Original title: Digital Social Comparison and Consumer Behavior: The Roles of Status Motivation and Benign Envy in Green Hotel Booking Decisions
Ibrahim Abdelhamid Elshaer, Alaa M. S. Azazz, Sameh Fayyad, Mohammed Elziny · October 2026
People often post their vacations on social media. When those trips feature eco-friendly hotels, other people notice. This study surveyed travelers to see how seeing these posts affects booking habits. It found that viewing eco-friendly vacations sparks friendly envy and a desire to boost one's own social standing. That push leads people to book stays at either the exact same green hotel or a competing one.
A runner on your local track laces up a shiny pair of high-end running shoes. Watching them run does not make you angry, but it does make you want to improve your own workout gear so you fit right in. Here, the runner's visible shoes match someone posting their eco-friendly vacation online, and your urge to step up your own running gear matches the drive to book a green hotel.
When people show off eco-friendly choices online, it pushes others to make greener purchases. This shows green marketing does not just rely on pure environmental care. It also works through normal human impulses like wanting to look good and keep up with friends.
The data comes entirely from 432 consumers who had stayed or were staying at certified green properties in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. The abstract does not indicate whether these findings apply to non-travel products, other geographic regions, or people who do not already use eco-friendly hotels.
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Digital Social Comparison and Consumer Behavior: The Roles of Status Motivation and Benign Envy in Green Hotel Booking Decisions — Ibrahim Abdelhamid Elshaer, Alaa M. S. Azazz, Sameh Fayyad et al. — Societies — doi:10.3390/soc16100330
Abstract licence: CC BY
Explanation generated by Synthesis from the abstract — it is not the original paper.