#oldnews: Diffusion of Pro-Conservation Behaviors and Social Media in Wildlife Tourism

Wildlife tourism, i.e., tourism that involves interactions with wildlife, is extremely popular and can occur in in situ (e.g., parks and protected areas) or ex situ (e.g., zoos and aquariums) settings. Annually, more than 12 million trips are taken for wildlife tourism purposes across the globe, and over 4 million people visit wildlife tourism venues in Eastern North Carolina alone. Wildlife tourism has been justified on the grounds that it produces a net-positive impact on wildlife conservation by encouraging tourists to participate in pro-conservation behaviors (PCB). Because tourists may hold unique feelings towards individual PCB, it is important to understand how wildlife tourists' perceived efficacy of PCB (PEPCB) varies amongst behaviors. It is also important to understand how experiential and personality factors influence the formation of PEPCB. However, empirical data on the factors that influence wildlife tourists' PEPCB are lacking. This study used the Diffusion of Innovations model to explore (a) how engagement with interpretation, attitudes, and past participation in PCB influence tourists' perceived efficacy of PCB , and (b) the role of social media as an emerging PCB. Tourists (N = 475) at seven wildlife tourism venues across North Carolina were surveyed. Engagement with interpretation, attitudes, and past participation in PCB were found to have no influence on perceived efficacy of PCB. Posting on social media emerged as a unique PCB in this study, and past participation in this behavior significantly increased perceptions of its efficacy. Results indicate that PCB may be diffused throughout the community; the only exception are PCB related to social media, which may still be considered innovations and warrant further study

#oldnews: Diffusion of Pro-Conservation Behaviors and Social Media in Wildlife Tourism

Wildlife tourism, i.e., tourism that involves interactions with wildlife, is extremely popular and can occur in in situ (e.g., parks and protected areas) or ex situ (e.g., zoos and aquariums) settings. Annually, more than 12 million trips are taken for wildlife tourism purposes across the globe, and over 4 million people visit wildlife tourism venues in Eastern North Carolina alone. Wildlife tourism has been justified on the grounds that it produces a net-positive impact on wildlife conservation by encouraging tourists to participate in pro-conservation behaviors (PCB). Because tourists may hold unique feelings towards individual PCB, it is important to understand how wildlife tourists' perceived efficacy of PCB (PEPCB) varies amongst behaviors. It is also important to understand how experiential and personality factors influence the formation of PEPCB. However, empirical data on the factors that influence wildlife tourists' PEPCB are lacking. This study used the Diffusion of Innovations model to explore (a) how engagement with interpretation, attitudes, and past participation in PCB influence tourists' perceived efficacy of PCB , and (b) the role of social media as an emerging PCB. Tourists (N = 475) at seven wildlife tourism venues across North Carolina were surveyed. Engagement with interpretation, attitudes, and past participation in PCB were found to have no influence on perceived efficacy of PCB. Posting on social media emerged as a unique PCB in this study, and past participation in this behavior significantly increased perceptions of its efficacy. Results indicate that PCB may be diffused throughout the community\; the only exception are PCB related to social media, which may still be considered innovations and warrant further study

Melting the ice: arctic tourists’ epiphanies and connections to wildlife

A key outcome for ecotourism is providing conservation benefits. These benefits are of particular concern when experiences include wildlife. One mechanism for delivering conservation benefits is tourists’ participation in pro-conservation behaviors (PCB). Conservation psychology provides a framework to understand how ecotourism experiences facilitate PCB. Environmental epiphanies (EE) and conservation caring are two constructs that can model the relationship between experiences and PCB. The purpose of this study was to explore (1) if arctic tourism is capable of stimulating an EE; (2) conservation caring levels, and (3) the relationship between EE and conservation caring. Data were obtained from 72 tourists aboard an arctic cruise. Thirty-nine percent experienced an EE during the trip. Tourists who experienced an EE had significantly higher conservation caring scores than those who did not experience an EE (p \u3c.01). Results support ecotourism experiences can connect people to nature, which in turn is a strong PCB predictor