Internal marketing and employees’ personality traits toward green innovative hospitality

Purpose The current study aims to examine if the internal marketing and employees’ personal traits can predict their green innovative behavior at the workplace. Design/methodology/approach A survey was conducted with 683 frontline employees working in four- and five-star hotels in Serbia. Zero-order bivariate correlations among variables and linear multiple regression were conducted to predict green innovative behavior based on internal marketing, personality traits and psychological capital. Binary genetic algorithms were used to segregate the subset of predictors that would be most suitable to describe variance in the outcome. Findings The results showed that internal communication, incentive and reward systems, work support, work environment, openness and creative self-efficacy were the most important predictors of almost all the phases of green innovative behavior. Originality/value The research showed that a multidimensional approach in analyzing green innovative behavior is necessary as some factors can be significant or not so significant predictors. Acknowledging that innovation is a multistage process, entailing distinct activities and requiring varied individual behaviors to accomplish each task, amplifies the importance of this inquiry. Employees’ personal characteristics have direct impact on green innovative behavior in hospitality. Further, the results gave an insight into the possible mix of elements of internal marketing that can be used for boosting employees’ green innovative behavior in hospitality. This is important as implementing effective internal marketing practices empowers organizations to motivate employees to invest discretionary efforts.