Understanding tourists’ eco-paralysis, environmental concern, and pro-environmental behavior: an explanatory sequential mixed methods study

Abstract

This paper argues that developing practical interventions of responsible behavior requires a deeper understanding of different segments of tourists with different environmental and psychological dispositions. Dwelling on two socio-psychological theories of cognitive dissonance and the focus theory of normative conduct, 724 Chinese tourists are surveyed and segmented. Three segments namely eco-distressed, eco-pragmatic, and eco-calm are identified revealing different dispositions of eco-paralysis, environmental concern, and pro-environmental behaviors. Complemented by 37 interviews, we found that eco-paralysis does not necessarily mean inaction but helplessness and perceptions of feeling “small” in the face of “giant” climate change while overcoming numbness with small actions. This study suggests that the eco-paralysis of Chinese tourists is manifested at the cognitive-emotional level rather than at the behavioral level. Our findings contribute to a deeper understanding of the varying degrees of cognitive dissonance among different tourists with each group displaying unique environmental concerns and behaviors. It, theoretically, highlights how social and injunctive norms such as government environmental advocacy and traditional virtues [“qinjian jieyue”] stimulate progressive actions despite feelings of powerlessness. Thus, it questions the prevalent interpretation in environmental psychological research that helplessness means inaction by revealing that tourists could still be environmentally proactive despite cognitive-emotional challenges from climate change.