Stakeholder salience and environmental stewardship among hotels in Malaysia

Purpose This study aims to investigate the influence and impacts of stakeholders on the awareness and attitudes towards environmental management practices (EMPs) among hotel managers in Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach A total of 159 hotel managers participated in the survey. Structural equation modelling using the partial least squares (PLS) technique was used to test the hypotheses. Findings Owners and regulators influence hotel managers' environmental awareness and attitudes and their adoption of EMPs. Managers with a greater environmental awareness are more likely to adopt basic EMPs, while those with a greater environmental attitude are more likely to adopt advanced EMPs. In addition, stakeholder influence on managers' awareness and attitudes differs for hotels with and without an environmental policy. Research limitations/implications Other types of accommodation and stakeholders, demographic variations of hotels and different data collection methods could provide additional insights into the hotel sustainability issue. Practical implications Coercion may be needed to translate hotel managers' environmental awareness and attitudes into practices. Therefore, regulators should provide rules and penalties to enforce mandatory requirements and incentives to encourage environmental sustainability initiatives. Social implications The joint effort among stakeholders could create a societal norm that appreciates and maintains a sustainable environment and tourism industry. Originality/value This study emphasises the importance of stakeholder salience theory to understand the association between stakeholder influence on managers' awareness and attitudes and the adoption of EMPs by hotels in Malaysia. It is one of only a handful of studies that focuses on stakeholders' influence on environmental stewardship from managers' perspectives.