Digital Platforms as Catalysts for Green Premium: Evidence from the Hotel Sector

Green premiums are essential for incentivizing sustainable building practices, yet their realization depends critically on information transmission to consumers. We show that online platforms can help amplify green premiums by reducing information frictions. Using low-carbon hotel certification records combined with booking data from a major Chinese online travel platform and employing a stacked difference-in-differences design, we show that certification increases daily booking revenue by approximately 8%, driven primarily by higher order volumes rather than increase in average room rate. Results are robust to regression discontinuity designs around emission thresholds and alternative staggered difference-in-differences estimators. Revenue gains largely operate through enhanced visibility, with effects strengthening substantially after the platform introduced a “low carbon” filter. In contrast, LEED certification, which signals environmental quality but lacks platform integration, generates no revenue effect.

https://www.bschool.cuhk.edu.hk/events/digital-platforms-as-catalysts-for-green-premium-evidence-from-the-hotel-sector/