Antecedents of customer retention in the green hotel context: exploring the optimum combination of cognitive and affective factors

Purpose The investigation on the complexity of customer retention towards green products/services requires more solid analytical approaches. This study evaluated the net effects of antecedents of customer retention and the validity of configurational causal recipes that lead to customer retention in the green hotel context. Design/methodology/approach This study combined structural equation modeling (SEM), a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) and a necessary condition analysis (NCA). An online survey was conducted in China to evaluate the green hotel consumption. Findings Research findings showed that cognitive factors (perceived health benefits, green product performance, responsible employee performance and green physical environment performance) and affective factors (emotional well-being, feeling of happiness, attractiveness of green product and feeling of pride), played a distinctive role in generating customer retention toward green hotel products. The NCA found no factor was essential in order to achieve customer retention, which indicates that green hotel performance and brand management should pay more attention to emotional factors alongside cognitive factors. Practical implications Research findings provide significant managerial implications for improving green hotel services and business operations and enhancing consumers’ approach intention toward green hotel products. Originality/value This study adopted mixed approaches to investigate both the linear and nonlinear impacts of cognitive and affective factors that potentially lead to customer retention for green hotel products.