{"id":12345,"date":"2024-08-20T12:13:32","date_gmt":"2024-08-20T04:13:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.utm.edu.mo\/NewsPortal\/?p=12345"},"modified":"2024-08-23T13:30:09","modified_gmt":"2024-08-23T05:30:09","slug":"can-materialism-be-a-trigger-for-sustainable-tourism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.utm.edu.mo\/NewsPortal\/can-materialism-be-a-trigger-for-sustainable-tourism\/","title":{"rendered":"Can materialism be a trigger for sustainable tourism?"},"content":{"rendered":"\u4e2d\u6587\u7248\u672c \/ Chinese version<\/span>\n\n\n\n
A study involving a scholar from UTM investigated the links between consumers\u2019 materialistic values, their travel motivations, and their intentions to engage in responsible tourism<\/em><\/em><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A study involving a scholar from UTM suggests that materialistic values do not have to be a negative factor in sustainable tourism development. Contrary to common perception, the research results suggested that \u201cindividuals may exert their materialism by activating values and motivations that lead to travel activities that are considered sustainable and environmentally friendly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The authors added: \u201cThe emphasis is on how to identify ways for materialistic values to coexist with sustainability issues.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The research was produced by UTM Assistant Professor Dr. Frances Kong Weng Hang and Prof. Donald Chang from the Metropolitan State University of Denver in the United States. Their scholarly paper, \u201cThe Influence of Materialism and Environmental Concern on Travel Motivations and Environmentally Responsible Behavioral Intention\u201d, was featured in the Journal of China Tourism Research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the study, a questionnaire was administered to a sample of students from Mainland China enrolled in a higher education institution in Macao. Most respondents were born around the year 2000 and were considered part of the so-called \u2018Generation Z\u2019 population.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The questionnaire had three sections, covering materialistic value items, travel motivation items, and environmental concern items. A total of 287 valid questionnaires was collected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The results revealed that materialistic values were \u201ccorrelated significantly\u201d with travel motivations related to seeking the \u2018familiar\u2019 \u2013 i.e., things of the sort found in the traveller\u2019s home community \u2013 and \u2018pressure relief\u2019, namely seeking relief from daily life or work. The findings also showed that pressure relief, as a travel motivation, was \u201ca significant and important predictor\u201d of \u2018environmentally responsible behavioural intention\u2019, i.e., the intention to engage in responsible tourism. In addition, environmental concern was found to enhance the relationship between pressure relief and environmentally responsible behavioural intentions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Understanding materialism<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Kong and Prof. Chang noted in their paper that highly materialistic consumers tended to pursue extrinsic goals such as material wealth and status. \u201cThey place acquisition at the centre of their lives; they evaluate themselves and others in terms of the quality and quantity of their material possessions. They share travel experiences that they perceive as conspicuous and that enhance their desire for status while meeting comparison goals. Thus, in the context of sustainable tourism, the impact of materialistic values is of particular importance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the assumption that materialism had a negative impact on environmentally responsible behavioural intention \u201cmight have been over-simplified\u201d by previous studies, the two scholars cautioned. \u201cWith careful planning, there is a potential for the coexistence of materialistic values and environmentally responsible issues,\u201d they added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOften being viewed as the cause of negative environmental consequences, materialism represents a pervasive value in contemporary society due to economic expansion,\u201d the authors said. They added that travel motivations influenced intentions to engage in responsible tourism; such knowledge could \u201cbe used for destination differentiation in aiding the promotion of environmentally responsible behaviour.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Kong and Prof. Chang stated that tourism industry practitioners needed to understand what motivated people towards positive environmentally responsible behaviour and which particular consumer segments were interested in travel activities that were environmentally sustainable. \u201cPrevious research suggests that as the concern for the environment increases, tourism and hospitality companies could use \u2018green\u2019 activities as marketing tools to involve consumers in responsible tourism by emphasising [those \u2018green\u2019 activities\u2019] consequences for the natural environment,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Kong and Prof. Chang advised that, while tourism industry practitioners might not be able to change people\u2019s personal values, it is possible to \u201cfoster sustainability within the context of value orientations that encourage environmentally responsible behavioural intentions and behaviours.\u201d The scholars noted that materialism and ecotourism could potentially be connected, as the latter could be seen as a form of \u201cmaterialistic lifestyle\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sustainable tourism is often coveted by tourism industry practitioners because of its ability to attract visitors with higher spending power and a propensity to stay longer within the destination, capable of spending more locally and creating limited negative environmental, economic, and social impacts, the researchers pointed out. \u201cLuxury travel, a form of conspicuous consumption associated with materialism, has been found to be shifting towards sustainability,\u201d the authors noted. \u201cMarketers could use marketing strategies to align materialistic values with motivations that support and reinforce environmentally responsible behavioural intention.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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MORE INFO<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

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The researchers<\/div>\n

Dr. Frances Kong Weng Hang is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Creative Tourism and Intelligent Technologies at UTM. Her research interests include destination and attraction management, as well as tourism planning and development.<\/p>\n

Prof. Donald T. Chang is a scholar in the College of Business at the Metropolitan State University of Denver in the United States. He has a PhD in marketing from the University of Missouri-Columbia in the U.S. His research interests include travel research, cross-cultural comparisons, and marketing management.<\/div>

The paper<\/div>\n

Weng Hang Kong and Tung-Zong (Donald) Chang: \u201cThe Influence of Materialism and Environmental Concern on Travel Motivations and Environmentally Responsible Behavioral Intention\u201d, Journal of China Tourism Research, published online, 2023.
https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1080\/19388160.2023.223253<\/a><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n

Editor: Research Corner | A partnership between Macau Business and UTM<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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