The Influence of ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) Criteria on B2C Marketing Strategies in Helsinki's Hotels
Farzand, Sahar (2024)
2024
All rights reserved. This publication is copyrighted. You may download, display and print it for Your own personal use. Commercial use is prohibited.
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2024120933962
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2024120933962
Tiivistelmä
As Helsinki establishes itself as a leader in sustainable tourism, the hospitality sector has begun aligning its marketing strategies with Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) standards to meet eco-conscious consumer expectations. The primary aim is to examine how Helsinki hotels are communicating their sustainability and social responsibility initiatives and to evaluate the impact of these messages on consumer behaviour, particularly among eco-conscious travellers. Additionally, it investigates the barriers and opportunities that Helsinki hotels encounter when embedding ESG principles into their branding and marketing communications.
The thesis consists of a theoretical and an empirical part. The theoretical framework includes a detailed review of ESG criteria in the context of hospitality, sustainable marketing, and the alignment of ESG initiatives with consumer engagement strategies. Key literature and industry reports published by the hotels provide a foundation for understanding how ESG factors shape consumer behaviour, particularly in eco-friendly travel markets. The empirical section comprises qualitative content analysis of ESG-related marketing materials from select Helsinki hotels and semi-structured interviews with a hotel’s manager. The desktop studies and company interviews contributed to creating a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis on specific Helsinki hotels readiness for adopting ESG guidelines while the benchmarking method studied the reporting practices employed by other companies. This multi-method approach offers insights into how hotels in Helsinki are positioning themselves in an increasingly sustainability-driven competitive marketplace as well as the management of challenges such as message coherence and data strategy alignment in ESG marketing.
Results from the content analysis and interviews (comparative analysis and SWOT analysis) reveal that while ESG is a priority for Helsinki hotels, inconsistencies in message delivery and data-backed strategy weaken the potential impact of these initiatives on consumer engagement needing further attention. Findings also underscore that hotels which communicate transparent, consistent, and authentic ESG commitments tend to build stronger brand loyalty among environmentally conscious consumers. Barriers identified include limited resources for ESG-specific marketing and difficulties in translating ESG metrics into consumer-facing content. Notably, the benchmarking demonstrated that the ESG framework is not standardized, and each hotels’ disclosures may vary in quality and details.
This thesis concludes with recommendations to enhance ESG integration in marketing strategies, supporting Helsinki hotels in creating more consistent, data-backed ESG messages. The research provides a roadmap for integrating ESG effectively in hospitality marketing, with potential long-term benefits for Helsinki’s image as a sustainable travel destination.
The thesis consists of a theoretical and an empirical part. The theoretical framework includes a detailed review of ESG criteria in the context of hospitality, sustainable marketing, and the alignment of ESG initiatives with consumer engagement strategies. Key literature and industry reports published by the hotels provide a foundation for understanding how ESG factors shape consumer behaviour, particularly in eco-friendly travel markets. The empirical section comprises qualitative content analysis of ESG-related marketing materials from select Helsinki hotels and semi-structured interviews with a hotel’s manager. The desktop studies and company interviews contributed to creating a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis on specific Helsinki hotels readiness for adopting ESG guidelines while the benchmarking method studied the reporting practices employed by other companies. This multi-method approach offers insights into how hotels in Helsinki are positioning themselves in an increasingly sustainability-driven competitive marketplace as well as the management of challenges such as message coherence and data strategy alignment in ESG marketing.
Results from the content analysis and interviews (comparative analysis and SWOT analysis) reveal that while ESG is a priority for Helsinki hotels, inconsistencies in message delivery and data-backed strategy weaken the potential impact of these initiatives on consumer engagement needing further attention. Findings also underscore that hotels which communicate transparent, consistent, and authentic ESG commitments tend to build stronger brand loyalty among environmentally conscious consumers. Barriers identified include limited resources for ESG-specific marketing and difficulties in translating ESG metrics into consumer-facing content. Notably, the benchmarking demonstrated that the ESG framework is not standardized, and each hotels’ disclosures may vary in quality and details.
This thesis concludes with recommendations to enhance ESG integration in marketing strategies, supporting Helsinki hotels in creating more consistent, data-backed ESG messages. The research provides a roadmap for integrating ESG effectively in hospitality marketing, with potential long-term benefits for Helsinki’s image as a sustainable travel destination.