As hospitality firms accelerate digital transformation, “smart hotel” solutions (ranging from connected rooms to automated service interfaces) are increasingly positioned to enhance the guest experience while supporting sustainability goals. This promise is timely because the sector is simultaneously facing pressure to reduce its environmental footprint and to meet rising expectations for seamless, technology-enabled service. However, a managerial dilemma remains: the technologies that can enable more sustainable operations and influence guest behaviour may also be evaluated primarily through the lens of experiential value, especially in leisure contexts where consumption is strongly hedonic.

In the article “Are tech-savvy tourists eco-friendly? Impact of intention to use sustainable technologies on willingness to pay for smart hotels,” published in the Italian Journal of Marketing, Valerio Veglio and Caterina Bartaloni examine how guests’ affinity for technology and anticipated emotions relate to two outcomes that matter for practitioners: intentions to use sustainability-oriented smart technologies and willingness to pay more for smart hotel stays.
The study’s core insight is that a technology-oriented guest mindset is systematically associated with more favorable emotional expectations of smart hotels, and these positive anticipated emotions, in turn, are linked to stronger intentions to use sustainable technologies in the hotel context. At the same time, the evidence does not support the idea that these sustainability-oriented intentions translate into a higher willingness to pay a price premium for smart hotel experiences.

For managers, this research helps reframe smart-and-sustainable innovation as a demand-side design-and-positioning problem rather than just an operational one. It invites decision-makers to treat guests’ technology affinity and experience-related emotions as relevant lenses for anticipating adoption patterns; avoid assuming that sustainability-enabled smart features will be monetized through straightforward premium pricing; and consider how “smart” value is communicated in ways consistent with emotion-infused, goal-directed consumption.

The interview that follows offers an opportunity to explore and contextualize these results through the authors’ own managerial reading of their evidence.

What is the main takeaway from your study that hotel managers should remember when introducing smart technologies?

The main takeaway from our study is that investing in technological solutions to mitigate the environmental impact of smart hotels is worthwhile, even if they require some level of engagement from hotel guests. However, we cannot expect tourists to be willing to pay a premium for them. This is because integrating Internet of Things technologies, including those designed to reduce guests’ ecological footprint, can make the hotel experience more attractive to tech-savvy tourists, who are more likely to associate positive emotions with the prospect of staying in smart hotels.

Why do you think guests who like technology are willing to use sustainable features but not to pay extra for them?

Our study does not directly address this question; however, tech-savvy tourists may be more likely than other groups to understand the advantages that businesses can derive from implementing sustainable initiatives. As a result, they may perceive paying a premium for sustainable technologies as unfair. Indeed, according to equity theory, perceived fairness is one of the key factors influencing customer participation in sustainable initiatives.

Which type of sustainable technology do you believe hotels could adopt with the least resistance from guests?

Back-end technologies, such as building management systems, are less likely to encounter guest resistance because guests may find it difficult to link their introduction to either an improvement or a deterioration in their experience. By contrast, front-end technologies (service robots, automated check-in, smart locks, room control systems, and location-based notifications) are more likely to face resistance. Furthermore, the value of smart hotels is largely associated with hedonic benefits. This implies that sustainable technologies that do not require tourists to make sacrifices are more likely to be adopted.

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