Determining patrons’ moral, ethical, and healthy consumption behaviors: the Veganuary movement in the hotel industry

Purpose: While veganism is becoming a new cultural trend, related research is limited. Therefore, this study uses the PPM framework to introduce the new concept of vegan hotels and investigates the impact of push, pull, and mooring (PPM) factors on customers’ behavioral intentions. Design/methodology/approach: This study examined the effects of PPM factors for vegan hotels on the intention to visit such a hotel. These PPM factors were explored using a qualitative approach, and the three hypotheses were verified using structural equation modeling (SEM). Then, necessary conditions were verified to identify various combinations of causal conditions that determine the intention to visit a vegan hotel using fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA). Findings: This study explored 10 PPM factors for vegan hotels using the PPM framework. The results revealed that pull factors had a positive effect on the intention to visit a vegan hotel, whereas push factors and mooring factors did not have a statistically significant effect. Moreover, four combinations of causal conditions that determine the intention to visit a vegan hotel were presented. Research limitations/implications: This study proposed a conceptual model explaining the behavioral responses of customers toward vegan hotels using the PPM framework and prove the model through empirical analysis. The suggested theoretical and practical implications provide critical and meaningful insights for practitioners and researchers specializing in studying hotels. Originality/value: This study proposed a new concept of vegan hotels that, to the best of our knowledge, does not exist in the existing literature using the PPM framework. PPM factors for vegan hotels were explored using a qualitative approach, and their impact on customer behavioral intentions was verified using a quantitative approach. The optimal combinations of PPM factors for vegan hotels was also presented using fsQCA.