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Events and Tourism Review Vol. 3 No. 1 (Spring 2020), 7-12, DOI: 10.18060/23594 

Copyright © 2020 Faranak Memarzadeh & Sulekha Anand 

 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribuion 4.0 International License. 

  

Events and Tourism Review 
 

June 2020 

 

Volume 3 No. 1 

 

 

Male vs. Female Sustainable Technology Usage in the Lodging 

Industry 
 

Faranak Memarzadeh  

San Jose State University 

 

 

Sulekha Anand 

San Jose State University 

 
  

 

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Recommended Citation 

Faranak, M. & Sulekha, A. (2020). Male vs. Female Sustainable Technology Usage in the 

Lodging Industry. Events and Tourism Review, 3(1), 7-12. 

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Faranak, M. & Sulekha, A. (2020) / Events and Tourism Review, 3(1), 7-12.      

                                                8 

 

 
Events and Tourism Review Vol. 3 No. 1 (Spring 2020), 7-12, DOI: 10.18060/23594 

Copyright © 2020 Faranak Memarzadeh & Sulekha Anand 

 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. 

 

 

Abstract 

 

Although sustainability applications/technology are a key focus in the lodging industry, this 

area of study is relatively new and requires more investigation. The current study examined 

whether there are gender differences in the perceptions of sustainable practices and technology 

in the hotel industry. An online survey asked participants’ opinions about sustainable practices 

and technology such as eco-friendly heating and energy, waste reduction technology, 

sustainable laundry, lighting technology, paperless transactions, and hotel specific sustainable 

apps. The result indicated that ease of use is perceived differently by females and males. 

 

Keywords: Sustainable Practices, Sustainable Technology, Gender, Lodging Industry, 

Assessment 

 

Introduction 

 

Although previous studies indicate that both males and females believe that sustainable 

practices and technology are an effective solution to preserve the environment, these two groups 

have different approaches to environmental issues (Arora-Jonsson, 2011). Arora-Jonsson (2011) 

found that females are more affected by environmental changes than males, which raised the 

question of how differently these two groups evaluate sustainable practices and technology in 

hotels. Sustainable practices and technology are being implemented from a fundamental level 

such as recycling waste (Berezan, Millar, & Raab, 2014) to an advanced level such as reducing 

energy and water use, replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy systems, and controlling food 

waste.  

Considering the importance of service personalization in customer satisfaction (Ball, 

Coelho, & Vilares, 2006), understanding the differing mindsets of male and female travelers and 

the way they view sustainable practices and technology in the hotel is essential. This 

understanding has two advantages: first, it benefits hotel managers to adopt sustainable practices 

and technology that meet both genders’ needs and desires. Second, it helps sustainable 

equipment inventors and developers to design more user-friendly technology for both genders.  

 

Literature Review  

 

The study conducted by Miller, Rathouse, Scarles, Holmes, and Tribe (2010) highlighted 

the importance of research on the effects of tourism and hospitality on the environment of the 

destination. The study emphasized a gap between destination communities’ eco-friendly 

approaches and travelers’ behavior. For instance, saving energy or water is not considered an 

essential practice by travelers, while it is important for destination communities. However, the 

travelers’ growing desire to travel changed their perspective on the significant impact of 

traveling on the destination’s environment.  

Besides the well-recognized importance of environmental considerations and 

sustainability to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of the hospitality and tourism industry 

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Faranak, M. & Sulekha, A. (2020) / Events and Tourism Review, 3(1), 7-12.      

                                                9 

 

 
Events and Tourism Review Vol. 3 No. 1 (Spring 2020), 7-12, DOI: 10.18060/23594 

Copyright © 2020 Faranak Memarzadeh & Sulekha Anand 

 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. 

 

(Miller et al., 2010), understanding gender preferences is a key factor in developing successful 

marketing strategies (Suki, 2014). Service or product providers must understand females’ and 

males’ perceptions and desires in order to meet their needs (Arora-Jonsson, 2011). According to 

the study by Sánchez-Hernández, Martínez-Tur, Peiró, and Moliner (2010), females and males 

evaluate service quality differently.  

In this study, two important factors were highlighted to evaluate service quality, the 

functionality of the service, and the quality of personalized service. While the functionality of the 

offered service is more appreciated by males, females identified the quality of personalized 

service to be more important. These findings can be utilized to not only enhance guest 

satisfaction but also to increase loyalty to the service provider’s brand. Sánchez-Hernández et 

al.’s (2010) study support the importance of the current study’s purpose to understand how 

different genders perceive sustainable practices and technology in the hotel and how these 

practices and technology can be improved to satisfy males’ and females’ different preferences. 

 

Methodology 

 

The study was based on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), developed by Davis 

(1989). In this model, Davis introduced four fundamental factors associated with the degree to 

which a technology is accepted, Perceived Usefulness, Behavior Intention, and Perceived 

Convenience (Davis, 1989).  We employed an online survey to evaluate gender differences in the 

assessment of sustainable technology in the hotel industry. The survey was focused on four 

different topics, behavioral beliefs on sustainable technology in hotels, opinions on ease of use of 

sustainable technology in the hotel, the usefulness of sustainable technology, and intention to 

employ sustainable technology. The response for each survey question was on a 5-point Likert 

scale with 1, representing “Strongly Disagree”, and 5, representing “Strongly Agree” with the 

statement. The survey was completed by 209 respondents on Qualtrics and recruited via 

Qualtrics.   

The inclusion criteria for respondents were: at least 18 years of age, familiar with 

sustainable technology such as energy-saving mobile apps, stayed in a US hotel within the last 

year, and utilized the hotel’s sustainable practices during their stay.   

SPSS 25 was used for computation of two-sample t-tests comparing the responses of females and 

males, and for Pearson’s correlations between responses to pairs of questions. Reverse coding 

was applied for negatively worded questions before scale scores were calculated for the 

following four constructs; the responses to relevant questions were summed to compute scale 

scores on Behavioral Belief, Ease of Use, Usefulness, and Intention to Utilize. 

 

Results and Discussion 

 

Sixty-five percent of respondents were female, and 35% were male, and more than 70% 

of respondents used sustainable technology during hotel stays. Female and male participants 

equally agree that utilizing sustainable technology affects the quality of the hotel service (p = 

0.933). All participants perceive these practices and technology to be environmentally 

responsible, and female and male participants are equally satisfied if the hotel uses sustainable 

technology (p = 0.277). 

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Faranak, M. & Sulekha, A. (2020) / Events and Tourism Review, 3(1), 7-12.      

                                                10 

 

 
Events and Tourism Review Vol. 3 No. 1 (Spring 2020), 7-12, DOI: 10.18060/23594 

Copyright © 2020 Faranak Memarzadeh & Sulekha Anand 

 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. 

 

Males and females do not differ in their evaluation of the usefulness of sustainable 

technology (p = 0.554), the impact of sustainable technology on human health (p = 0.599), that 

sustainable hotels protect the environments (p = 0.557), and the belief that sustainable hotels 

reduce energy, water, and paper consumption (p = 0.178). They are both willing to continue to 

use sustainable technology. Ease of use, on the other hand, was perceived differently by females 

and males (p = 0.005). Females report greater ease of use of sustainable technology, indicating 

that they find sustainable applications to be more user-friendly and less complicated than males 

do.  

All pairwise correlations between the scale scores for Behavioral Belief, Usefulness, and 

Intention to Use were statistically significant and positive for females and males (p ≤ 0.05). The 

correlations between Ease of Use and the other variables, however, were not statistically 

significant (p > 0.05) (Table 1). 

 

 Table 1: Independent Samples Test 

 

 Sig. (2-tailed) Mean 

Difference 

Std. Error 

Difference 

My evaluation of the hotel’s service 

quality will be impacted if the hotel 

uses sustainable technology. 

.933 -.016 .185 

I will be more satisfied with my hotel 

experience if I use sustainable 

technology at the hotel. 

.277 -.186 .170 

Sustainable technology in the hotel 

has a significant impact on protecting 

the environment. 

.557 -.092 .156 

Using sustainable technology in the 

hotel will significantly reduce 

energy, water, and paper 

consumption. 

.178 -.216 .159 

Using sustainable technology in the 

hotel will directly impact human 

health. 

.599 -.088 .167 

Behavioral Belief .429 -.467 .590 

Usefulness .554 -.401 .677 

Intention To Utilize .405 -.438 .524 

Ease Of Use .003 -2.755 .922 

 

 For male participants, the evaluation of the service quality of the hotel was positively correlated 

with the use of sustainable technology at the hotel (r = 0.809), and satisfaction with service 

quality was linked to the degree to which they practice environmental responsibility (r = 0.812). 

Since being satisfied with the hotel typically increases the chance that the hotel is booked, 

utilizing sustainable technology can be advantageous to the hotel (r = 0.818), (Table 2). 

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Faranak, M. & Sulekha, A. (2020) / Events and Tourism Review, 3(1), 7-12.      

                                                11 

 

 
Events and Tourism Review Vol. 3 No. 1 (Spring 2020), 7-12, DOI: 10.18060/23594 

Copyright © 2020 Faranak Memarzadeh & Sulekha Anand 

 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. 

 

Table 2: Correlations for Male 

 

Service quality of the hotel was 

positively correlated with the use of 

sustainable technology at the hotel. 

Pearson Correlation  .809** 

Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000 

N 73 73 

Satisfaction with service quality was 

linked to the degree to which they 

practice environmental responsibility. 

Pearson Correlation  .812** 

Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000 

N 73 73 

Hotels with sustainable technology 

have a greater chance of being 

booked. 

Pearson Correlation  .818** 

Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000 

N 73 73 

**Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). 

 

For female participants, the perceived reliability of sustainable technology is positively 

correlated with the ease of use of the application (r = 0.709). For females, the intention to use 

sustainable technology is positively correlated with the feeling of satisfaction with the hotel 

experience when using sustainable technology (r = 0.687), the belief that sustainable technology 

has an impact on protecting the environment (r = 0.815), and what the technology is used for (r= 

0.699), (Table 3). 

 

 

Table 3: Correlations for Female 

 

Ease of use of the application Pearson Correlation  .709** 

Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000 

N 136 136 

Feeling of satisfaction with the 

hotel experience when using 

sustainable applications. 

Pearson Correlation  .687** 

Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000 

N 136 136 

Sustainable applications have 

an impact on protecting the 

environment. 

Pearson Correlation  .815** 

Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000 

N 136 136 

What the technology is used 

for. 

Pearson Correlation  .699** 

Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000 

N 136 136 

**Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed) 

 

Conclusion and Implications 

 

According to the results of the current study, both males and females believe that 

sustainable practices and technology are environmentally responsible and are associated with 

satisfaction with the hotel experience. The positive correlations between Behavioral Belief, 

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Faranak, M. & Sulekha, A. (2020) / Events and Tourism Review, 3(1), 7-12.      

                                                12 

 

 
Events and Tourism Review Vol. 3 No. 1 (Spring 2020), 7-12, DOI: 10.18060/23594 

Copyright © 2020 Faranak Memarzadeh & Sulekha Anand 

 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. 

 

Usefulness, and Intention to Use for both genders provide valuable insights for hoteliers. Beliefs 

are related to guests’ behavior and the use of sustainable technology is related to intention to use 

for both male and female guests. This means that there is a promising potential acceptance of 

sustainable practices and technology in the hotel industry.   

Males and females agree on the usefulness and various impacts of sustainable practices 

and report their intention to continue using sustainable technology. However, females report 

greater usability of sustainable technology than males do. For females, the type of application 

that is being used is important as well. This study’s findings differ from the study conducted by 

Venkatesh and Morris (2000), which found that males’ technology usage decisions can be 

affected by the usefulness of the technology or equipment, while females are influenced by the 

ease of use of the technology. 

Since competition in the lodging industry is intense, it becomes more essential for 

hoteliers to differentiate themselves from other service providers. Knowing the guests’ 

perceptions of the hotel’s personalized and customized technology/applications captures guests’ 

attention, which consequently leads to loyalty.  

Knowledge of males’ and females’ perceptions of sustainable practices and technology could 

help service providers to customize these technologies to be more user-friendly and support the 

needs of different genders. Therefore, it is essential for service providers to evaluate hotel guests’ 

opinions to assure the effectiveness of the technology and any necessary modifications. As a 

result, guests’ engagement, satisfaction, and loyalty will be enhanced.  
 

Reference  
 

Arora-Jonsson, S. (2011). Virtue and vulnerability: Discourses on women, gender and climate  

change. Global environmental change, 21(2), 744-751. 
Ball, D., Coelho, P. S., & Vilares, M. J. (2006). Service personalization and loyalty. Journal of  

services marketing, 20(6), 391-403. 

Berezan, O., Millar, M., & Raab, C. (2014). Sustainable hotel practices and guest satisfaction  

levels. International Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Administration, 15(1), 1-18. 

Davis, F. D. (1989). Perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and user acceptance of  

information technology. MIS Quarterly, 13(3), 319-340. 

Miller, G., Rathouse, K., Scarles, C., Holmes, K., & Tribe, J. (2010). Public understanding of  

sustainable tourism. Annals of tourism research, 37(3), 627-645. 

Sánchez-Hernández, R. M., Martínez-Tur, V., Peiró, J. M., & Moliner, C. (2010). Linking  

functional and relational service quality to customer satisfaction and loyalty: differences 

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Suki, N. M. (2014). Moderating role of gender in the relationship between hotel service quality  

dimensions and tourist satisfaction. Journal of Quality Assurance in Hospitality & 

Tourism, 15(1), 44-62. 

Venkatesh, V., & Morris, M. G. (2000). Why don't men ever stop to ask for directions? Gender,  

social influence, and their role in technology acceptance and usage behavior. MIS 

quarterly, 115-139. 
 

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