Sustainable consumption of services: willingness-to-pay for sustainable alpine skiing experience

Abstract

In this study, we examine sustainable consumption from a ski area perspective by using the exploratory sequential mixed-method approach. We apply a cross-national approach to investigate how customers’ preferences for sustainable service alternatives translate into willingness-to-pay, comparing results from Norway and Switzerland. The results show that alpine skiers in general report being willing to pay more for a day pass if the ski area is either environmentally-certified, carbon-neutral, or uses only natural snow. The positive effects are reported even stronger among environmentally-friendly skiers and skiers from Switzerland. We discuss the implications our results have for ski area managers wanting to incorporate sustainability in the overall pricing strategy.