From Smart Hospitality to Sustainable Tourism: Drivers of Guests’ Pro-Environmental Behavior

This study examines how smart hotel technologies shape guests’ pro-environmental behavioral intention (PEBI) and sustainable tourism advocacy (STA) in Thailand’s Deep South. Drawing on stimulus–organism–response (SOR), value–belief–norm (VBN), and technology acceptance (TAM) theories, it models four technology stimuli that operate through two mediators, guest satisfaction and environmental personal norm, and one boundary condition, environmental self-identity. Data from 412 guests of smart hotels in Pattani, Yala, and Narathiwat, collected by purposive sampling, were analyzed with partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA). The model explained substantial variance (R2 = 0.67 for satisfaction, 0.59 for environmental personal norm, 0.65 for PEBI, and 0.58 for STA). Green smart features, experiential senses, and intelligent operations raised both satisfaction and personal norms, with experiential senses the strongest driver (beta = 0.31 on satisfaction and 0.33 on norm); perceived usefulness raised satisfaction (beta = 0.14) but not personal norms (beta = 0.05, non-significant). Environmental self-identity strengthened the norm-to-behavior link, and fsQCA revealed five equifinal configurations that reliably produce high PEBI. By moving the outcome beyond satisfaction to environmental action and advocacy, the study helps hoteliers and policymakers design technology-enabled interventions that advance SDG 11, SDG 12, and SDG 13.