35 ENVIRONMENTALLY SUSTAINABLE TOURISM – Contributions by Sara Dolnicar
35 ENVIRONMENTALLY SUSTAINABLE TOURISM – Contributions by Sara Dolnicar
Environmental sustainability has always been an issue close to my heart. Throughout my career I have made several attempts at contributing to this field. Much of my early work was descriptive, focusing primarily on gaining insights rather than creating change. Then came the realisation that, ultimately, I want my research to translate into real change – a measurable improvement of the environmental sustainability of the tourism industry. This insight required a complete reorientation of my research. I had to use social science theory to develop smart interventions that had the potential to change tourist behaviour. I had to find a way to objectively measure the behaviour of tourists to avoid self-reporting bias (Karlsson & Dolnicar, 2016). And I had to test the interventions using field experiments to be able to conclude with certainty whether they had the intended effect on behavioural change (Rossiter, 2001, 2002; Viglia & Dolnicar, 2020).
Research of this nature takes a lot more time and effort, and inevitably comes with failures – because not every intervention works. However, the research program aimed at enticing consumers to cause as little harm as possible while in pursuit of enjoyment has been, without any doubt, the most satisfying and rewarding of my career so far. As of today, I believe that the following of my contributions to this field have been most noteworthy:
The insight that even people with high pro-environmental values forgive themselves for not behaving in environmentally sustainable ways when they are on vacation
Most people care about environmental sustainability. It is reasonable to assume, therefore, that consumers would behave in the most environmentally sustainable ways across all consumption contexts. Unfortunately, this is not the case. A milestone study implemented by my PhD student Emil Juvan (Juvan & Dolnicar, 2014) demonstrated that even people who have exceptionally strong pro-environmental values – manifesting in their volunteering for environmental organisations – give themselves permission to behave in environmentally unsustainable ways when on vacation. Fully aware of the negative environmental consequences of travel and vacations, they adjust their beliefs to relieve the tension they feel about behaving in ways that do not align with their values. They use justifications – excuses – to make themselves feel better about this misalignment. Justifications include that they are still more environmentally friendly than other tourists, that they have no option but to travel, and that their behaviour in their daily lives is so environmentally friendly that they deserve to let themselves go a little bit when on vacation. The insight that even people with highly pro-environmental values give themselves absolution in hedonic – enjoyment-focused – behavioural contexts is critically important. It means that hedonic contexts are systematically diffe