Examining the Link Between Sustainable Hotel Practices and Brand Equity: Evidence from Hotels in Rivers State, South South Nigeria

This study examines the relationship between sustainable hotel practices and brand equity in hotels operating in Rivers State, South South Nigeria, an oil-producing state where environmental accountability expectations from corporate guests and international agencies are increasingly prominent. An empirical quantitative design is adopted with questionnaires administered to 260 hotel guests and 40 hotel marketing managers across 16 hotels in Port Harcourt. A structural model is tested in which three sustainable practice dimensions of environmental management, social community engagement, and economic sustainability reporting serve as predictors of brand equity components comprising brand awareness, perceived quality, brand associations, and brand loyalty. Partial least squares structural equation modelling is employed for analysis. Findings reveal that environmental management practices have the strongest effect on perceived quality dimensions of brand equity, while social community engagement practices exert the greatest influence on brand association and emotional brand connection. Transparent economic sustainability reporting is found to positively predict brand loyalty among corporate guest segments. The overall model explains 59 percent of variance in brand equity. The study recommends that Port Harcourt hotels develop integrated sustainability reports as brand communication tools, enhance visibility of their community engagement activities, and pursue green certification to signal environmental credibility to environmentally conscious guest segments. Keywords: sustainable practices, brand equity, hotel branding, Rivers State, environmental management