Promoting sustainability in hotels: do guests commit and save water?
该研究在西班牙马略卡岛的21间酒店客房中测试了行为干预措施，发现让客人承诺节约用水或佩戴手环公开承诺均未显著减少淋浴用水量，提示酒店管理者不应仅依赖行为策略。
Water scarcity is a critical issue in many tourist destinations. Hotels often implement behavioral interventions to reduce water consumption, such as encouraging guests to reuse towels and linens. This study tested behavioral interventions in 21 hotel rooms in Mallorca, Spain between June and October 2023, for a total of 324 stays. Digital meters were installed in showers to directly measure water use, and guests—who were unaware of the digital meters—were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: one with the opportunity to make an explicit commitment to save water, one with the opportunity to make a commitment and publicly signal it by wearing a wristband, and a control condition with no intervention. The variable analyzed was the average daily water consumed per guest during the stay (in liters per guest and day). Neither making a commitment nor signaling one’s commitment reduced water use relative to the control condition. Our findings provide new evidence to the debate on the limits of behavioral interventions for reducing water use in hotels, suggesting that hotel managers and policymakers not focus exclusively on behavioral strategies but also seek complementary measures for more effective water conservation.