Do sustainability-experienced travellers prefer a more rational communication of the sustainability of a tourism product?

Wehrli, Roger; Priskin, Julianna; Schaffner, Dorothea; Schwarz, Jürg; Stettler, Jürg

doi:10.2495/st140011

Cited by 12 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 38 publications

(30 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…We may deduce that event planners could use more emotional communication strategies for this visitor group. Other research has shown that emotional appeals are appropriate for audiences which are not sustainability-minded per se (e.g., Reference [43]), whilst informational appeals are more appealing to sustainability-conscious visitors (e.g., Reference [44]).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Future surveys at the SLF may replicate and extend our research design by including other languages. As far as the event's communication strategy is concerned, the literature suggests that emotional appeal techniques are more likely to attract customers who are not primarily motivated to buy sustainably in a tourism context (e.g., Reference [44]). However, the way in which sustainability messages need to be designed in an event context to attract different visitor groups, and especially those who do not yet show any sustainability behaviors but are on the verge of considering behavioral change, has still to be researched.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Motivating Pro-Sustainable Behavior: The Potential of Green Events—A Case-Study from the Munich Streetlife Festival

Tölkes

Butzmann

2018

Sustainability

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Green events are staged to encourage visitors to adopt more sustainable lifestyles. The Munich Streetlife Festival (SLF) has such a sustainability focus reflected in an education program that aims to reach out to both sustainability-minded visitors and broader audiences. Therefore, this study examined the learning effects of the SLF’s education program regarding different visitor segments. We employed the transtheoretical model (TTM) and the theory of planned behavior (TPB), to relate the learning outcomes to the visitors’ positioning in the stages of change model and visitor attitudes, subjective norms, and constraints. We conducted a visitor survey during the SLF in May 2015 and employed structural equation modelling to analyze the data. The motivational variable “learning about environmental protection” is positively correlated with pro-sustainable behaviors, whilst the variable “enjoying the event” shows a negative correlation. Our findings indicated that this event’s sustainability communication mainly appealed to sustainability-minded visitors in the action stage. Conscious visitors showed higher learning effects than visitors in the pre-contemplation stage, which was in line with the TTM’s propositions. This study enhanced our theoretical understanding of visitor behavioral change and supported green event managers in the development of target-group specific and more effective sustainability communications.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Motivating Pro-Sustainable Behavior: The Potential of Green Events—A Case-Study from the Munich Streetlife Festival

Tölkes

Butzmann

2018

Sustainability

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This may explain why in our data we find that accommodation businesses choose to downplay such saliency by not bringing it to the customers' attention or requiring action. Messages would be more appealing if they required no effort from consumers, as opposed to transmitting rational, more cognitively-demanding information (Wehrli et al, 2013). Messages could also be more persuasive by empowering customers in the learning process of sustainability practices through actively experiencing the benefits of such practices (Kachel and Jennings, 2010;Cialdini and Goldstein, 2004), or by using 'descriptive norms' to influence behavior by drawing on a sense of belonging and social acceptance (Goldstein et al, 2008;Han and Kim, 2010).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A message like "5.5% reduction in energy use in 2015" is logical, while "Our 5.5% reduction in energy usage in 2015 makes us feel proud and motivates us to keep working" is appealing. Logical or rational sustainability messages are more important for travelers that claim to be experienced in sustainable travel than for those that are not, but overall most travelers prefer emotional messages (Wehrli et al, 2013).…”

Section: Message Contentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainability marketing myopia

Villarino¹,

Font

2015

Journal of Vacation Marketing

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Sustainability communication in accommodation businesses tends to be factual and descriptive, as companies are concerned with product-based messages that focus on what they do; they appear not to understand the potential benefits of constructing messages that would influence consumers to behave more sustainably, which is effectively sustainability marketing myopia. An analysis of 1,835 sustainability messages from award-winning businesses shows that messages communicate facts not emotions, and benefits for society as a whole rather than for the individual customer. The messages are explicit, but passive and not experiential hence they positively affect the cognitive but not the affective image of the business. The lack of message normalization and customer focus reinforces the image of sustainability being a niche concern. We reflect on the reasons for these shortcomings and highlight opportunities to improve persuasive communication, which we have now applied commercially in more than 400 website analyses and 60 training courses. Keywords content analysis, online, awards, responsibility, green, tourism for tomorrow IntroductionSustainability marketing encompasses a philosophy and a range of activities. It aims to satisfy consumers' needs or wants and create a favourable position for the business in the marketplace by communicating how the business addresses environmental, social and economic concerns (Bridges and Wilhelm, 2008;Mitchell et al., 2010). Communicating sustainability has a dual focus: firstly, to make the target audience aware of how the products offered to them will meet their needs whilst also addressing economic, social and environmental issues, and secondly, to allow a dialogue between stakeholders about the company as a whole (Belz and Peattie, 2012). Yet the poor understanding by marketeers on how to communicate sustainability effectively, and by sustainability professionals on how to market it, has changed little over time

show abstract

“…As a matter of fact, consumer behavior shows trends towards the consumption of green brands and sustainability, as these factors are important when booking their holiday destinations [20,[61][62][63][64]. For this reason, as Edgel [65] recognizes, destinations try to respond to these new demands and show a greater concern to develop more sustainable tourism.…”

Section: What Does It Mean To Be a "Sustainable Tourist"?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Are Tourists Really Willing to Pay More for Sustainable Destinations?

Fernández

López-Sánchez

2016

Sustainability

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract:The understanding of pro-sustainable behavior and its true economic implications is an important subject for tourism destination marketers and policymakers, especially given that limited research has focused on the economic implications of tourist preferences for more sustainable destinations. Following the identification of three different demand segments using the concept of "sustainable intelligence" (level of commitment, attitude, knowledge and/or behavior with regard to sustainability), this study hypothesizes that the tourist segment with high level of "sustainable intelligence" (called "pro-sustainable tourist") is willing to pay more to visit a more sustainable destination. The main aim of this paper is to use the logistic regression model to estimate the premium price that each segment is willing to pay to visit a sustainable destination. This paper reports the result of a willingness to pay study using data from 1118 respondents visiting the Western Costa del Sol (Andalusia, Spain), a mature sun-and-sand destination that is currently facing several developmental challenges supposedly associated with sustainability. The results obtained from this research study indicate that the tourist segment with high levels of "sustainable intelligence" is willing to pay more to visit a more sustainable tourism destination. However, there is little willingness to pay if the destination's commitment to sustainability increases the price of the tourism product (26.6% of respondents).

show abstract

Do sustainability-experienced travellers prefer a more rational communication of the sustainability of a tourism product?

Cited by 12 publications

References 38 publications

Motivating Pro-Sustainable Behavior: The Potential of Green Events—A Case-Study from the Munich Streetlife Festival

Motivating Pro-Sustainable Behavior: The Potential of Green Events—A Case-Study from the Munich Streetlife Festival

Sustainability marketing myopia

Are Tourists Really Willing to Pay More for Sustainable Destinations?

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About