Tell me what you mean by sustainability, tourism, and hospitality: A multidimensional approach to conceptual and affective associations

Sustainability communication in tourism remains challenging, as messages often lack clarity and do not connect meaningfully with audiences. However, less is known about how Spanish speakers in Spain cognitively and affectively represent sustainability, tourism and hospitality. This study provides a lexical-affective mapping of Spanish speakers’ associations with four key terms: “ sustainability” , “ sustainable” , “ tourism” , and “ hospitality” . The methodology uses a Free Word Association Task (FWAT), directional associative strength, affective estimates of valence and arousal, and Social Network Analysis (SNA). Results show that “ sustainability” and “ sustainable” are primarily associated with environmental content. These associations are generally positive but low in arousal, and their associative networks overlap only partially. “ Tourism” shows a broader and more ambivalent semantic-affective profile, combining leisure-related meanings with critical associations (e.g., crowding). In contrast, “ hospitality” is mostly linked to interpersonal values rather than industry-related meanings, suggesting cultural-linguistic polysemy. The combination of associative structure, affective characteristics, and network analysis provides a lexical-affective map of how Spanish speakers represent these terms. These findings provide a diagnostic basis for future communication design and experimental testing and can support the development of public communication that uses these terms in ways that are clearer and more accessible to non-expert audiences.