The impact of oil drilling on the behavioral intention of tourists: an empirical investigation

ABSTRACT

The aim of this paper is to analyze empirically the effect that several kinds of risks, associated with hypothetical oil drillings in the Canary Islands, could have on the behavioral intentions of tourists. A panel survey collected from 639 nonresident tourists about destination image, risk perception, and intention to visit or recommend the islands. The risks associated with the possible oil extractions significantly harming perceived image and behavioral intention by around 43%, with the intention to recommend being more affected than the intention to revisit. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to develop a theoretical model following a recent trend integrating the destination image and risk literatures. Results highlight the key role of perceived risk in creating destination image and provides evidence of the mediating role of image between risk and behavioral intention. The affective image component has a greater impact on behavioral intention than the cognitive one. The outcomes of this study point out the importance, for destination marketers and policymakers, of mitigating the effects of the risk derived from oil drilling. Emphasis is placed on the importance of information and promotion campaigns in which the safety of the destination is remarked.

KEYWORDS:

• Oil drilling
• destination image
• behavioral intention
• structural equation modeling

Subject classification codes:

• O13
• P48
• Z32
• E71

Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support of Fundación CajaCanarias through Project CTCEPLA11.

Notes

¹ Conducting surveys to assess the social impact of a business project or a public decision before its implementation is a common practice. For example, Contingent Valuation (CV) is a widely-used technique for the valuation of public decisions that simulates the existence of a market to know the preferences of consumers and being able to evaluate and take decisions in the public field (Carson and Hanemann 2005).

² The SEM methodology is commonly used to evaluate complex theoretical models that consider a set of dependent and independent variables. It is especially useful when these variables are interrelated and form constructs, which, in turn, are related to other constructs (that is, to another set of dependent and independent variables). In this research, the objective is to test hypotheses about the relation between three constructs (risk perceived, cognitive image and behavioral intention of tourists), thus SEM fits as an appropriate methodology to achieve it.

³ The incorporation of the conative dimension as a facet of destination image is more recent and, in fact, less recognized. Following Pike and Ryan (2004, 334) “The conative image is analogous to behavior since it is the intent or action component […] Conation may be considered as the likelihood of visiting a destination within a certain time period”. In fact, it is more commonly used as an independent construct named behavioral intention (Bigne, Sanchez, and Sanchez 2001; Chen and Tsai 2007; Prayag 2009; Wang and Hsu 2010) rather than an integral dimension of perceived image.

⁴ Mediating variables explain how and why a certain effect is produced, whereas moderating variables explain when or in what subjects/conditions certain effects will occur (Kraemer et al. 2001). The literature establishes criteria to distinguish, based on data, whether a variable is either mediating or moderating. To study this topic in depth, see the works of Kraemer et al. (2001).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Fundacion Cajacanarias [CTCEPLA11].