!already!
recognised!as!an!ethical!and!economic!problem!in!the!years!of!shortage!
after!the!Second!World!War.!An!early!empirical!study!by!Youngs!et!al.!
(1983)!also!revealed!the!extent!of!the!problem!in!the!hospitality!in-
dustry.!It!is!now!estimated!that!food!waste!costs!the!hospitality!industry!
more!than!2%!of!its!annual!revenue!(Filimonau!and!De!Coteau,!2019).!
According!to!an!analysis!by!United!Against!Waste!(2016),!food!waste!
in!the!hotel!industry!is!mainly!generated!during!food!preparation!(32%),!
presentation!at!buffets!(20%),!and!on!guests’ plates!(20%).!In!contrast,!
only!11%!is!due!to!overproduction!and!2%!to!storage,!while!15%!of!the!
waste!cannot! be!assigned!to!any!speci"c! process!stage.!In!addition!to!
waste!reduction!measures!in!food!storage,!production,!and!presentation!
by!the!hotel!management!and!staff,!guests!also!have!a!key!role!to!play!in!
minimising!edible!plate!waste!(Filimonau!and!De!Coteau,!2019;! Kall-
bekken!and!Saelen,!2013;!Okumus,!2019).!Edible!plate!waste!is!food!that!
is!served!or!plated!but!not!eaten!even!though!it!is!"t!for!consumption.!
Non-edible!plate!waste!includes,!for!example,!the!peels,!bones,!or!shells!
that!are!part!of!a!dish,!but!cannot!be!eaten!(Kuo!and!Shih,!2016).!
Juvan! et! al.! (2018)! and! Pirani! and! Arafat! (2016)! note! that! the!
amount!of!food!waste!depends!on!a!number!of!factors,!such!as!the!na-
tionality!of!guests,!the!proportion!of!children,!the!presence!of!guests!in!
the! breakfast! area,! the! number! of! buffet! stations,! serving! style! and!
timing,!menu!design,!type!of!food!and!planning!accuracy.!While!the!
hotel!can!in#uence!some!of!these!parameters!through!appropriate!staff!
training!and!professional!menu!and!buffet!planning!(Filimonau!and!De!
Coteau,!2019;!Okumus!et!al.,!2020),!another!major!cause!for!food!waste!
is!oversized!ordering!and!oversized!serving!by!guests:!behaviours!rooted!
in!a!lack!of!consumer!awareness!(Okumus,!2019;!Okumus!et!al.,!2020;!
Pirani!and!Arafat,!2016).!As!mitigation!measures,!these!studies!recom-
mend! greater! consumer! engagement! through! targeted! consumer!
H.!Antonschmidt!and!D.!Lund-Durlacher!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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information!and!education! on! food!waste!(Filimonau!and! De! Coteau,!
2019;!Okumus,!2019;!Youngs!et!al.,!1983).!
2.4. Conceptualisations!of!guest!behaviour!with!respect!to!food!waste!
A!review!of! conceptualisations! of!guest!behaviour!with! respect! to!
food!waste!highlights!the!importance!of!three!key!elements:!consumer!
attitudes!towards!food!waste! prevention,!social!norms!(perceptions!of!
what!type!of!behaviour!is!acceptable!in!a!certain!social!context!or!the!
actual!behaviour!of!other!people),!and!behavioural!control!(the!ability!
to!perform!a!behaviour).!In!addition,!guests!need!to!be!put!in!a!state!of!
awareness!or! concern!for!the!issue!of! food!waste!so!that!they!can!act!
accordingly!(Joshi!and!Rahman,!2017;!Kumar!et!al.,!2017;!Stancu!et!al.,!
2016;!Vermeir!and!Verbeke,!2006).!
The!primary!goal!of!a!communication!tool!is!to!create!this!awareness!
on!the!part!of!the!consumers.!Afterwards,!norms!can!be!communicated!
and!behavioural!control!can!be!reassured!(Okumus!et!al.,!2020).!Also,!
attitudes! can! materialize! in! a! state! of! awareness.! This! is! important!
because!successful!interventions!usually! rely! on! positive! attitudes!to-
wards!the! desired!behaviour!as!a!necessary!condition!for!behavioural!
change!(Cos¸kun!and!Yetkin!¨
Ozbuk,!2020).!
In!addition,!various!parameters!such!as!socio-demographic!variables!
of!the!guests!should!be!taken!into! account.! These! can! also! represent!
cultural!differences!which!are!known!to!in#uence!food!waste!behaviour!
(Okumus!et!al.,!2020).!Other!parameters!include!food-related!variables!
such!as!the!type!of!restaurant!or!the!purpose!of! the!meal! (Dhir!et!al.,!
2020).!
The!aforementioned!studies!were!often!based!on!different!variants!of!
the!Theory!of!Planned!Behaviour!(TPB).!However,!a!major!shortcoming!
of!this! theory! is! its! relative! neglect! of! limiting!contextual! in#uences!
(Guagnano!et!al.,! 1995).! In!order!to!avoid!a! misinterpretation! of!the!
results!due!to!an!underestimation!of!the!context!effect,!the!present!study!
builds!on! the! Attitude-Behaviour-Context! (ABC)! theory,! as! it! takes!a!
comprehensive!approach!in!considering!contextual!variables.!
2.5. Interventions!to!reduce!food!waste!
In!order!to!persuade!consumers!to!deviate!from!their!usual!behav-
iour,!well!thought-out!communication! techniques! are! needed.! Hotels!
often!use!so-called! nudging! techniques!to!in#uence!guests’ food!con-
sumption!and!reduce!edible!plate!waste!(Kuo!and!Shih,!2016).!Thaler!
and!Sunstein!(2008,!p.!6)!de"ne!a!nudge!as!“any!aspect!of!the!choice!
architecture!that!alters!people’s!behaviour!in!a!predictable!way!without!
forbidding! any! options! or! signi"cantly! changing! their! economic! in-
centives.!To!count!as!a!mere!nudge,!the!intervention!must!be!easy!and!
cheap! to! avoid.! Nudges! are! not! mandates.! Putting! fruit! at! eye! level!
counts!as!a!nudge.!Banning!junk!food!does!not.” Typical!nudging!tech-
niques!to!avoid!food!waste!in!hotels!include!offering!smaller!portions!or!
single!servings,!using!smaller!serving!bowls!and!plates,!and!live-cooking!
stations!(Lund-Durlacher!et!al.,!2016).!Another!popular!nudging!strat-
egy!is!providing!sustainability!information!to!hotel!guests!(Lee!and!Oh,!
2014).!St¨
ockli!et!al.!(2018a)!argue!that!such!informative!interventions!
should!be!combined!with!prompts!to!increase!their!effectiveness.!
While!green!marketing!communication!already!addresses!the!issue!of!
food!waste!in!various!contexts,!empirical!research!regarding!the!impact!
of!this!communication!on!consumer!behaviour!in!the!context!of!sun!and!
beach!tourism!is!still!scarce!(Filimonau!and!De!Coteau,!2019).!
Table!1!provides!an!overview!of!previous!experimental!studies!aimed!
at!in#uencing!consumer!behaviour!in!relation!to!food!and!food!waste.!
Overall,!the!results!con"rm!the!effectiveness! of!information!strategies!
aiming!to!reduce!environmental!impacts!through!consumer!behaviour.!
However,!while!these! examples!give!an! indication!of!the!potential! of!
food-related! interventions! and! show! possibilities! for! their! technical!
implementation,!only!the!study!by!Dolnicar!et!al.!(2020)!relates!to!the!
holiday!hotel!industry.!Our!study!therefore!aims!to!provide!additional!
empirical!evidence!for!this!particular!context.!
3. Hypotheses!development!
The!conclusion!of!Dolnicar!et!al.!(2017)!and!the!observed!difference!
in!home!and!holiday! behaviour! (Dolnicar! and! Grün,! 2009;! G¨
ossling,!
2015)!suggest!that! context!factors!have!a! signi"cant!impact!on!guest!
behaviour.!Indeed,!underestimation!of!the!role!of!context!is!considered!a!
major!reason!for!the!ineffectiveness!of!many!experimental!interventions!
(Burke!et! al.,!2009).!An! important!theory!that!emphasises!the!role!of!
context! is! the! Attitude-Behaviour-Context! (ABC)! theory! (Guagnano!
et!al.,!1995).!The!ABC!theory!states!that!the!interplay!of!attitudinal!and!
contextual!variables,!personal!capabilities,! and! habits! or! routines!de-
termines!individual!behaviour.!While!the!role!of!contextual!variables!is!
also!central! in! other! theories,! e.g.,! Triandis’ Theory! of! Interpersonal!
Behaviour!(Triandis,!1977),!ABC!theory!was!chosen!as!the!theoretical!
basis!for!this!study!because!it!takes!contextual!factors!comprehensively!
Table!1!
Studies!on!food!waste!prevention.!!
Author! Country! Context! Intervention! Result!
Chen!and!Jai!
(2018)!
USA! Online!
experiment!!
•environmental!focused!message!(“Reduce!Waste!for!a!
Sustainable!Future”)!!
•environmental!focused!and!credibility!message!(logo!of!
environmental!protection!agency)!!
•threat-focused!message!(“We!Charge!$5/per!pound!for!Food!
Waste”)!!
•threat-focused!and!credibility!message!(logo!of!
environmental!protection!agency)!!
•positive!effect!on!attitudes!towards!the!message!and!
perceived!CSR,!indirect!effect!on!behavioural!
intention!(all!for!environmental!and!threat-focused!
message)!
Dolnicar!et!al.!
(2020)!
Slovenia! Sun-and-beach!
hotel!restaurants!!
•#yer!with/without!environmental!appeal!!
•stamp!collection!booklet!(game-based!intervention)!with/!
without!environmental!appeal!!
•reduced!plate!waste!per!family!member!for!each!of!the!
conditions!!
•no!signi"cant!difference!between!the!conditions!
Kallbekken!and!
Saelen!(2013)!
Scandinavia! Hotel!
restaurants!!
•communication!tools!promoting!‘correct’,!i.e.,!waste-!
preventing,!self-service!behaviour!(“Welcome!back&!Again&!
And!again&!Visit!our!buffet!many!times.!That’s!better!than!
taking!a!lot!once.”)!!
•reduction!of!food!waste!
St¨
ockli!et!al.!
(2018a)!
Switzerland! Pizza!restaurant!! •informational!(“One!third!of!food!is!wasted.![…]”)!!
•normative!and!informational!prompts!(“Our!guests!expect!a!
reduction!in!food!waste.!One!third!of!food!is!wasted.![…]”)!!
•increase!in!share!of!diners!who!are!willing!to!take!
away!leftovers!
Whitehair!et!al.!
(2013)!
USA! University!
dining!facility!!
•instructive!message!(“All!Taste!… NO!WASTE.!EAT!WHAT!
YOU!TAKE.!DON’T!WASTE!FOOD.”)!!
•instructive!and!feedback-based!message!(“On!average,!each!
resident!wastes!2.15!oz!of!food!each!meal.!This!amounts!to!
more!than!32!pounds!per!person!per!semester.![…]!All!Taste!
… NO!WASTE.”)!!
•reduction!in!food!waste!as!a!result!of!using!the!
informational!message!!
•adding!the!feedback-based!message!did!not!lead!to!any!
additional!signi"cant!reduction!!
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into!account!and!speci"cally!aims!to!explain!changes!towards!environ-
mentally!conscious!behaviour! (Guagnano!et!al.,!1995).! These!charac-
teristics!"t!both!the!experimental!design!and!the!study!objective.!
Context! includes! all! in#uences! outside! the! individual! mind! that!
might!support!or!inhibit!behaviour,!such!as!economic!costs!and!bene"ts,!
incentives,!other!people’s!behaviour,!and!cultural!expectations!(Guag-
nano!et!al.,!1995).!In!the!present!study,!the!context!is!the!environment!of!
the!test!hotel.!The!test!hotel!was!a!typical!four-star!sun!and!beach!hol-
iday!hotel!in!Maspalomas!on!the! island!of!Gran! Canaria!(Spain).!The!
hotel!offers!229!rooms!and!accommodates!up!to!450!guests.!Its!restau-
rant!has!a!capacity!of!190!seats!and!offers!all-you-can-eat!buffets!for!all!
board!types.! The!guest!mix! is!exclusively!adult!and!consists!of!young!
couples,!small!groups,!families!with!older!children,!and!pensioners.!The!
guests!mainly!come!from!Germany,!United!Kingdom,!Scandinavia!and!
the!Netherlands!and! visit! for! typical!sun!and!beach! holidays! all! year!
round.!
The! hotel’s! environmental! balance! is! affected! by! the! self-service!
buffet!setting!and!the!all-inclusive!offer,!where!food!is!offered!in!large!
quantities! and! consumption! is! not! limited.! However,! some! factors!
mitigate!the!environmental!burden.!First!of!all,!not!every!guest!had!an!
all-inclusive!board!arrangement.!In!addition,!the!price!level!of!the!hotel!
was!relatively!high!(around! $150! per! person!per!night)!compared!to!
other!all-inclusive!offers,!and!no!children!under!16!were!allowed!in!the!
hotel.!These!measures!excluded!price-sensitive!guest!groups!and!young!
families,!who! are!known!to!be!less!environmentally!conscious!(Juvan!
et!al.,!2018).!
Attitudes!are!the!positive!or!negative!intrinsic!positions!an!individual!
holds!towards!a!given!behaviour.!Stern!(2005)!argues!that!attitudes!are!a!
relatively! weak! predictor! of! behaviour! compared! to! contextual! vari-
ables.!In!the!tourism!context,!this!is!re#ected!in!the!attitude-behaviour!
gap! (Juvan! and! Dolnicar,! 2014).! Nevertheless,! extreme! attitudes! to-
wards!a!behaviour!can!inhibit!the!effectiveness!of!context!manipulations!
to! change! behaviour! (Guagnano! et! al.,! 1995).! For! the! holiday! hotel!
context,!a!survey!by!Lund-Durlacher!et!al.!(2016)!shows! that!tourists!
have! moderately! positive! attitudes! towards! more! sustainable! food!
choices!and!are!willing!to!contribute!to!reducing!food!waste.!
Personal! capabilities! refer! to! the! knowledge,! skills,! and! available!
resources,!such!as!time!and!money!required!to!perform!the!behaviour.!
Socio-demographic!variables!(e.g.,!education,!income,!or!age)!can!serve!
as!proxies!for!these!personal!capabilities.!Finally,!habits!and!routines!are!
regular,!standardised!behaviours!that!individuals!have!repeated!many!
times!and!often!perform!unconsciously!(Stern,!2000).!
According!to!Guagnano!et!al.!(1995,!p.!702f.),! “the!success!of!any!
strategy!designed!to!either!induce!or!curtail!behaviour!will!depend!on!
the!magnitude!of!the!absolute!value!of!the!sum!of!A![attitudes]!and!C!
[context]![…].!When!this!absolute!value!is!small,!shifts!in!either!A!or!C!
may!act!to!move!a!particular!combination!of!A!and!C!across!the!diagonal!
line,!thus!resulting!in!behaviour!change.” This!means!that!attitudes!and!
context!need!to!have!an!equally!strong! in#uence! to! allow! behaviour!
change.!Moreover,!their!effects!should!be!contrarian.!These!conditions!
are!taken!as!given!for!the!tourists’ attitudes!and!the!context!of!the!test!
hotel!(Fig.!1).!
Accordingly,!the!following!hypothesis!was!formulated:!
H1. Context! manipulation! using! speci"c! graphic! and! written!
communication!tools!will!result!in!a!reduction!in!the!amount!of!edible!
plate!waste.!
Considering!the!mixed!"ndings!on!the!effectiveness!of!appeals!in!
hedonistic!holiday!hotel!contexts!(Bohner!and!Schlüter,!2014;!Dolnicar!
et!al.,!2017,!2020;!Goldstein!et!al.,!2008),!we!argue!that!the!effectiveness!
of!communication!tools!might!depend!on!their!positioning!as!guests!are!
more!receptive!to!visual!and!informational!cues!at!certain!contact!points!
than! at! others! (Dolnicar,! 2020).!In! holiday! hotels,! there! are! already!
some!typical!contact!points!for!guest!information!such!as!the!lobby!or!
the!entrance!to! the! restaurant.!Therefore,!the!following! hypothesis! is!
formulated!in!relation!to!the!second!research!question:!
H2. The!guests’ attention!to!the!communication!tools!varies!across!the!
different!contact!points!in!the!hotel.!
4. Methodology!
The!main!objective!of!this!study!is!to!identify!a!causal!relationship!
between! the! use! of! different! types! of! environmental! communication!
tools!containing!graphic!and!written!messages!and!guest!behaviour.!The!
use!of!the!communication!tools!is!understood!as!the!context!manipula-
tion!based!on!moderately!positive!attitudes!towards!environmentally!
conscious!behaviour!of!hotel!guests.!An!experimental!design!in!a!real-!
life!setting!was! chosen!as!the!research! method.! Experimental!designs!
allow!cause-effect!relationships!to!be!unambiguously!identi"ed!because!
confounding!factors!can! be!controlled!for!in!the! experimental!setting!
(Shadish!et! al.,!2002;!Viglia! and!Dolnicar,!2020).! Moreover,!they!use!
actual!behaviour!as!the!dependent!variable,!as!opposed!to,!e.g.,!survey!
designs! that! use! virtual,! non-consequential! choices! as! proxies! for!
real-world!behaviour.!Experimental!designs!are!therefore!less!prone!to!
social! desirability! bias! and! have! high! instrumental! validity! (Shadish!
et!al.,!2002;!Viglia!and!Dolnicar,!2020).!
The!main!rationale!for!choosing!an!experimental!design!was!to!in-
crease!the!validity!of!the!study.! Many!studies!investigating! consumer!
behaviour!suffer!from!low!validity!because!they!do!not!suf"ciently!take!
into!account! the!discrepancy!between!reported!and!actual!behaviour,!
the!so-called!attitude-behaviour!gap! (Viglia!and! Dolnicar,!2020).!This!
gap! is! particularly! pronounced! because! many! tourists! have!
pro-environmental!attitudes!which!they!do!not!exercise!in!the!tourism!
context!(Juvan!and!Dolnicar,!2014).!
In!classical!experimental!designs,!the!sample! is! randomly! divided!
into! two! groups,! assuming! that! all! confounding! factors! are! equally!
distributed!between!these!two!groups!so!that!they!in#uence!the!exper-
imental!results!equally.!As!a!rule,!only!one!factor!is!manipulated!in!the!
treatment!group,!while!the!control!group!remains!unmanipulated.!This!
allows!cause-effect!relationships!to!be!unambiguously!identi"ed!(Viglia!
and!Dolnicar,!2020).!In!this!study,!however,!a!strict!experimental!design!
was!not!feasible!due!to!restrictions!imposed!by!the!hotel!management,!
which!did!not!allow!random!assignment! of!guests!to! test!and!control!
groups.!In!order!to!still!bene"t!from!the!advantages!of!an!experimental!
design!without!random!group!assignment,!a!quasi-experimental!design!
was!chosen!instead!(Shadish!et!al.,!2002).!In!this!approach,!groups!are!
Fig.!1. A-B-C!Model.!!
H.!Antonschmidt!and!D.!Lund-Durlacher!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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not!randomly!assigned,!but!an!attempt!is!made!to!select!existing!groups!
that!are!as!homogeneous!as!possible!with! respect! to! potentially! con-
founding!variables.!
The!experimental!approach!chosen!was!a!‘post-test-only!design’ with!
non-equivalent!groups!(Shadish!et!al.,!2002).!This!type!of!design!mea-
sures!the!variable!in!question!only!once!for!each!experimental!condition,!
with!the!results!later!compared! between! groups.! For!this!study,!data!
collection!was!divided!into!a!seven-day!baseline!(control)!phase!and!a!
seven-day!test!(treatment)!phase,!with!a!seven-day!break!separating!the!
two!data!collection!phases.!To!compensate!for!non-random!assignment!
to!the!experimental!groups,!the!data!collection!period!and!hotel!were!
chosen!to!ensure!homogeneity!between!the! data! collection! phases! in!
terms! of! various! socio-demographic! and! other! characteristics! of! the!
guest!clientele!(age,!country!of!origin,!education,! gender,! size! of! the!
travel! party,! and! type! of! board)! (Viglia! and! Dolnicar,! 2020).! This!
approach!achieved!useable!results!in!Dolnicar!et!al.’s!(2020)!study.!
While! context! and! behaviour! are! directly! observable! within! an!
experimental!design,!attitude!as!the!third!major!variable!of!the!ABC!
theory!is!not! directly!observable.!Furthermore,! although!confounding!
variables! arising! from! the! context! — such! as! guest! presence! in! the!
breakfast!area,!number!of!buffet!stations,!and!type!of!food!— could!be!
visually!captured!and!controlled!for,!other!potential!confounders!such!as!
certain!socio-demographic!variables!could!not!be!visually!assessed.!In!
addition,! average! food! consumption! as! a! determinant! of! food! waste!
could! not! be! measured! directly! because! the! hotel! did! not! operate! a!
respective!control!system.!Therefore,!a!guest!survey!was!conducted!to!
collect!attitudes!and!the!control!variables!and!complement!the!experi-
mental! design.! Furthermore,! attention! values! of! the! guests! to! the!
communication!tools!used!at!the!various!contact!points!were!surveyed!to!
answer!RQ!2.!The!guest!surveys!were!conducted!after!both!baseline!and!
control!phases.!
4.1. Conducting!the!study!
The!process!of!the!study!can! be!structured!along! four!consecutive!
phases.!The!"rst!two!phases!were!focused!on!developing!and!testing!the!
communication!tools.!After!developing! the! prototypes! in! a! co-design!
process! with! staff! and! guests! in! a! hotel! in! Tyrol,! Austria,! the! tools!
were!evaluated!after!being!used!in!this!test!hotel!(phase!1).!Then,!the!
most!promising!tools!were!selected!and!adapted!based!on!staff!and!guest!
feedback!(phase!2).!This!preparatory!work!was!to!ensure!the!immediate!
applicability!of!the!tools!given!the!limited!time!frame!and!high!resource!
requirements!of!the!experiment.!This!was!followed!by!the!"eld!phase!in!
Gran!Canaria!during! which! the! edible! plate! waste! of! the! guests! was!
collected,!and!the!surveys!were!conducted.!The!data!analysis!with!re-
gard!to!the!research!questions!and!hypotheses!took!place!in!the!last!
phase.!The!entire!study!had!a!duration!of!about!12!months.!
4.1.1. Phase!1:!development!of!the!communication!tools!
The!communication!tools!were!developed!through!a!co-design!pro-
cess!that!used!the!operational!experience!of!hotel!management!and!staff.!
In! special! workshops,! the! staff! discussed! the! communicability! of!
different!aspects!of!sustainable!food!together!with!the!researchers!and!
developed!initial!ideas!for!communication!tools!and!messages.!The!re-
sults!of!the!workshops,!as!well!as!the!results!of!a!literature!review,!were!
then!used!by!an!information!designer!to!further!shape!the!tools.!
The!messages!of!the!tools!can!be!divided!into!three!parts.!The!"rst!
part!outlines!what!measures!the!hotel! uses! to! avoid! food! waste.! The!
intention!is!to!impose!a!behavioural!norm!(Stancu!et!al.,!2016;!Vermeir!
and!Verbeke,!2006;!Whitehair!et!al.,!2013).!The!text!reads:!
“UNITED!AGAINST!WASTE!
We!handle!food!carefully!so!that!less!is!wasted.!!
•We!plan!our!buffets!conscientiously.!!
•Our!dishes!are!freshly!prepared,!many!are!cooked!in! front! of! the!
guests.!!
•We!offer!a!wide!variety!of!different!portion!sizes.!!
•We!would!appreciate!your!feedback!on!our!food.”
The!second!part!suggests!some!measures!the!guests!can!implement!to!
avoid!food!waste.!These!actions!address!speci"c!drivers!of!plate!waste!as!
outlined!in!Dolnicar!and!Juvan! (2019).!The!aim! is!to!emphasise! con-
sumer!agency!and!market!in#uence!(Joshi!and!Rahman,!2017;!Kumar!
et!al.,!2017).!The!text!reads:!
“WHAT!CAN!I!DO?!!
•Start!with!smaller!portions! – have!less! on! the!plate!but!go!to! the!
buffet!more!often.!!
•Inform!yourself!about!the!dishes’ ingredients!before!you!make!your!
choice.!!
•Let! your! children! try! from! your! plate! to! help! them! "nd! their!
favourites.”
Finally,!factual!information! on! the! amount!of!food!wasted!is! pro-
vided!(St¨
ockli!et!al.,!2018b;!Vermeir!and!Verbeke,!2006).!The!text!
reads:!
“1/3!OF!THE!FOOD!ON!EACH!PLATE!IS!WASTED!– WE!CAN!PRE-
VENT!50%!OF!THIS&”
The!communication!messages!were!concrete!and!action-oriented!and!
had!a!positive!tone.!The!focus!was!on!mitigating!negative!impacts.!
4.1.2. Phase!2:!pretesting!of!the!tools!&!manipulation!check!
The! different! communication! tools! and! their! messages! were! pre-!
tested!in! a!three-star!holiday!hotel!in! Austria;!the!hotel!selection!was!
based!on!the!criterion!of!practicability.!Guest!feedback!was!collected!via!
a!structured!survey!(n!=12)!as!well!as!personal!interviews!and!obser-
vations!to!support!further!adaptation!of!the!tools.!Eight!different!tools!
were! tested,! including! four! stand! displays,! small! plate! labels,! buffet!
messages,!food!pickers,!and!place!mats.!The!tools!were!placed!at!three!
different!contact!points:!at!the!entrance!to!the!restaurant,!at!the!buffet,!
and!on!the!guest!tables.!One!conclusion!from!the!guest!feedback!was!that!
the!tools!placed!on! the! tables! and! at!the!buffet!achieved!the!highest!
attention.!However,!the!results!for!the!stand-up!display!at!the!entrance!
cannot!be!considered!representative!as!the!restaurant!had!more!than!one!
entrance.!Therefore,!not!all!guests!passed!by!this!contact!point!on!their!
way!to!their!tables.!In!addition,!the!place!for!the!stand-up!display!was!
only!dimly!lit.!
After!the!pre-test,!an!information!designer!developed!the!"nal!set!of!
communication!tools.!The! tools! have!a!standard!layout,! which! was!a!
requirement!for!the!design.!Logo!and!hotel!speci"c!information!can!be!
adapted! to! make! them! transferable! to! different! hotel! environments.!
Furthermore,!the!messages!were!provided!in!three!languages!(English,!
German,!Spanish)!to!ensure!that!the!majority!of!the!guests! in!the!test!
hotel!could!understand!them.!
To!verify!that!the!tools!conveyed!the!intended!message,!a!manipu-
lation!check!was!conducted!with!25!undergraduate!university!students.!
Participants!were! shown! each! tool! and! then! asked! a! multiple-choice!
question! about! each! tool! to! what! message! they! thought! the! tool!
conveyed.! The! results! show! that! the! participants’ perceptions! of! the!
messages!were!consistent!with!the!intended!messages.!Speci"cally,!the!
results!con"rm!that!the!tools!impose!a!behavioural!norm!and!emphasise!
individual!agency!in!support!of!sustainability!efforts!(Fig.!2).!
4.1.3. Phase!3:!data!collection!in!the!test!hotel!
Data!collection!took!place!during!the!hotel’s!breakfast!hours!with!the!
baseline!phase!starting!on!July!9,!2017!and!the!test!phase!starting!on!
July! 23,! 2017.! Each! phase! lasted! seven! days! and! the! phases! were!
separated!by!a!seven-day!break.!In!the!baseline!phase,!no!communica-
tion!tools!were!used,! but! the!total!amount!of!edible!plate! waste! was!
collected.!A!break!in!data!collection!was!then!taken!to!allow!for!rotation!
of!guests!to!ensure!independence!of!observations.!In!the!subsequent!test!
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phase,!the!communication!tools!were! positioned! at! the! three! contact!
points!and!the!edible!plate!waste!was!collected!again.!In!both!phases,!the!
context! covariates! (guest! presence! in! the! breakfast! area,! number! of!
buffet!stations,!and!type!of!food)!were!counted!or!visually!inspected.!
Furthermore,!guest!surveys! conducted!at!the!end! of! both!baseline!
and!test!phase!collected!data!regarding!attitudes!towards!food!sustain-
ability!issues,!and!socio-demographic!and!other!guest!data.!The!survey!
after!the!test!phase!additionally!asked!for!the!guests’ attention!towards!
the!communication!tools.!
Breakfast!was!selected!for!the!experiment!over!other!meals!because!
its!contents!do!not!vary!much!from!day!to!day.!In!the!test!hotel,!all!guests!
took!their!breakfast!in!an!all-you-can-eat!buffet!style!restaurant!within!
the!hotel!complex.!There!was!no!restriction!on!the!type!and!amount!of!
food!that!could!be!consumed!for!any!board!types!during!the!breakfast!
period!from!7:30!to!10:30am.!The!service!stations!were!easily!accessible!
so! that! no! waiting! lines! or! crowds! occurred! even! at! peak! times.! On!
average,!396!guests!frequented!the!restaurant!in!the!baseline!and!393!
guests!in!the!test!phase.!The!guests!collected!their!plates!when!entering!
the!buffet!service!area!and!then!walked!around!the!serving!stations.!The!
food! selection! included! hot! and! cold! international! dishes! such! as!
scrambled!eggs,!cheese!and!sausage!platters,!fruits,!and!cereals.!
4.1.3.1. Preparation. Before!the!data!collection!phase,! a! brie"ng! was!
held!with!the!hotel!staff! on! how! to! correctly! collect! the!edible!plate!
waste!(i.e.,!how!to!separate!edible!from!non-edible!plate!waste,!and!how!
to!collect!the!edible!plate!waste!in!special!containers).!Furthermore,!the!
correct!positioning!of!the!communication!tools!was!explained.!
In!line!with!the!results!of!the!pre-test,!the!communication!tools!were!
installed! at! the! buffet! and! on! the! guest! tables.! Additionally,! one!
communication!tool!was!placed!at!the!entrance!to!the!restaurant!as!this!
contact!point!is!already!frequently!used!by!restaurants!to!communicate,!
e.g.,! special! offers.! Therefore,! it! was! assumed! that! hotel! guests! are!
receptive!to!food-related!information! at! this! particular! contact!point.!
Each!contact!point!was!furnished!with!one!communication!tool.!Fig.!3!
provides!an!overview!of!the!experimental!layout.!
4.1.3.2. Plate! waste! collection. The! edible! plate! waste! (food! that! was!
taken!onto!the!plate!but!not!eaten,!excluding,!e.g.,!peels,!bones,!or!shells;!
not!including!liquid!foods)!was!collected!by!waiters!with!cleaning!carts!
during!the!breakfast!period.!Either!the!guests!handed!the!waiter!their!
plate!or!the!waiter!took!away!the!plate!after!the!guest!permitted!it.!The!
waiter!then!manually!separated!the!waste!using!separate!containers!for!
edible!and!non-edible!plate!waste.!A!researcher!was!present!during!the!
whole!breakfast!period!and!supervised!the!correct!waste!collection!and!
separation!procedure.!At!the!end!of!the!collection!period,!the!waste!was!
pooled!and!weighed!with!an!industrial!scale!by!the!researcher.!
4.1.3.3. Implementation! of! guest! surveys. The! guest! surveys! were! con-
ducted!after!both!the!baseline!and!test!phases.!To!ensure!that!the!guests!
had!suf"cient!exposure!to!the!breakfast!selection!and!the!communica-
tion!tools,!only!those!guests!who!had!already!spent!at!least!three!days!in!
the!hotel!were!considered.!The!guests!were!issued!a!paper!questionnaire!
on!the!last! day!of!each!data! collection!phase.!They!were! approached!
when!leaving!the!restaurant!after!breakfast!to!eliminate!a!potential!bias.!
The!attitudes!of!guests!towards!sustainable!food!and!food!waste!were!
assessed!by!using!seven-point!measurement!scales!for!a!total!of!20!items.!
This!multidimensional!approach!was!developed!by!Lund-Durlacher!et!al.!
(2016).!The!questionnaire!items!refer!to!all!"ve!pillars!of!the!sustainable!
food!concept,!i.e.,!ecology,!economy,!society,!health,!and!culture.!
The!differentiation!of!"ve!pillars!builds!on!von!Koerber!(2010).!His!
framework!enlarges!the!three-pillar!concept!of!environment,!economy,!
and!society!as!advocated!e.g.,!by!the!famous!Brundtland!report.!Overall,!
however,! selectivity! and! clearness! of! the! three-pillar! approach! are!
limited! and! encourage! adaptations! to! the! distinct! circumstances! of!
different!application!areas!(Purvis!et!al.,!2018).!
The!subsequent!items!asked!guests!about!their!own!perceived!food!
consumption! behaviour! during! the! holiday! and! collected! socio-!
demographic! and! other! guest! data! such! as! number! of! days! already!
spent!in!the!hotel,!age,!gender,!country!of!origin,!party!size,!and!edu-
cation!level.!The!ex-post!questionnaire!after!the!test!phase!was!identical!
to! the! ex-ante! questionnaire,! but! additionally! asked! for! the! guests’
attention!to!each!of!the!communication!tools!using!a!four-point!scale.!
4.1.4. Phase!4:!data!analysis!
For!the!statistical!analyses,!the!program!SPSS!Statistics!24!was!used.!
Due!to!the!quasi-experimental!design,!it!was!of!particular!importance!to!
identify!changes!in!potentially!confounding!covariates.!
4.1.4.1. Analysis!of!context!covariates. The!guest!data!available!from!the!
hotel!were!compared!between!the!baseline!and!test!phases!to!identify!
signi"cant!differences.!Of!particular!interest!were!the!guests’ countries!
of!origin,!since!Juvan!et!al.!(2018)!found!that!guest!nationality!had!a!
signi"cant!impact!on!food!waste!behaviour.!While!the!share!of!the!other!
guest!groups!(ranking!by!share:!Germany,!United!Kingdom,!Sweden,!
Norway,!Denmark,!other!countries)!did!not!change!signi"cantly,!a!sig-
ni"cant!difference!concerned!the!percentage!of!Dutch!guests,!which!was!
higher!in!the!test!phase.!To!get!an!indication!of!any!food!waste!behav-
iours! particular! to! this! group,! a! comparison! of! the! survey! data! was!
conducted!between!Dutch!guests!and!other!guests.!Based!on!chi-squared!
tests,! no! indication! was! found! that! Dutch! guests! would! display! a!
signi"cantly!more!environmentally!conscious!food!waste!behaviour!(p!
>0.05!for!all!questionnaire!items!related!to!food!waste).!Therefore,!we!
conclude!that!this!variation!in!guest!nationality!does!not!challenge!the!
test!results.!Other! covariates! such! as!mixture!of!board! arrangements,!
number!of!buffet!stations,!and!guest!presence!in!the!breakfast!area!did!
not!differ!between!the!baseline!and!test!phases.!
Fig.!2. Manipulation!check!results.!!
Fig.!3. Experimental!lay-out.!!
H.!Antonschmidt!and!D.!Lund-Durlacher!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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4.1.4.2. Analysis!of!survey!covariates. Although!the!survey!participants!
were!comparable!along! socio-demographic!data!between! the!baseline!
and!test!phases,!as!expected!with!a!quasi-experimental!design!they!were!
not!identical.!An!overview!of!survey!participants’ characteristics!can!be!
found!in!Table!2.!
One! signi"cant! difference! between! the! baseline! and! test! phases!
concerned!the!average!number!of! days! guests! had! spent! in!the!hotel!
leading!up! to!the!date!of!the!survey.!However,!spearman!correlations!
with!the!waste-related!survey!items!gave! no! indication! that! environ-
mentally!conscious!food!waste!behaviour!might!have!increased!because!
guests!had!on!average!already!spent!more!days!in!the!hotel!in!the!test!
phase.!Accordingly,!we!conclude!that!the!change!does!not!challenge!the!
test! results.! In! contrast,! there! was! no! considerable! change! in! the!
moderately!positive!attitude!of!guests!towards!food!sustainability!(Ap-
pendix!A).!Overall,!the!consent!to!pro-sustainability!statements!was!4.90!
in!the!baseline!phase!and!5.10!in!the! test!phase,! while!the! consent!to!
statements!contra-sustainability!was!3.77!in!the!baseline!phase!and!4.10!
in!the!test!phase.!The!analysis!of!the!single!statements!shows!only!one!
signi"cant!change!(p!(one-tailed)!<0.05)!concerning!the!importance!of!
traditional!food,!which!was!valued!more!highly!by!participants!of!the!ex-!
post!survey.!
5. Results!
After!assessing!the!in#uence!of!the!covariates,!the!data!were!further!
analysed!with!reference!to!the!research!questions.!
5.1. Change!in!food!waste!behaviour!
To!check!the! effect! of!the!communication!tools!on! the! amount!of!
edible!plate!waste,!the!waste!values!of!the!baseline!and!the!test!phase!
were!compared.!The!measurement!results!show!that!the!average!amount!
of! edible! plate! waste! per! guest! was! lower! during! the! test! phase!
(-14.39%).! The! mean! amount! of! edible! plate! waste! in! the! ex-ante!
(control)!group!was!18.39!g!(SD:!2.99)!and!in!the!ex-post!(treatment)!
group!15.74!g!per!guest!(SD:!2.36).!A!t-test! shows!that!the!difference!
between! the! phases! was! signi"cant! (t! (12)! =1.84,! p! (one-tailed)! =
0.046)!(Table!3).!
5.2. Attention!towards!the!communication!tools!
The!survey!results!show!that!the!tools!at!the!tables!of!the!restaurant!
achieved!the!highest!attention,!as!they!were!read!in!detail!by!a!majority!
of!the!guests.!The! tool! at! the! restaurant’s! entrance!was!noticed!by!a!
majority!of!guests,!but!only!a!minority!read!it!in!detail.!The!tools!at!the!
buffet!were!also!noticed!by!a!majority!of!guests,!but!there!remained!a!
high!percentage!of!guests!who!did!not!notice!them!at!all!(Table!4).!
A!Friedman!test!con"rmed!that!the! differences!in!attention!to! the!
tools!between!the!three!contact!points!were!signi"cant!(n!=66,!
χ
2!
(2)!=
35.4,!p! =0.000,!p!<0.05).!Speci"cally,!Wilcoxon!post!hoc! tests!(sig-
ni"cance! level! after! Bonferroni! correction! set! at! p! <0.017)! showed!
signi"cant!differences!between!the!contact!points!‘guest!table’ (mean:!
3.33)!and!‘entrance’ (mean:!2.52;!z!= −5.218,!p!=0.000,!r!=0.45)!and!
between!‘guest!table’ and!‘plate!issuance’ (mean:!2.44;!z!= −4.241,!p!=
0.000,!r! =0.37),!while!the!results!between!‘entrance’ and!‘plate!issu-
ance’ were!not!signi"cantly!different!(z!= −0.457,!p!=0.648,!r!=0.04)!
(Field,!2005).!
6. Discussion!
Relating!the!results!to!the!propositions!of!the!ABC!theory,!one!can!
conclude!that!even!in!a!context!that!is!generally!unfavourable!to!envi-
ronmentally! conscious! consumption,! well-positioned! contextual! ma-
nipulations!can!stimulate!food!waste!reduction!behaviour.!In!this!study,!
the! stimulation! was! achieved! under! conditions! of! moderately! pro-!
sustainability! attitudes! in! a! moderately! contra-sustainability! context.!
Under!these!conditions,!a!small!change!in!context!was!suf"cient!(Fig.!1),!
while!a!change!in!attitudes!was!not!a!necessary!condition!for!an!increase!
in!more! responsible!behaviour.!This! result!supports!H!1,!is!consistent!
with! the! propositions! of! the! ABC! theory! (Guagnano! et! al.,! 1995;!
Whitehair!et!al.,!2013),!and!extends!the!explanatory!power!of!the!ABC!
theory!to! food!waste!behaviour!in!hotels.! Encouragingly,!even!such!a!
rather! less! sustainable! setting! is! not! an! insurmountable! barrier! to!
behaviour!change.!With!respect! to! nudging! theory,!the!conclusion!of!
St¨
ockli!et!al.! (2018)! on! the! effectiveness! of! antecedent! interventions!
combining!information!and!prompts!is!con"rmed.!
As! argued! by! Stern! (2005),! it! was! the! context! manipulation! that!
caused!the!behaviour!change.!Attitudes,!in!turn,!did!not!change!and!
consequently!had!no!direct!effect!on!behaviour.!While!Guagnano!et!al.!
(1995,!p.!704)!"nd!that!“the!main!effect!of!attitudes!on!behaviour!de-
pends!on!external! conditions”,!this!study!"nds! a!direct!context!effect!
which!is!potentially!moderated!by!attitudes.!To!"nally!con"rm!the!role!
of!attitudes!and!measure! the! extent! of! their!effect,!however,!the!test!
should! be! repeated! in! a! similar! setting! with! socio-demographically!
similar! guests! who! possess! negative! attitudes! towards! food! waste!
Table!2!
Sample!characteristics!of!the!guest!survey.!!!
Ex!ante!sample! Ex!post!sample!
"nal!sample!size! 65! 66!
av.!no.!of!days!spent!in!the!
hotel!(including!test!day)
a!
6.9! 8.2!
age!distribution!(years)! 18!-!25:!31.3%!
26!-!35:!20.3%!
36!-!45:!4.7%!
46!-!55:!23.4%!
56!-!65:!9.4%!
n.a.:!10.9%!
18!-!25:!28.8%!
26!-!35:!16.7%!
36!-!45:!6.0%!
46!-!55:!37.9%!
56!-!65:!7.6%!
66!-!75:!1.5%!
n.a.:!1.5%!
Gender! male:!46.2%!
female:!47.7%!
n.a.:!6.1%!
male:!37.9%!
female:!57.6%!
n.a.:!4.5%!
country!of!origin! Germany:!33.9%!
Netherlands:!3.1%!
Sweden:!21.5%!
United!Kingdom:!
16.9%!
other:!24.6%!
Germany:!24,3%!
Netherlands:!12.1%!
Sweden:!13.6%!
United!Kingdom:!
22.7%!
other:!27.3%!
av.!travel!party!size!(only!if!
stated)!
2.3! 2.5!
education! compulsory!school!
degree:!1.5%!
completed!
apprenticeship:!16.9%!
high!school!degree:!
30.8%!
university!degree:!
29.2%!
n.a.:!21.6%!
compulsory!school!
degree:!4.5%!
completed!
apprenticeship:!12.1%!
high!school!degree:!
25.8%!
university!degree:!
40.9%!
n.a.:!16.7%!!
a
Denotes!signi"cant!difference!at!the!5%!level.!
Table!3!
Waste!measurement.!!
Day! Baseline! Test!Phase! Δ Test!Phase!
– Baseline!
per!guest!in!
g!
Δ Test!Phase!
– Baseline!
per!guest!in!
%!
sig.!
(one-!
tailed)!
edible!plate!
waste!per!
guest!in!g!
edible!
plate!
waste!per!
guest!in!g!
1! 13.84! 13.03! -0.81! -5.85!!
2! 18.72! 16.46! -2.26! -12.08!
3! 20.86! 12.02! -8.84! -42.41!
4! 21.34! 18.06! -3.28! -15.39!
5! 20.32! 17.27! -3.05! -15.02!
6! 18.99! 17.76! -1.23! -6.47!
7! 14.65! 15.61! 0.96! 6.53!
Average! 18.39! 15.74! -2.65! -14.39! 0.046!!
H.!Antonschmidt!and!D.!Lund-Durlacher!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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prevention!and!sustainability!in!general.!This!would!also!allow!for!im-
plications! with! which! guest! clientele! the! communication! tools! are!
effective.!
Accordingly,!the!conclusion!of!Dolnicar!et!al.!(2017,!p.!8)!that!“pro-!
environmental!appeals! are!ineffective!in! hedonic![holiday!hotel]!con-
texts” cannot! be! con"rmed.! Rather,! the! results! are! in! line! with! the!
successful!intervention!in!Dolnicar!et!al.!(2020).!One!possible!explana-
tion!is!that!the!experimental!conditions!-!as!represented!by!the!various!
control!variables!-!did!not!allow!for!the!intervention!to!be!successful!in!
Dolnicar!et!al.!(2017),!whereas!favourable!conditions!prevailed!in!Dol-
nicar!et!al.!(2020)!and!in!the!present!study.!
With!regard!to!the!ABC!theory,!it!could!also!be!hypothesised!that!in!
Dolnicar!et!al.’s!(2017)!study,!the!attitude-context!relationship!was!not!
favourable!for! behaviour! change.! For! example,! if! both! factors!had!a!
negative!value! (negative!attitude!of! the!guests!and! a!hedonistic!hotel!
context),!the!minimal!context!manipulation!would!likely!be!ineffective.!
With!regard!to!the!second!research!question,!it!could!be!shown!that!
the!attention!towards!the!communication!tools!depends!on!their!posi-
tioning! and! that! the! contact! point! ‘guest! table’ received! the! highest!
attention.!It!follows!that!H!2!is!also!supported.!A!possible!explanation!
could!be!that! guests!only!have!limited! receptivity! to!‘non-hedonistic’
disturbances! while! they! are! on! their! way! to! the! restaurant! or! help!
themselves!at!the!buffet.!However,!when!they!are!seated!at!their!table,!
they!have!suf"cient!time!to!read!and!process!the!messages.!This!result!
con"rms! the! importance! of! positioning! for! the! effectiveness! of! pro-!
environmental!appeals!in!hedonistic!contexts!(Hansen!and!Maaloe!Jes-
persen,!2013).!
It!could! be!hypothesised!that!in!the! context!of!a!buffet!style! hotel!
restaurant,! which! constitutes! a! novel! environment! compared! to! the!
home!context,!tourists!are!more!receptive!to!environmental!information!
and!therefore!more!likely!to!adapt!their!habitual!and!possibly!wasteful!
eating! behaviour! (van’t! Riet! et! al.,! 2011).! However,! to! test! this! hy-
pothesis,!the!effectiveness!of!interventions!would!also!need!to!be!tested!
in!the!tourists’ home!context.!The!type!of!intervention!would!then!have!
to!be!adapted!to!the!different!conditions.!
From!a!business!perspective,!it!should!be!noted!that!although!the!use!
of!the!communication!tools! resulted! in!less!food!waste,!the! surveyed!
tourists!did!not!perceive!their!food!consumption!to!be!lower!during!the!
test!phase.!It!can!be!concluded!that!the!tools!did!not!affect!the!hedonistic!
travel!experience!of!the!guests.!This!can!be! seen!as! an!important!pre-
requisite!for!the!success!of!environmental!interventions!in!the!holiday!
context.!
Hotels!can!furthermore! bene"t!directly!from! the!results!by!saving!
food!resources!through! a!cost-effective!measure.!Communicating! that!
their!food!policies!are!environmentally!friendly!can!also!be!an!effective!
way!for!hotels!to!highlight!their!corporate!responsibility!efforts.!Since!
the! tools! on! the! guest! tables! received! the! highest! attention,! cost-!
conscious!hotels!could!focus!on!this!contact!point!for!communicating!
environmental!information.!
With!regard!to!the!wider!sustainability!discourse,!the!"ndings!argue!
for! a! stronger! consideration! of! and! trust! in! consumers! in! exercising!
responsibility!and!their! inclusion! for! environmental! protection.! Like-
wise,!however,!the!direct! context! effect! shows!that!consumer!agency!
should!not!be!overestimated!relative!to!structure.!Accordingly,!a!shared!
responsibility!is!necessary!between!hotels!as!providers!of!the!scope!of!
action!and!consumers!as!the!agents!acting!within!that!scope.!
One! lesson! for! future! research! is! that! under! certain! conditions! a!
restraining!effect!of!context!can!be!overcome.!The!need!for!these!con-
ditions!must! be!corroborated!in!future!studies.!For!example,!different!
attitude-context! combinations! could! be! evaluated! in! a! comparative!
design.!Another!lesson!is!that!attitudinal!changes!should!not!be!expected!
in!the!short-term! and!longitudinal!studies!are! needed!to!examine! the!
long-term!effects! of!communication!tools! on!attitudes!and!related!be-
haviours.! Future! research! should! further! investigate! the! in#uence! of!
social!norms,!and!in!particular!isolate!the!effect!of!descriptive!norms,!i.!
e.,!how!other!guests!behave.!In!addition,!the!messages!themselves!could!
be!deconstructed!in!research!that!focuses!on!which!speci"c!aspect!of!the!
messages!was!most!effective!in!persuading!consumers!to!change!their!
behaviour.! Finally,! the! durability! of! the! moderate! reduction! in! food!
waste!should!be!assessed!with!a!longer!test!series.!
7. Limitations!
As! the! study! aimed! to! investigate! a! causal! relationship! between!
communication!tools!and!guest!behaviour,!it!was!crucial!to!control!for!
all!other!confounding!in#uences!to!ensure!internal!validity.!Although!an!
attempt!was!made!to!identify!all!possible!in#uencing!variables!listed!in!
the!literature,!there!is!no!absolute!certainty!that!this!list!is!exhaustive.!In!
this! regard,! the! greatest! validity! threat! arises! from! the! quasi-!
experimental! design! because,! although! the! measured! socio-!
demographic!differences!between!the! groups!were!small,!the!possibil-
ity!of!in#uence!from!other!unmeasured!differences!remains.!
Another!threat!to!validity!arises!from!the!use!of!a!questionnaire!to!
assess!tourists’ attitudes!towards!sustainability.!However,!although!so-
cial!desirability!bias!cannot!be!completely!ruled!out,!the!questionnaire!
items!were!formulated!in! such! a! way!that!a!sustainable!attitude! was!
always!associated!with!costs!for!the!consumer!(e.g.,!“Hotels!should!not!
only! meet! but! exceed! ecological! standards! […],! even! if! it! results! in!
higher! prices! for! me.”).! This! approach! aimed! to! raise! the! threshold!
required!for!guests!to!report!a!sustainable!attitude.!
Finally,!the!generalisability!of!the!results!is!limited!as!the!experiment!
was! only! conducted! in! one! hotel! at! one! destination.! However,! Gran!
Canaria!can!be!considered!a!typical!package!holiday!destination,!and!the!
study!site!was!a!typical!sun-and-beach!holiday!hotel!with!an!all-you-can-!
eat!concept.!Therefore,!the!results!should!be!largely!transferable!to!other!
mass!holiday!destinations.!
8. Conclusion!
The!results!show!the!effectiveness!of!the!selected!communication!
tools!in!promoting!food!waste!reduction!among!hotel!guests!in!all-you-!
can-eat!sun-and-beach!holiday!hotels.!The!context!manipulation!had!an!
immediate!decreasing!effect!on!the!amount!of!edible!plate!waste.!With!
respect! to! the! attitude-behaviour-context! theory,! the! context! change!
caused!by!the!communication!tools!was!strong!enough!to!lift!the!overall!
attitude-context!combination!above!the!behavioural!threshold!(Fig.!1).!
Furthermore,! it! can! be! concluded! that! ‘guest! table’ is! by! far! the!
strongest!contact!point!and!placing!the!tools!there!had!a!medium!effect!
on!recognition!(Cohen,!1988).!Accordingly,!the!tools!on!the!‘guest!table’
bear!the!main!responsibility!for!the!behaviour!change.!
Since! the! communication! tool! on! the! table! achieved! the! highest!
recognition!values,!it!can!be!assumed!that!this!recognition!is!a!function!
of!the!exposure!to!the!tool.!In!addition,!the!fact!that!a!majority!of!guests!
read!the!tool’s!message!in!full!detail!indicates!processing!of!the!message!
and! thus! that! reducing! environmental! impact! was! an! intentional,!
rational!decision!of!guests.!Similarly,!there!is!little!evidence!of!subcon-
scious! behaviour,! which! is! the! target! of! many! ‘classical’ nudging!
Table!4!
Attention!towards!the!Communication!Tools!(four-point!scale,!multiple!choice!
question:! “Please! state! the! extent! you! got! in! touch! with! the! following!
instruments.”).!!
Tool! I!read!it!in!
every!
detail.!
I!had!a!
closer!look!
at!it.!
I!have!
noticed!it.!
I!have!not!
noticed!it.!
Tool!1!(Roll-up!at!the!
restaurant!
entrance)!
19.7%! 22.7%! 47.0%! 10.6%!
Tool!2!(Display!at!the!
guest!tables)!
57.6%! 22.7%! 15.2%! 4.5%!
Tool!3!(Display!at!the!
plate!issuance)!
24.2%! 21.2%! 28.8%! 25.8%!!
H.!Antonschmidt!and!D.!Lund-Durlacher!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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interventions.!
It!is!notable!that!the!hotel!guests!showed!receptivity!to!messages!that!
ran! contrary! to! their! other! contextual! experience.! Given! their! pro-!
sustainability! attitudes,! their! environmentally! conscious! food! waste!
behaviour!may!also!be!a!means!of!reducing!their!cognitive!dissonance,!
so!that!they!tried!to!make!the!context!more!environmentally!sustainable!
through!their!own!behaviour.!
The!"ndings!con"rm!previous!studies!from!the!food!service!industry!
that!guests!reduce!their!environmental!impact!when!encouraged!to!do!so!
through! informational! prompts.! This! is! promising,! considering! that!
many!food!service!operations!are!currently!environmentally!unsustain-
able!and!that!their!scope!for!major!operational!change!is!often!limited.!
Overall,!the!results!support! the! hypothesis! that!consumers!can!be!
encouraged!to!behave! more! responsibly! through!speci"c!graphic!and!
written! communication! tools.! This! is! true! even! in! unrestricted! con-
sumption!contexts,!provided!that!the!communication!tools!are!placed!at!
the!most!visible!contact!points.!These!results!can!be!used!by!the!hotel!
industry! and! policy! makers! to! engage! their! guests! more! actively! in!
addressing!environmental!challenges.!
Funding!
The!results!of! this!study!come! from!the!project!“Sustainable! Food!
Communication” which!was!funded!and!supported!by!Futouris!e.V.,!the!
sustainability!initiative!of!the! German! tourism! industry.! The! graphic!
communication!tools!were! designed!in!cooperation! with!Eva!Frey!In-
formation!Design,!Vienna,!and!United!Against!Waste,!Germany.!
CRediT!authorship!contribution!statement!
Hannes! Antonschmidt:! Conceptualization,! Methodology,! Formal!
analysis,! Investigation,! Writing! – original! draft,! Writing! – review! &!
editing.! Dagmar! Lund-Durlacher:! Conceptualization,! Investigation,!
Writing!– original!draft,!Writing!– review!&!editing,!Supervision,!Project!
administration,!Funding!acquisition.!
Declaration!of!competing!interest!
The!authors! declare!that!they!have!no!known!competing!"nancial!
interests!or!personal!relationships!that!could!have!appeared!to!in#uence!
the!work!reported!in!this!paper.!!
Appendix. Survey!Results!– Attitudes!towards!Sustainable!Food!(average!on!a!7-point!Likert!scale!from!1!¼I!totally!disagree!to!7!¼I!
totally!agree)!!
Statement/Question! Baseline!
Phase!
Test!
Phase!
sig.!(one-!
tailed)!
On!vacation,!freshly-prepared!food!without!any!convenience!products!is!important!to!me.! 5.77! 5.97! 0.334!
On!vacation,!buffets!and!`
a!la!carte!orders!should!always!provide!the!complete!range!of!food!and!drinks!until!the!end!of!the!opening!
hours,!regardless!of!any!leftovers.!
4.84! 5.02! 0.427!
Hotels!should!not!only!meet!but!exceed!ecological!standards!(e.g.!responsible!waste!and!sewage!handling),!even!if!it!results!in!higher!
prices!for!me.!
5.28! 5.31! 0.437!
On!vacation,!I!like!to!enjoy!food!and!drinks!that!are!tasty!and!"lling.!All!other!food!qualities!play!a!secondary!role.! 4.26! 4.80! 0.095!
Hotels!should!not!only!meet!but!exceed!social!standards!(e.g.!working!conditions!for!employees),!even!if!it!results!in!higher!prices!for!
me.!
5.78! 5.63! 0.125!
On!vacation,!I!prefer!a!decent!meal!regardless!of!any!leftovers.! 3.89! 4.08! 0.365!
To!reduce!waste,!I!am!willing!to!take!smaller!portions!and!go!more!often!to!the!buffet.! 6.03! 6.40! 0.102!
On!vacation,!I!am!eager!to!taste!local!food.! 5.37! 5.67! 0.399!
Consuming!local!food!and!drinks!is!a!good!way!to!become!acquainted!with!other!cultures.! 5.65! 5.97! 0.108!
On!vacation,!I!don’t!mind!eating!in!an!unhealthy!way.! 3.22! 3.58! 0.205!
On!vacation,!eating!regionally-produced!food!is!important!to!me.! 4.86! 5.17! 0.094!
On!vacation,!eating!freshly-produced!food!is!important!to!me.! 6.00! 6.26! 0.117!
On!vacation,!eating!healthy!food!is!important!to!me.! 5.31! 5.70! 0.126!
On!vacation,!eating!traditional!food!is!important!to!me.! 4.49! 5.05! 0.017!
On!vacation,!eating!fair-trade!food!is!important!to!me.! 4.80! 4.85! 0.426!
On!vacation,!I!like!to!be!informed!about!the!origins!and!production!of!food!and!drinks!(e.g.!notes!in!the!menu!or!signs!at!the!buffet).! 4.54! 4.45! 0.231!
On!vacation,!eating!fast!food!(e.g.!French!fries,!burgers,!or!schnitzel)!is!essential!for!me!to!enjoy!myself.! 2.65! 3.03! 0.097!
On!vacation,!eating!organic!food!is!important!to!me.! 3.69! 3.78! 0.492!
On!vacation,!I!pay!attention!to!ingredients!and!nutritional!values!of!meals.! 3.97! 3.81! 0.089!
On!vacation,!I!try!to!eat!little!or!no!meat!at!all.! 1.97! 2.44! 0.182!!
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4.!
Hannes!Antonschmidt! is! a!Professor! of! International!Hotel! Management! at!SRH! Berlin!
University!of!Applied!Sciences,!Dresden!School!of!Management!(Germany).!His!academic!
background!is!in!Socioeconomic!Sciences.!He!earned!his!PhD!at!Modul!University!Vienna!
(Austria).!Hannes’ research!interests!are! sustainability!in!tourism! and!hospitality,! con-
sumer!behaviour,!and! advanced!quantitative!methods.! He!has!participated! in!multiple!
basic!and!applied!research!projects!for!the!travel!industry.!
Dagmar!Lund-Durlacher!is!a!Professor!Emerita!at!the!Department!of!Tourism!and!Service!
Management!at!Modul!University!Vienna!and!Senior!Research!Associate!at!the!Centre!for!
Sustainable! Tourism! at! the! Eberswalde! University! for! Sustainable! Development.! She!
earned!her!PhD!at!the!Vienna!University!of!Economics!and!Business.!Between!2010!and!
2014! she! chaired! the! BEST! (Building! Excellence! in! Sustainable! Tourism)! Education!
Network,!and!is!scienti"c!and!technical!advisor!for!a!number!of!international!industry!and!
non-pro"t!organizations.! Her!current! research!interests! focus!on! the!areas! of!corporate!
social!responsibility!emphasising!on!CSR!management!systems!and!certi"cation!schemes,!
climate!change!and!mobility!in!tourism!as!well!as!sustainable!food!operations.!
H.!Antonschmidt!and!D.!Lund-Durlacher!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
