Communication of Sustainable Food Offer on Holiday

The study aims to test the effectiveness of sustainability signage. It is the first study of its kind that is conducted in a hotel food consumption context. Its results can help hotels that want to promote their food offer and improve their sustainability image. The project has the overall aim to answer the following research question:
"Through which communication instruments can the sustainability dimensions 'local products' and 'waste prevention' be effectively communicated?"; "Which communication instruments lead to an immediate behavioral change on the part of guests?"; "Which communication instruments lead to a change in the perception of the hotel (image) on the part of guests (both with respect to the culinary offer and overall)?" and "Do communication instruments lead to a change of attitude towards sustainability on the part of guests?"
Four scenarios were developed that target different sustainability dimensions. Scenario 1 and 2 address waste prevention, while the other two scenarios address local food, with one focusing on the product and the other focusing on the supplier. Five holiday resort hotels in Gran Canaria are chosen. First in a Pretest phase, the values of the advertised products and the amount of waste of all products are collected. Additionally, the guests are asked at the end of the pretest phase if and why they have consumed these products. Then in the Test phase, communication instruments are applied according to the four scenarios in the normal operation of the hotels. The data of travelers present during the test phase are compared with the pretest phase to control for potential deviations. Consumption and waste values and the survey data of the pretest and the test phase are then compared using statistical methods (e.g. hypothesis tests, regression analysis) to be able to identify significant changes and to judge the power of the instruments to influence the behaviors of travelers. Due to resource restrictions, the test is only conducted in one destination. Nonetheless, it is expected that the results are transferable to hotels in other mass tourism destinations.