Responsible tourist behaviour: The role of social engagement

Abstract

This is a study of the effect of social engagement on responsible tourist behaviour. We also examine the mediating role of responsible public management of tourism, involvement in responsible tourism and the ecological orientation of tourism. This research is based on an overall sample of 656 respondents. Our research hypotheses are tested using structural equation modelling. The results reveal a direct positive effect of social engagement on responsible behaviour among tourists. Involvement in responsible tourism and satisfaction regarding the responsible public management of tourism have mediating effects on the relationship between social engagement and responsible tourist behaviour. However, an ecological orientation in tourism has no significant mediating effect on this relationship, nor does it have a direct effect on responsible tourist behaviour. We also discuss the theoretical and managerial implications of our findings.

Ethical sensitivity: Conceptualization and new scale development

“…It could be studied, for example, in the domain of consumer–donors (Le Gall-Ely, 2013): the effectiveness of charities’ marketing or the loyalty of donors. The CES can also provide a better understanding of the motivations for purchasing fair trade products (Gurviez and Sirieix, 2013), participation in activist initiatives through work on individual social commitments (Vivek, 2009): responsible tourism (Diallo et al, 2015) or boycotting (Sen et al, 2001), for example.…”

A Measurement Framework for Socially Sustainable Tourist Behaviour

“…Previous works on sustainable tourist behaviour have investigated several factors related to social sustainability, including understandings; attitudes (Scarpato et al, 2014;Adongo et al, 2018); ethics (Lee et al, 2017;Tolkach et al, 2017); perceptions toward responsibility (Gao et al, 2017); assessments of the roles of codes (Cole, 2007;Haller, 2017); social media (Hussain et al, 2019); tour guides (Alazaizeh et al, 2019) and persuasive communication (Hardeman et al, Font & Nawijn, 2017); place emotions (Zhang & Wang, 2019); and social engagement (Diallo et al, 2015) and its effects on sustainable behaviours; and comparison studies in terms of different scenarios (Ganglmair-Wooliscroft & Wooliscroft, 2017;Slocum & Curtis, 2016) and cultures (Litvin et al, 2004). Some studies have proposed dimensions and indicators for investigating behaviour from a social sustainability perspective (Dalton et al, 2008;Diallo et al, 2015;Ganglmair-Wooliscroft & Wooliscroft, 2016, 2017Lee et al, 2017;Loda & Macri, 2017;Alazaizeh et al, 2019). For instance, Gong et al (2019) proposed a framework that categorised responsible tourism behaviour into three dimensions (environmental, socio-cultural and economic), whereby the social sustainability dimension is divided into four socio-cultural themes, namely, culture/customs, human rights, law and safety.…”

Underlying Factors of Tourist Social Responsibility (TSR) within the COVID-19 Context: An Empirical Investigation of the Saudi Tourism Market

“…In this sense, Diallo et al [76] referred to responsible tourists as travelers who act in a way that takes social and environmental concerns into account when making tourismrelated decisions. This is supported by Dolnicar [77] and Dwyer et al [78], who underscored the critical nature of financial, physical, and social actions in promoting responsible tourism among travelers.…”