Self-Serving Bias in Visitors' Perceptions of the Impacts of Tourism

Abstract

This study explores tourism destination impacts through the unique lens of visitors' perceptions of their contributions to impacts. Self-serving bias of attributions was used as the theoretical framework to examine how campers in the Canadian Rocky Mountain National Parks perceived the impacts of their own behavior on the destination. In total 241 campers completed self-administered questionnaires that assessed common tourism impacts, camping experience, and socio-demographic characteristics. Results of factor analysis indicated three dimensions of impacts: immediate; gradual; and economic. Findings suggested that while visitors recognized their immediate and economic impacts on the destination, their contribution to gradual impacts depended upon an interaction between camping experiences and destination experience. The temporal nature of impacts, coupled with the interaction effect support self-serving bias as a useful framework to explain how visitors perceive their own impacts at a vacation destination. Implications for persuasive communication are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Self-serving bias
• tourism impacts
• past experience