Greener, more wasteful? Examining the rebound effect of green product offerings in tourism

Tourism businesses commonly offer green products to promote sustainability. Although research has extensively documented the positive outcomes of offering green products, such as favorable brand evaluation, strengthened competitive advantage, and enhanced tourist satisfaction, this study reveals an overlooked downside: increased wasteful consumption. Across seven experimental studies, we reveal a paradox: despite viewing tourism locations offering green products more favorably than conventional products, tourists tend to use green products more wastefully or explicitly express a stronger intention to use them wastefully. This paradox occurs because tourists perceive green products as posing a low risk to the environment, inadvertently encouraging overconsumption. We identify two intervention approaches to mitigate this effect: a cognitive approach using a belief-correction strategy and a normative approach using a shared responsibility communication strategy. By revealing the unintended negative consequences of green product offerings and introducing intervention strategies, our research fills a critical gap in the sustainability tourism literature and provides actionable strategies to help businesses maintain consumer goodwill while reducing overconsumption.