Gender and energy conservation behaviour of hotel employees in South Africa

Abstract

The objective of the study was to investigate if there is a significant gender difference in the energy conservation behaviour of hotel employees in South Africa. The quantitative research design was adopted for the study and the cross-sectional survey method was used for data collection. The survey was conducted in the Johannesburg and Pretoria of the Gauteng Province and Polokwane in the Limpopo Province of South Africa. The convenience sampling method was used to identify the survey participants. The Cronbach’s alpha was used as a measure of reliability. The hypothesis of the study was tested using the independent samples T-test. The results of the study indicated that there are no significant gender differences in the measures of energy conservation behaviour. However, the study recommends that to improve energy conservation behaviour in hotels, hotel employees should be made aware of the social, environmental and organisational benefits of energy conservation. This can be achieved through training about the environmental impact of energy conservation.