In-Depth Interview/ FGD Discussion guide for Study on Green Hotels

Research Objective

Theme

Icebreaking

Discussion points

Introduce yourself and explain the purpose of meeting

[I am a doctoral student in marketing area at IIM L, I
studying consumer behavior and branding in hotel
industry] , [we are meeting to discuss about certain
aspects of this hotel and your experience in relation
with those. It will take around 40 mins ], [Please feel
free to express your opinion, there are no right or
wrong answers, all your views and opinion will be used
for academic purpose and will be kept confidential.]
Please tell me your good name, DOB, educational
qualification, nationality, Occupation, purpose of
travel, [note gender]
Can you recall some of the hotels you have stayed in
last few years? [Note the name of the hotels]
How will you group these hotels into different sets? On
what basis you did this grouping. [Probe: - Is there
any other way to group these hotels?]
1. How would you describe this hotel? [ wait. Let
them speak] Give few words that, according to
you, describe this hotel.
[Observe: - if they speak about Greenness of hotel]
[If they dont probe further:- with option below ]
2. How would you categories THIS hotel? [Give
options: Green or Non-Green, Environment
friendly or non-environment friendly, Eco-friendly
or non-eco friendly?
3. IF GREEN then proceed else
4. If No Greenness is mentioned or observed:- Ask
[what makes you feel that this is not an ecofriendly hotel?]

Expected
Outcomes
To see if they
describe or
categorize this
hotel as
Green/ ecofriendly hotel.

1,2 and 3

Green
Brand
Equity

Will you recommend this BRAND of hotel to your

friends, relatives etc.?

Projective: What are the most important things,

about this Brand of Hotel, that you will tell your
friends over tea after few weeks?

Would you like to visit this brand of hotels again??

Why or why not?

Are you willing to pay a bit more than market price

for staying in green hotels of this brand? Why or
why not??

Impact of
individuals
Green exp.
On formation
of Green trust
and brand
equity

1.

To identify and test the

impact of hotels green
attributes and
sustainable management
practices on green
experience and assess
their relative importance

Green
attributes

You said this hotel being Eco-friendly [or use the

similar word respondent used], what makes you think
this way?
Projective technique [If you have to explain to your
friend why you call this a green (or eco-friendly)
hotel how would you explain?]
Probe (If your friend asks about various eco-friendly
aspects of this hotel that you observed what these
would be?)
[probe here, give some cue, note the green/
environmental friendly attributes mentioned]
If your friends ask you further- how this hotel is
different from any other regular hotel of similar class.
How will you describe.
[Probe which they missed:- Linen program, towel program,
certification, solar energy, water conservation, water
treatment, organic food, energy conservation, community
development, non-toxic chemicals, waste management,
staff training]
[What is your definition of an Eco-friendly or a Green
hotel?]
If you were an environmental expert in for hotel
industry, Out of all those attributes you mentioned,
what according to you are the CRITICAL or CORE or
must haves (without which you cant call it as green or
eco-friendly hotel), IMPORTANT (needed to
differentiate a eco-friendly hotel from a regular hotel),
UNIMPORTANT but Good to Have (Does not make
much of a difference)

Note:-

---- Now we will talk about each of the green attributes of

this hotel you mentioned.

The Green
attributes of a
hotel that
people notice
or know
about. This
will form
input to Exp.

2.

To examine the role of

customers experience
with GMSM practices
(Green Experience) on
Green Trust , other
benefits and on Green
brand equity

Green
experience

[Ask question about each green attribute mentioned],

Projective technique (If your friends ask you HOW
these eco-friendly attributes [ask about each attribute
as mentioned by respondent previously] of this hotel
makes your experience different than in comparison to
any other similar hotel, what would you tell them?)

We will learn
which green
attributes
affect which
dimension of
the Green
experience

[Probe here, give some cues (learning, feeling different,

close to nature, enjoyable), note the words used]
[Probe:- If your friend further debate about your
experience in this green hotel compare with any other
hotels and asks On what aspects it is good and on what
aspects it is bad?]
Have you stayed in a Green Hotel before?
IF YES, How do you compare this hotel with other
green hotels?
[Probe:- How is your experience in this hotel different or
same? How is it good and how it is bad?]
2.

To examine the role of

customers experience
with GMSM practices
(Green Experience) on
Green Trust , other
benefits and on Green
brand equity

Benefits

Projective : think about the personal benefits of staying in a

(or associating with) green hotel? What kind of feeling you
get when you discuss about your stay in green hotel with
your friends or peers?
[Probe:-What do you think are the benefits of staying in a
green hotel of similar class? ]

We will learn
about the
benefits that
consumer
seek while
they associate
with a Green
brand

2.

To examine the role of

customers experience
with GMSM practices
(Green Experience) on
Green Trust , other
benefits and on Green
brand equity

Green
Trust

Projective technique (Suppose you are a well known

independent travel writer. For your regular column
you are planning to share with your readers about the
eco-friendly initiatives of this HOTEL. How would you
describe so that they trust you about eco-friendliness
of this hotel )
Suppose you invited on a popular travel show and
host of the show asks you for reasons why you TRUST
in green claims of this hotel you have shown in your
article. How would you answer that??

Impact of
individuals
Green exp.
On formation
of Green trust
and brand
attitude

Probe:- If he further asks you to connect your

experience in This GREEN/ Eco-friendly hotel and
TRUST in green claims. How will you do this?
[Probe for other reasons of trust as well look out for
antecedents of trust other than experience]

3.To explore the impact of

customer characteristics such as
demographic factors (gender, age,
education, and household
income), Psychographic factors
(Environmental concern,
Perceived consumer effectiveness
(PCE), Lifestyle) and Culture on
brand attitude development
because of GMSM practices.

Enviro.
concern

What according to you are the most relevant global

issues in todays world Politics, Corruption,
Environment deterioration, Economic crisis, Poverty
[Rank them as most important to least important]
Do you sometimes think about the worsening
condition of environment? What do you think?
How do you express your concern for environment?
What do you do for environment protection?

Impact of
individuals
E.concern in
formation of
Green exp.
Green trust
and brand
attitude

[Probe: do you look out for eco-friendly attributes

when you go for purchasing a product or a service?]
3. To explore the impact of
customer characteristics such as
demographic factors (gender, age,
education, and household
income), Psychographic factors
(Environmental concern,
Perceived consumer effectiveness
(PCE), Lifestyle) and Culture on
brand attitude development
because of GMSM practices.

Lifestyle

If there are two people A and B, A claims to be a Green

(eco-friendly) and B as non eco-friendly. How do you
think A is different from B (in routine life)?
If A (eco-friendly consumer) goes to a non green (non
eco-friendly hotel) what things he or she will observe
or experience?
If B (non eco-friendly consumer) goes to a green ( eco-

Impact of
individuals
Lifestyle (esp.
if lifestyle is
eco-friendly)
formation of
Green exp.
Green trust
and brand

friendly hotel) what will he observe or experience?

attitude

Probe:- Do you think you have an eco-friendly life

style? If YES, What eco-friendly activities you do in
routine life?
3. To explore the impact of
customer characteristics such as
demographic factors (gender, age,
education, and household
income), Psychographic factors
(Environmental concern,
Perceived consumer effectiveness
(PCE), , Lifestyle) and Culture on
brand attitude development
because of GMSM practices.

PCE
[Perceived
Consumer
Effectivene
ss]

Do you think, as an individual you can make a

difference in improving the environmental condition. If
yes, how?
Projective:- [If some of your friends say they always
check about eco-friendliness of the product or service
before they purchase. Why do you think they do so?...
wait for the answer Can they make any difference in
improving the deteriorating environmental condition?
]

Impact of
individuals
PCE in
formation of
Green exp.
Green trust
and brand
attitude

[Probe:- Do you think consumers can make significant

difference in improving deteriorating environmental
condition by choosing between eco-friendly and noneco-friendly goods and services they purchase?] or If
No , why so??

Do you play any role in your hotel booking?? Who

else influence your choice of hotel?

The group behind this hotel is doing so much to

save the environment and keep this hotel ecofriendly which are not visible but finding it difficult
to attract more customers, what would you suggest
them to do?

What according to you will be an IDEAL ECOFriendly hotel?

If booking
agents play
role in choice
of green hotel