Consumer hypocrisy and researcher myopia: A scrutiny of the intention-behaviour gap in sustainable tourism

• Published in: Annals of tourism research Vol. 104; p. 103678
• Main Authors: Nieto-García, Marta, Acuti, Diletta, Viglia, Giampaolo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01-01-2024
• Subjects: Consumer hypocrisy; Experimental realism; Intention-behaviour gap; Sustainable tourism; Tourist behaviour; Consumer hypocrisy; Sustainable tourism; Experimental realism; Intention-behaviour gap; Tourist behaviour
• ISSN: 0160-7383; 1873-7722
• DOI: 10.1016/j.annals.2023.103678

A discrepancy between tourists' intentions and behaviour threatens the effectiveness of interventions to favour sustainable choices. To reduce the gap between intentions and behaviour, one should consider both the consumer's and the researcher's shortcomings. On the one hand, consumers amplify the discrepancy between their sayings and doings through their hypocritical behaviour. On the other hand, researchers often aggravate the intention-behaviour gap because of their methodological myopia (e.g., by focusing on non-behavioural outcomes, or by working with unrealistic research settings). This paper offers some specific recommendations to address consumer hypocrisy. We also provide researchers with some methodological advice on how to minimise possible biases by i) defining ambitious research goals, ii) mitigating the researcher's invasiveness, and iii) adopting strong behavioural measures.
•Questions the roots of the intention-behaviour gap in tourism•Provides guidance to overcome the intention-behaviour gap•Examines how hypocritical tourist behaviour contributes to this gap•Offers practical advice to measure real behaviour in tourism settings•Proposes a checklist for researchers with actionable recommendations