Traveling responsibly to ecofriendly destinations: An individual-level cross-cultural comparison between the United Kingdom and China

Abstract

Background: Cross-cultural comparisons have remained an unexplored area in responsible tourism, and therefore, the current study aims to develop a conceptual framework and test it across cultures. The purpose of the present study was to formulate and cross-culturally confirm a research model in the context of responsible tourism. Methods: Schwartz's personal values and theory of planned behavior are integrated into a theoretical framework in examining tourists' revisiting intentions to ecofriendly destinations. Data were collected from experienced tourists of the United Kingdom and China and a comparison was made. Results: The findings indicate that our research model holds true for both groups; however, we observed some noteworthy differences between the two groups of samples. The findings offer suggestions to responsible tourism practitioners considering cross-cultural differences while developing tourism strategies. Conclusion: This study has some important implications for tourism marketers. Given our results, marketers should add cultural features into their marketing campaigns and devise strategies that can target a cross-cultural audience. We acknowledge research limitations and suggest future research directions to responsible tourism scholars.