Does eco certification sell tourism services? Evidence from a quasi-experimental observation study in Iceland

Abstract

Eco labelling of tourism services has been studied extensively in the past. Yet, there is no agreement on two key points: (1) whether or not eco certification increases tourist demand for a product among the general tourist population, and (2) whether or not there is a specific market segment whose purchase decisions are influenced by eco labels. Lack of agreement is partially due to the wide variety of different research approaches used. Most studies have in common, however, that they rely solely on tourist self reports of either behavioural intentions or past behaviour. The present study re-investigates these two questions using a quasi-experimental design based on actual observed behaviour and objective knowledge testing. Results indicate that (1) eco labelling does not have a big impact on general tourist demand, but (2) a niche market exists which is influenced by eco labelling when choosing among alternative tourist providers. The research design used in the present study offers a useful alternative for investigations of tourist purchase decisions. It leads to more reliable results because it is based on the observation of actual displayed behaviour, thus avoiding a range of answer biases. Other eco-certified products now need research on similar lines.

生态认证提供旅游服务吗？来自冰岛准实验观测研究的证据

旅游服务的生态标签在过去受到过广泛的研究。然而，有两个关键点却一直没有达成研究者的共识：（1）生态认证是否会增加旅游人群对旅游产品的需求，（2）是否存在被生态标签影响购买决定的特定细分市场。对于这两点的意见不同主要是由于研究所采用的方法不同。大多数研究有着共同点，但是它们仅仅依赖于游客行为意图或是过去行为的自我报告。本文通过利用一个基于实际观察到的行为和客观知识测试建立的准实验设计，来重新探讨上述的两个问题。结果表明：（1）生态标签对于普通的旅游需求并没有很大的影响，但是（2）在选择可变旅游供应商时，受到生态标签影响的利基市场是存在的。（3）本文所采用的研究设计为旅游购买决策的调查提供了有益的选择。该设计以实际显性行为的观察为基础，避免了一系列的答案偏差，从而为文章提供更为可靠的研究结果。其他生态认证产品也同样需要做类似的研究。

Keywords:

• eco certification
• eco label
• whale watching
• quasi-experiment
• intention-behaviour gap
• tourist behaviour

关键词:

• 生态认证
• 生态标签
• 鲸鱼观赏
• 准实验
• 行为意图差距
• 游客行为

Acknowledgements

We thank Perla Gronvold for assisting with data collection and Emil Juvan for his feedback on previous versions of the survey used in this study. We also thank Homa Hajibaba and Kylie Brosnan for feedback on previous versions of the manuscript. Early work on this paper was undertaken during the first author's affiliation with the University of Wollongong, Australia.

Disclosure statement

The research assistant in this project, Perla Gronvold, is related to the first author.

Additional information

Funding

This research was financially supported by the Australian Research Council (ARC) through Discovery Grant DP110101347.

Notes on contributors

Logi Karlsson

Logi Karlsson is a postdoctoral researcher at The University of Queensland (UQ) Business School. He holds a PhD degree in marketing and a Master degree in business administration from University of Wollongong, and a Bachelor's degree in psychology from University of Iceland. Previously he worked as a marketing manager for Arctic Adventures, the largest adventure tour operator in Iceland.

Sara Dolnicar

Sara Dolnicar is a research professor of tourism at The University of Queensland. She holds degrees in business administration and psychology. Sara's research interests are the improvement of market segmentation methodology and measures used in social science research. She applies her work primarily to tourism, but also social marketing challenges, such as environmental volunteering, foster care and public acceptance of recycled water. Sara is an ARC Queen Elizabeth Fellow and an elected fellow of the International Academy for the Study of Tourism and the International Association of Scientific Experts in Tourism (AIEST).