Benefits of Combining Physiological and Projective Techniques to Investigate Emotions in Pro-environmental Communication

Emotions shape how hotel guests interpret and respond to pro-environmental communication. Yet commonly used survey- and interview-based methods often fail to capture the fast, unconscious, and socially and contextually constructed nature of emotional experience. Drawing on the Theory of Constructed Emotion and Emotion as Feedback Theory, this study examines how guests respond emotionally to hotel messages that ask them to change their behaviour. We conducted a two-stage mixed methods study that combined digital lab measures (eye tracking, facial expression analysis, and galvanic skin response) with projective interviews. Seventy UK participants viewed three pairs of hotel messages encouraging water conservation, energy saving and recycling, and food-waste reduction, each varying in clarity and tone. Physiological data showed that participants attended closely to all messages but displayed little variation in emotional intensity, while projective interviews revealed how they reflected on and interpreted these emotional responses. Clear and empowering messages evoked warmth, pride, and trust, which strengthened behavioural intention. Constructed emotional resonance, rather than arousal intensity, drove pro-environmental intention.