Abstract
Food waste remains a significant sustainability challenge within the hospitality industry, and persuasive communication has emerged as a potential strategy for influencing guest behaviour. This study examines the effectiveness of different persuasive message bundles in reducing croissant waste across two upscale hotel settings in Italy and Australia. A repeated field intervention consisting of structured three-week treatment cycles was implemented between 2021 and 2024. The intervention compared two persuasive message bundles displayed at the breakfast buffet: a self-benefit health-oriented message and an other-benefit environmental sustainability message. Croissant waste observations were collected across repeated cycles, and complementary survey data were used to provide contextual insights into guests’ environmental attitudes. The findings indicate that the two message bundles produced different behavioural patterns across the two hotel settings. The environmental sustainability message was associated with a more consistent reduction in croissant waste in the Italian hotel setting, while effects in the Australian hotel setting were less consistent. The self-benefit health-oriented message also demonstrated stronger effects in the Italian context, suggesting that message effectiveness may be shaped by contextual and behavioural factors beyond the message content itself. The study contributes field-based evidence on sustainability communication within hospitality environments and highlights the importance of considering context when designing interventions aimed at reducing food waste. The findings should be interpreted within the limitations of the study, including site-specific characteristics and the inability to isolate individual cultural effects.