Not just a room! Exploring the role of green innovations in the hospitality industry

Prerana Baber and Chitresh Joshi

American Journal of Business, 2026, vol. 41, issue 4, 194-210

Abstract: PurposeThe manuscript investigates how green innovation practices (GIP) in hotels shape visitors' willingness to pay a premium for green accommodation through the Stimulus-Organism-Response (SOR) lens.Design/methodology/approachThis research paper used SMART PLS to analyse the data. This statistical tool is primarily used for predictive modelling, which emphasises the complex relationships among variables.FindingsThe results indicate that GIP not only indirectly contributes to the premium acceptance with multifaceted value perceptions and the functional, emotional and epistemic dimensions but also directly, which allows the tourism operators to achieve a 10–15% tariff premium by signalling credible sustainability promises.Research limitations/implicationsThis study presents strong evidence on sustainable tourism dynamics; however, methodological decisions such as cross-sectional survey data and a convenience sample of 350 mainly urban Indian tourists limit causal conclusions and generalisation across demographics.Practical implicationsPolicymakers can encourage this by providing incentives, such as tax rebates, to GIP adopters, in line with the National Tourism Policy, which aims to drive concerted industry-wide scaling of sustainable practices. Nonetheless, we must be very careful about excessive innovation; unless we align with local conditions, GIP will yield decreasing returns when viewed as elitist. In the long run, this SOR-based strategy will enable managers to consider sustainability as an active stimulus-response dynamic rather than a fixed requirement, and to develop profitable, resilient patterns in a climate-accountable era.Social implicationsThe results of this study are a valuable addition to the body of knowledge about the complexity of sustainable tourism, specifically in the context of the Indian market, which is why the findings of this study can be viewed as an effective extension of the SOR framework, as it can help to understand how external stimuli can influence the internal assessment and behavioral patterns in the markets that are concerned about the environment.Originality/valueThis integrated framework clarifies how and for whom green innovation can translate into price-premium potential in the hotel sector and offers actionable guidance for managers to prioritise credible green practices and targeted communication to environmentally concerned segments to unlock sustainable revenue growth.

Keywords: Green innovation practices; Green perceived value; Environmental concern; Willingness to pay premium prices; SOR framework (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eme:ajbpps:ajb-04-2026-0051

DOI: 10.1108/AJB-04-2026-0051

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