Being a low-carbon producer is a new approach to sustainable economic development [60], and low-carbon has become a new focus in green hospitality management research [61,62]. Hotel carbon emissions, representing large contributions to climate change, have attracted significant attention from society. Therefore, low-carbon research for hotels has become a new focus in hospitality management [12].

The concepts of ‘green’ and ‘low carbon’ are different. ‘Green’ hospitality management focuses on hotels’ environmental protection and green resource human management [63]. As part of the green ideology, ‘low carbon’ focuses on carbon emission reductions [64]. Since the beginning of low-carbon transformation, green hotels have implemented low-carbon behaviors, such as low-carbon technology, low-carbon talent, low-carbon culture, and green marketing [48,65,66]. Fraj et al. [67] concluded that proactive environmental strategies and environmental innovations would assist in developing greener hotel operations and management. As global warming is recognized as one of the most significant global risks, hospitality management must focus on sustainable low-carbon behaviors [68,69].

Luxury hotels have a high potential to engage in high energy consumption and carbon emissions. Yi [70] studied the carbon emission of hotels from the perspective of carbon footprints. He pointed out that the higher the level of the hotels, the greater the carbon footprint. Zhang [71] found that a medium-sized four-star hotel emits at least 4200 tons of carbon dioxide every year. As a result, luxury hotels should be primarily responsible for implementing low-carbon activities [68]; thus, many luxury hotel chains have implemented low-carbon measures in many countries. For example, Malaysia achieved a 33% carbon emission intensity to GDP reduction in 2019, relative to 2005 levels, and is well on its way to its target of cutting 45% of emissions by 2030. Overall, however, significant efforts are still needed to reduce the country’s carbon footprint and mitigate global warming. Therefore, leading luxury hotels in Malaysia have begun implementing carbon emissions reduction measures. For instance, in a new partnership with Proof & Company, Four Seasons Malaysia implemented an ecoSPIRITS system at Bar Trigona at the Four Seasons Hotel, Kuala Lumpur and the Rhu Bar at Four Seasons Resort, Langkawi [72]. EcoSPIRITS is an innovative technology that significantly reduces packaging waste across the premium spirits supply chain. By drastically reducing the packaging and transport costs, ecoSPIRITS eliminates up to 80% of the spirit consumption carbon footprint. In 2020, 40 billion glass spirit bottles were produced, generating 22 million tons of carbon emissions; therefore, one bottle emits 550 g as carbon emissions, meaning that each cocktail or spirit poured through the ecoSPIRITS system can reduce emissions by 30 g.

In China, the development of low-carbon hotels is still in the initial stage. Since China’s promised goal of 3060, many luxury hotels under green ranking have strengthened low-carbon management. For example, the Shangri-La hotel in Sanya promoted green design, and its green building received a silver award from LEED Green Building in the United States [73]. For another example, the Hainan Guest Hotel promoted low-carbon facilities and recyclable decorations to promote its low-carbon transformation. Moreover, it started green marketing in 2017 and realized four million RMB sales income [74]. This indicates that the low-carbon behavior of green luxury hotels can achieve both environmental and business performance.

As mentioned, the National Green Hotel Working Committee of China and the China Hotel Association proposed the first batch of 100 model hotels with “green restaurants, rest assured consumption”. This study chose seven luxury hotels from these 100 model hotels to examine if the low-carbon service of green luxury hotels can promote business performance and green image.

People interact with the tourist environment [75]. Specifically, individuals affect and are affected by environments through tourism [76,77]. Therefore, there is an interactive relationship between tourists and the environment [78]. The effect of these two ideas is a relationship that scholars refer to as R-E Fit theory [79,80].

Scholars first started to study the Person-Environment fit (P-E fit) theory in living and work environments before R-E Fit [81,82]. Kristof [83] introduced person-organization fit as “the compatibility between people and organizations that occurs when: (a) at least one entity provides what the other needs or (b) they share similar fundamental characteristics, or (c) both.” The study introduced supplementary fit and complementary fit. Supplementary fit emphasizes the consistency between people and the environment. i.e., individuals and other members of the work environment have similar characteristics, and members attract and trust each other, leading to better communication [84]. Complementary fit is the degree of adaptation between individuals and living/work environments, emphasizing the degree of complementarity between them, which is essentially the fit between members and environments [85]. Later, Edwards [86] proposed a needs-supplies fit, which meant that the environment’s value could meet individual needs, and the requirements-abilities fit, which advocates that people’s skills, knowledge, and other resources could meet the requirements of the environment. P-E fit theory has been widely used in the fields of resource management and organizational behavior, such as person-job fit, person-group fit, and person-organization fit [87,88,89]. Later, Tsaur et al. [90] attempted to use P-E fit theory on the tourism environment; he also proposed R-E Fit and developed the correspondent R-E Fit Scale (REFS). Six dimensions were identified in this scale: natural resources, recreation functions, interpersonal opportunists, facilities, activity knowledge/skills, and operation/management. Since then, R-E Fit theory has been widely related to tourists’ experiences and destination environments [80,91].

Scholars want to use R-E Fit theory in tourism to analyze the relationship between tourists’ behaviors and destination environments [92]. According to past studies, there are three types of R-E Fit: needs-supplies, requirements-abilities, and complementary fit [93]. Needs-supplies fit means that the needs of tourists match the environment’s supplies, such as natural resources, environmental facilities, environmental functions, and interpersonal opportunities; if their needs are met, then the tourists would be more willing to participate in low-carbon activities and may have high satisfaction [36]. When the tourists’ knowledge and abilities meet the environment’s requirements, it can also increase revisit intention [94], a process referred to as the requirements-abilities fit. Complementary fit refers to the relationship between tourists and the environment or the environmental managers [95]. In other words, tourists and managers have similar values regarding the maintenance facilities and management [96,97].

Hospitality is an integral part of tourism. As mentioned, the goals of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality prompted the tourism and hotel sectors to begin low-carbon transformation. Under this circumstance, hotels, especially luxury hotels, have started low-carbon hospitality management [19,48,63]. In the early stages, hotels developed low-carbon management through energy saving and renewable energy. For example, Dalton et al. [22] proposed that hotels make reasonable use of conventional energy, adopt energy-saving technology, and improve energy efficiency. They investigated guests’ attitudes toward using renewable energy in Australian tourist resort hotels, and more than 50% of guests held positive attitudes toward pleasant accommodation environments and renewable energy. In the middle stage, hotels improved their facilities and innovated green buildings to realize low-carbon operations. For instance, Hoshinoya hotel in Japan installed a semi-closed window on the roof to become a “wind house” without an air conditioner [98]. Furthermore, the “ceiling” installed at the GAIA hotel in the United States can fully use solar energy and reduce carbon emissions by two thirds. This hotel is the most eco-friendly hotel globally [99]. In the later stage, low-carbon management was combined with green training, low-carbon investment, and green marketing. Employees acted as “windows” of low carbon to promote the hotel’s low-carbon culture. Cop et al. [48] mentioned that luxury hotels needed to strengthen employees’ low-carbon training to satisfy guests’ low-carbon needs. Moreover, Dogru et al. [100] found that the shareholders’ low-carbon investment could improve low-carbon technology and the development of low-carbon talent, and Chung [40] found that many luxury hotels carried out green marketing. The study mentioned that hotels knew that growing environmental issues could change consumers’ buying preferences. In that case, hotels must provide low-carbon products to attract guests to make green consumption choices. To illustrate, Sheraton provides green rooms, W Hotel recycled Coca-Cola bottle caps to make bedsheets to promote the green movement, and Vienna Hotel provides cotton and linen bedding for sale to guests.

The low-carbon behavior of hotels can bring about carbon efficiency and fit consumers’ needs. In recent years, more hotels have adopted eco-friendly practices and implemented innovative technologies to reduce their carbon footprint and create a viable green image [24,101]. Guests have paid attention to the importance of changing lifestyles and engaging in eco-friendly behaviors [102]. Many hotel guests value hotels that offer up-to-date technology and demonstrate sustainability efforts through various sustainable programs [103]. Additionally, guests are more willing to join in the low-carbon activities and spread positive experiences via word of mouth [50,104]. In that case, low-carbon lodging experiences can fit their eco-friendly needs [35]. Overall, hotels’ low-carbon practices are in accordance with the R-E Fit; however, most R-E Fit studies in tourism management relate to place attachment [79,105], and there are few in hospitality management. Thus, this study examines the R-E Fit in the hospitality sector. Furthermore, according to Tsaur et al. [79,90], regarding the six dimensions of R-E Fit, this study presents facilities, environmental resources, environmental functions, interpersonal opportunities, activity knowledge/skills, and management as the R-E Fit of the hotel industry.

Various studies have found that improved guest satisfaction ultimately leads to greater customer loyalty and word-of-mouth recommendations [106,107]. Increasing competition in product marketing has forced companies to implement different strategies to attract and retain guests [27]. Among the different strategies that companies have used is the personalization of products to meet customer needs [108]. Guests’ satisfaction is “a person’s feelings of pleasure or disappointment that results from comparing a product’s perceived performance or outcome with his/her expectations” [109]. A study by Lee et al. [110] indicated that hospitals could improve customer satisfaction and loyalty through efficient operations, employee engagement, and service quality. They also found that this high-performance work system in healthcare organizations stimulated employee reaction and service quality. Therefore, a customer may continue to increase the scope and frequency of their relationship with the service provider or recommend the service provider to other potential customers. Lee [111] suggests that guest satisfaction is linked to loyalty, which, in turn, is linked to the performance of service organizations. In short, a satisfied guest is more likely to return, and a returning customer is more likely to purchase additional items. A customer purchasing additional items with which they are satisfied is more likely to develop brand-loyalty [112,113,114].

In the hospitality industry, luxury hotels characterize excellent service, symbolizing the wealth and status of its patrons. Recently, many luxury hotels aiming to enhance market competitiveness have been exploring their characteristics, such as green building design, landscape design, and service quality [45]. The development of low carbon provides a new marketing perspective for green hotels. Many studies have proven that low-carbon promotion could improve both direct financial performance (income, operational cost saving, new business) and non-financial performance (guests’ satisfaction and loyalty, turnover rate, green image) [115,116,117].

Specifically, Williams [118] mentioned four key components for green hotels: eco-service, eco-accommodation, eco-cuisine, and eco-programming. Aksu et al. [119] explored the components of eco-service quality at hotels and found that the critical determinants for sensitive customers’ satisfaction were equipment, staff and food, and practice. Hou and Wu [45] investigated tourists’ perceptions of green building design and their intention of staying in a green hotel and found two primary contributors. Firstly, (a) green building design could save operational cost, and high environmental concern from tourists could influence the perceived importance of green building design and their intention of staying in hotels, and secondly, (b) the relationship between tourists’ environmental concerns and intention of staying could help the development of green marketing activities. Yusof et al. [39] also confirmed that green and non-green status hoteliers should develop green practices because they significantly affect guests’ satisfaction.

With the development of eco-cites in China, hotels started considering the topic of eco-hotels. In addition to traditional low-carbon behaviors, such as refusing disposable items and reusing towels, hotels can pay more attention to advanced behaviors to promote low-carbon services and tourist participation [120,121]. For example, such hotels set up low-carbon publicity walls, present environmentally friendly gifts, provide organic food, and carry out low-carbon activities [122]. These measures can share the hotels’ low-carbon concepts and stimulate the guests’ low-carbon resonance [50,51,123]. This could enable a hotel to promote unique characteristics and attract more guests [124,125].

The existing service sector literature has extensively studied the relationship between satisfaction and guests’ intentions to revisit in the past few decades. Fornell [126] suggested that the more the customers were satisfied with the services, the greater their willingness to revisit. At the tourism level, various studies have recognized the importance of satisfaction in predicting tourists’ intention to revisit and attempted to investigate the relationship in the context of destination, for example, Mannan et al. [56] argued that customer satisfaction positively influenced revisit intention, and trust mediated the satisfaction–revisit intention relation in restaurants. Seetanah et al. [57] had the same conclusion of satisfaction and revisit intention in airport services. According to past empirical destination research, tourists choose destinations with attributes that they believe can meet their needs [127].

In the context of tourism, service quality, satisfaction, involvement, previous experience, place attachment, and perceived value can influence guests’ intentions to revisit [128,129,130]. Of these, satisfaction is one of the most important determinants, which is widely understood in tourism experiences [56,131]. Several studies have proven that the more the guests express their satisfaction with destinations, the more likely they will be to revisit [132,133]. Tourists’ intention to revisit refers to the possibility they plan to return to the same destination, which is a specific factor of good post-consumer behavior and a key component of tourist loyalty [49].

A satisfied hotel guest is not equal to a loyal guest due to the special characteristics of the hotel industry [134]; in other words, unless they have an irreplaceable positive impression of this destination, a guest could feel satisfied with the hotel’s services, but not necessarily revisit the same hotel. In that case, it is easy to satisfy a customer but difficult, in the hospitality industry, to obtain a loyal customer [135]. Low-carbon operation is a potential selling point for the hotel sector and has become a new character factor among green hotels [13]. Low-carbon service in hotels has helped the development of the green image [136]. The general feelings of resource use, environmental functions, and facilities help build overall impressions, becoming different dynamic and irreplaceable green images among guests [137]. An irreplaceable green image means meeting more consumers’ needs, which leads to more satisfaction and a stronger willingness to revisit [66,134].

Pro-environmental behavior (PEB) refers to an individual’s daily behavior that positively affects the environment and is directly related to the environment [138]. There is a variety of PEB which Moeller et al. [139] called the environmental responsibility behavior of ecotourists. Levinson [140] and Wynes and Nicholas [141] explained that PEB changed consumption patterns to relatively low-impact alternatives in individuals’ consumption dimensions. In the tourism and hotel dimension, guests’ pro-environmental behaviors (GPEB) are defined as changing their behaviors to do the least harm to the environment [38,142]. For example, Orsato [143] explained that GPEB was choosing eco-friendly transportation, rejecting the disposing of goods, or joining in low-carbon and green travels. Furthermore, Namkung and Jang [144] presented three dimensions of GPEB: guests’ willingness to protect the destination environment, awareness of reducing pollution, and intention to participate in low-carbon consumption. In this study, GEPB refers to eco-friendly and green consumption behaviors in hotels and guests’ daily lives.

GPEB is a basis for strategic management decisions, particularly in hotels [67]. On the one hand, GPEB is a low-carbon consumption behavior [31,36] where guests appreciate the low-carbon service [145]. Moreover, they are willing to buy low-carbon products and participate in low-carbon activities [146]. On the other hand, Han and Hyun [44] pointed out that GPEB is a low-carbon requirement for hotel service. Dani et al. [2], Han and Hwang [46], and Almomani et al. [66] showed that if a hotel improved its low-carbon service, it could increase tourist satisfaction and loyalty.

That means that as a form of low-carbon behavior commercialization, hotels’ low-carbon services impact GPEB. The design of low-carbon services also considers the requirements of GPEB [45,147]. The successful low-carbon management solves the carbon emission issue and satisfies the guest for the service rendered or understanding of the hotel culture [148]. In that case, low-carbon hotels can make long-term profitability. Accordingly, the manager needs to focus on GPEB [16,24]; hotels must know about guests’ GPEB demands so that they can provide suitable service and achieve tourist satisfaction and loyalty [43,104,149]. Thus, the study of GPEB needs to be associated with low-carbon service and business performance. Its primary purpose is to help hotels improve their service quality and then realize business performance (customer satisfaction and revisit intention) [124,150].

Trang et al. [38] and Yadav et al. [42] showed that GPEB had connections with guests’ satisfaction and revisit intention in the hospitality sector. Additionally, Scheibehenne et al. [151] pointed out that social norms could enhance GPEB. They found that GPEB influenced hotel services, which was reciprocal as hotel services also affected GPEB through the reuse of hotel towels. Moreover, Tsagarakis et al. [152] interviewed 2308 international airport guests in Crete and Greece, and found that most of them would like to visit and revisit low-carbon hotels, and their GPEB could positively impact customer satisfaction. Furthermore, scholars have researched GPEB and hotels’ room prices. For instance, Sánchez et al. [27] found that although environmental protection measures increased the operation costs and room prices, some guests with eco-friendly values were willing to pay higher prices. Additionally, they found that guests were willing to revisit lodging that provided low-carbon services. In that case, GPEB has a positive effect on satisfaction and revisit rate.

Figure 1 shows the model suggested by the hypothesized relationships between the constructs that was examined in the study. The first route is concerned with the relationships among the R-E Fit, guests’ satisfaction, and guests’ revisit intention constructs. Understanding the importance of GPTB in low-carbon hospitality management, the second route focuses on the moderating effect of GPEB on the relationship between guests’ satisfaction and revisit intention.