Corporate Pro-Environmental Behavior on the Seas: Eco-Ethical Prescriptions of the Largest Cruise Companies

Abstract

The cruise industry has significant environmental impacts. Ethical prescriptions in codes of conduct of cruise companies can contribute to the development of pro-environmental behaviors. The content of the codes of conduct of the world’s largest cruise companies is analyzed. Seventy percent of these codes bear environmental notions, often in separate sections/subsections. Some of them deal with marine environments. Among the most frequent words in the environment-related passages are those dealing with laws, regulations, and standards, and many common words are too general and vague. A total of 24 environmental topics are established in the analyzed codes, and many of them are either too general or dealing with organizational activities. The results of this study imply that the quality of the eco-ethical prescriptions by the largest cruise companies is moderate, and improvements in the related corporate policy are necessary.