Ecotourists as activists : The conceptualisation of ecotourist’s practices and the role of communication

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Ecotourists as activists

The conceptualisation of ecotourist’s practices and the

role of communication

Master thesis, 15 hp

Media and Communication Studies

Supervisor: Ekaterina Kalinina Sustainable Communication Spring 2021 Examiner: Charu Uppal

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2 JÖNKÖPING UNIVERSITY

School of Education and Communication Box 1026, SE-551 11 Jönköping, Sweden +46 (0)36 101000

Master thesis, 15 credits

Course: Social Science with a major in Media and Communication Science

Term: Spring 2021 ABSTRACT

Writer(s): E-mail:

Maria Johanna Horsten maartjehorsten@gmail.com Title: Ecotourists as activists Subtitle:

Language:

The conceptualisation of ecotourist’s practices and the role of communication English

Pages: 49

As concern regarding the environmental impact of the regular tourism industry grows, tourists are increasingly seen carrying out activism actions and rallying others to create changes in the industry. A segment of the tourism industry that meets the demand is ecotourism, a more sustainable form of travelling that is seen as environmentalism in and of itself. Despite growing demand and communication efforts, ecotourism bookings remain low. Activism from ecotourists should be able to turn this around, but very little research has been done on this. Interviews show that ecotourists see ecotourism as activism, perform activism actions, but have difficulty with self-identifying as activists. The reasons for this are a negative connotation with activism or an unachievable high set bar. Despite self-identifying as an ecotourist, ecotourists’ ecotourism knowledge is low. According to them, communication regarding ecotourism is too limited and not disseminated sufficiently enough. This makes it difficult for ecotourists to be informed about ecotourism while other topics such as sustainability and activism do not even require an active attitude to be informed. Ecotourists get their information on sustainability, ecotourism and environmentalism mainly from online, news and audio-visual sources.

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1. Introduction

The tourism industry is the largest business sector in the world economy, accounting for 10% of the global gross domestic product, one in 12 jobs worldwide and 35% of global export services (Honey & Krantz, 2007, p. 16). Therefore, throughout the 1960s, tourism was perceived positively, often praised for its economic benefits (Rutty, Gössling, Scott & Hall, 2015, p. 43). However, the tourism industry has its downside. Tourism is a significant factor in the use of resources and global environmental change (Rutty et al., 2015, p. 56). It has been estimated that tourism’s global environmental impact results in an energy consumption of 18,586 petajoules (Rutty et al., 2015, p. 43), which equals 18,586 million billion joules and could be used to provide 19,000 Australian homes of energy in 2014-2015 (Energy.gov.au., n.d.). This makes the tourism industry more energy-intense than any other economic sector (Rutty et al., 2015, p. 45). In addition, the tourism industry is dependent on fossil fuels and other energy sources and thus contributes to global emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), among

other greenhouse gas emissions. Tourism is likely to emit 1,461 megatons CO2 for transport,

accommodation and activities (Rutty et al., 2015, p. 43), which is equivalent to 1,461 billion kilograms CO2 (Statistics Explained, 2013). Furthermore, tourism contributed to 0.6–0.7% in

land cover change and an estimated 3.5–5.5% of global species loss (Rutty et al., 2015, p. 43). Developers in high-biodiversity hotspots and natural areas are clearing forests, breaking up mangrove stands, dredging through seagrass beds and filling in wetlands for tourism infrastructure and developments. Thousands of acres of critical habitat are being altered to a point that does not support wildlife (Holden, 2009, p. 19-20; Honey et al., 2007, p. 18). The tourism industry’s emissions are expected to grow significantly as tourism is predicted to grow at an average of 3.3% per year until 2030, while other economic sectors achieve emission reduction targets either voluntary or due to legislations (Rutty et al., 2015, p. 44). As the tourism industry is an industry dominated by the private sector where investment decisions are mainly based on profit maximization, there is little room for idealism (Dolnicar, 2015, p. 143). Changes within the tourism sector, such as sustainable changes, must come from tourism demand, otherwise, the industry will not offer adapted products.

Since the 1970s and 1980s, the narrative has shifted. Concerns about the negative impact of natural resource management by tourism grew among the broader public. Among tourists, a shift is seen towards a broader and growing ethical awareness (Mkono & Tribe, 2017, p. 292). Tourists are increasingly seen actively rallying other users to take action and to reflect on and criticize current practices in an attempt to transform some aspect of the tourism system (Mkono

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et al., 2017, p. 296). These actions are perceived as activism and tourism activists try, among other things, to influence other users to use their ‘dollar vote’ more ethically when making purchasing or patronage decisions (Mkono et al., 2017, p. 292). The dollar vote implies the possibility to make a vote with one’s dollar or in other words, with one’s shopping activities. The dollar vote is seen as linked to social and environmental causes, as a form of consumer activism and as a highly significant venue for political participation (Johnston, 2008, p. 230). Some researchers see tourist activism emerging online. The Internet nowadays plays a crucial role in tourist activism (Gretzel, 2018, p. 8; Lu & Stepchenkova, 2012, p. 704). In addition, social media (SM) platforms have fundamentally changed the way tourists seek, find, read, trust, co-produce and distribute information about tourism (Chatzina, 2019, p. 513-514; Sotiriadis, 2017, p. 215; Stoddart & Nezhadhossein, 2016, p. 545).

As a result of the increasing desire for a more sustainable tourism alternative, ecotourism emerged (Fennell, 2003, p. 18). Before the outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19 virus), ecotourism gained considerable popularity among tourists in previous years. Ecotourism is one of the fastest-growing sectors in the tourism industry (Honey et al., 2007, p. 30), with an annual growth rate of 25-30% (Kalaitan et al., 2021, p. 374). Moreover, in 2004, ecotourism grew three times faster worldwide than the tourism industry (Honey et al., 2007, p. 30; Milstein, 2008, p. 173) and it is estimated that the ecotourism sector accounted for 25-30% of the total tourism sector (Kalaitan et al., 2021, p. 374). The desire for a more sustainable form of tourism has increased and is evident in the ecotourism industry.

2. Background: Ecotourism and the ecotourist

Even though it can be argued whether any form of tourism can be described as sustainable (Buckley, 2009, p. 657-663; Hunter, 2009; Tao, Eagles & Smith, 2004, p. 151; Stoddart et al., 2016, p. 545), ecotourism is seen as an ethical alternative to regular tourism. It is often perceived as a more sustainable form of tourism with a better ethical awareness that minimizes the impact on local environment and communities (Kalaitan et al., 2021, p. 381; Mancini, Evans, Iha, Danelutti & Galli, 2018, p. 16). Ecotourism is defined by The International Ecotourism Society (TIES) as “responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment, sustains the well-being of the local people, and involves interpretation and education” (The International Ecotourism Society, n.d.). TIES states that tourism can be seen as ecotourism when all the ecotourism principles are adopted. According to these principles, ecotourism should minimise physical, social, behavioural, and psychological impacts, create awareness and respect regarding environment and culture, and make positive contributions to both visitor and host.

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The principles also include making direct financial contributions to conservation and generating financial benefits for the local population and the private sector. Finally, the principles state to provide visitors with memorable interpretive experiences that help increase sensitivity to the political, environmental, and social climate of host countries, design, build and operate low impact facilities, and recognise the rights and spiritual beliefs of the indigenous people in their community and work together with them to create empowerment (The International Ecotourism Society, n.d.).

According to Hunter (2009, p. 45), ecotourism is unlikely to have an impact on natural resources as substantial as traditional forms of tourism. In addition, literature shows that through the years ecotourism has had a positive impact on both the conservation of endangered species as the preservation of inanimate nature (Kalaitan et al., 2021, p. 377). Furthermore, ecotourism, like conventional forms of tourism, has a positive effect on local economies, including the job market and business opportunities. Since it requires investments to sustain the ecosystem, creation, and financing of tourism observatories and certification, the money flows back into sustainable initiatives (Kalaitan et al., 2021, p. 379).

Despite the ecotourism industry’s communication efforts and the positive intentions of customers, ecotourism purchase rates remain low (Tölkes, 2020, p. 125). It is argued that one of the most productive and cost-effective promotion methods for ecotourism in terms of marketing communications and promotions that could turn this around, is word-of-mouth (Cheng, Wong, Wearing & McDonald, 2017, p. 418; Wearing & Neil, 2009, p. 171). Using word-of-mouth, consumers give their opinion about for example an experience to other consumers. This can happen both offline in face-to-face communications and online by posting messages on the internet (Cambefort & Roux, 2019, p. 581). According to literature, word-of-mouth can be considered as a form of activism that tries to influence others’ decision-making practices (Cambefort et al, 2019; Goldner, 2004; Gretzel, 2018; López-Fernández, 2019; Mkono et al., 2017). Nature-oriented tourism, such as ecotourism, is often seen as aligned with environmental activism (environmentalism), both as a social movement and as a personal world view (Stoddart et al., 2016, p. 544). Therefore, participating in ecotourism could be considered as a form of activism. However, current analysis primarily focuses on conceptualizing nature-oriented tourism as either socially and ecologically sustainable or not and takes activism out of the equation (Buckley, 2009; Stoddart et al., 2016).

The tourist that partakes in ecotourism, the ecotourist, has experiences in the field of ecotourism. Therefore, they have the potential of showing activism in favour of ecotourism which can lead to increasing demand. In addition, they should be the tourist that experiences

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the environmentalism element of ecotourism and should experience their activities as activism. However, there seems to be very little literature devoted to the ecotourist connected to activism and even general research into the ecotourist is missing (Abrams, Leong, Melena & Teel, 2019; Palacio, 1997; Boley & Green, 2015; Stark, 2002; Stoddart et al., 2016; Wight, 1993). Some researchers try to describe the ecotourist. However, their analyses often focus on superficial elements as to where the ecotourist goes on vacation, what activities the ecotourist participates in and socio-demographics (Nowaczek et al., 2010; Tao et al., 2004; Deng et al., 2015). Therefore, it is not without surprise that literature on the ecotourist often reveals that further research needs to be done (Deng & Li, 2015, p. 269 & 270; Fennell, 2003, p. 33-37; Laing & Frost, 2010, p. 265; Nowaczek & Smale, 2010, p. 45-46 & 57). Current research does not indicate if the ecotourists experience their ecotourism activities as activism, if they carry out environmentalism and if the ecotourist has shifted their activities to an online approach as well. Tourism sustainability communication is part of a broader sustainability marketing strategy that adopts an integrative and holistic approach to realise business goals and the long-term goals of sustainable development. Sustainability communication aims to improve the transparency regarding companies their sustainability commitment to promote an interactive dialogue concerning corporate activities, between companies and their stakeholders (Tölkes, 2018, p. 10). To improve sustainable communication based on target-group specific messaging, it is of importance to research the ecotourist in more detail. This information will help create effective sustainability communication as it can be better adapted to ecotourists by choosing appropriate message factors. This is vital for increasing the impact of a message on an audience (Dolnicar & Matus, 2008, p. 330-332; Michels, 2010, p. 260-264; Tölkes, 2018, p. 17-18). Under-studied elements regarding sustainable communication in ecotourism include, among others, different levels of involvement, information-seeking behaviour, information sharing behaviour, preferred source type and ability to study ecotourism information (Tölkes, 2018, p. 18). This is especially of importance since when properly used, communication in ecotourism can increase a person’s interest in ecotourism areas and influence the thinking, feeling and behaviour of ecotourists with the possibility of increasing tourism activism, like word-of-mouth (Tölkes, 2020, p. 125).

3. Aim and research question

It would be environmentally beneficial if the vast majority of tourists switched to ecotourism. Activism by ecotourists has the potential to make this shift in the tourism industry happen. However, research regarding ecotourists as activists is scarce which complicates the role and

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implementation of sustainability communication. Therefore, additional research is needed (Chatzina, 2019, p. 511; Dolnicar et al., 2008, p. 330-332; Gretzel, 2018, p. 9; Mkono, 2018, p. 1610; Mkono et al., 2017, p. 296 Tölkes, 2018, p. 17-18).

This study focuses on the ecotourist and explores the conceptualisation of their ecotourism practices as environmentalism and the role communication plays. The research will contribute to an understanding of ecotourists as a consumer segmentation and will help create effective sustainability communication in the future as it can be better adapted to ecotourists (Dolnicar et al., 2008, p. 330-332; Michels, 2010, p. 260-264; Tölkes, 2018, p. 17-18). The research questions (RQ) are as follows:

RQ 1: What are the consumption patterns of ecotourists when it comes to communication about ecotourism and activism?

RQ 2: How do ecotourists understand ecotourism in terms of activism? RQ 3: How do ecotourists understand their actions in terms of activism? RQ 4: How likely are ecotourists to partake in environmental activism?

4. Research review

4.1 Activism and communication

Social media has changed the way tourists search for information, plan their travels, experience and document their vacations, connect with other travellers, perceive destinations and share word-of-mouth (Gretzel, 2018, p. 3). Moreover, SM has had a big influence on expressing activism as well. Activism has been increasingly supported by online and especially SM (Dahlgren, 2005, p. 155; Gretzel, 2018, p. 5). The rise of social networking sites has helped people around the world with common interests to connect no matter where they access the Internet (Chatzina, 2019, p. 518; Mkono, 2018, p. 1610). Social media is shaped through user-generated content and has a profound impact on a variety of issues, like consumer behaviour, political issues and business (Chatzina, 2019, p. 512). Social media’s main types are blogs and microblogs, social networking sites, collaborative projects, content community sites, and sites dedicated to feedback (Sotiriadis, 2017, p. 182). Social media allow a bigger variety of forms of communication compared to other media, like one-to-one, one-to-many, one-to-specific others, few-to-few and many-to-many, as well as synchronous and asynchronous conversations. Social media make it possible to create extensive profiles and thus support advanced identity management and personal branding. They also make it easy to create and post content, share content posted by others, co-create and socialize. Social media supports the emergence of

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influencers who seek a middle ground between consumers and commercial users and play an important role in spreading content (Gretzel, 2018, p. 5-6). Various forums are being established on new media platforms for participation in social and political issues and political messages are now being created through alternative and critical channels. Individuals and different groups can debate directly with each other thanks to mobile and low-cost technologies (Chatzina, 2019, p. 512).

The Internet and SM offer opportunities for many people to participate who otherwise feel that there are too many taboos and inconveniences when talking about politics in their own face-to-face environment (Dahlgren, 2005, p. 156). Therefore, SM can be perceived as a functioning public space. Functioning public spaces are understood as a constellation o f communicative spaces in society that allow the formation of political will and the circulation of information, ideas and debates in an unimpeded manner. These spaces, in which the mass media and the interactive online media play a prominent role, also serve to facilitate communicative connections between citizens and the rulers of society (Dahlgren, 2005, p. 148). Research shows that the daily use of SM is the basis for a change in youth citizenship today. This shift is away from dutiful norms to more personalized, self-actualizing norms with a preference for online, discursive forms of political engagement and organization (Vromen, Xenos & Loader, 2015, p. 80). While SM’s interactivity is often emphasized, many researchers have pointed out that the interactions can include simple likes or ratings that often represent a very low level of engagement (Gretzel, 2018, p. 5-6).

Social media activism can be defined as a form of cyber activism that uses the benefits of SM to achieve cause-related goals (Chatzina, 2019, p. 512; Gretzel, 2018, p. 6; Mkono, 2018, p. 1610). Due to the reach of SM, SM activism is highly visible to others and can spread quickly beyond individuals and local communities (Gretzel, 2018, p. 6). This promotes the creation of new imaginary communities and digital activism (Chatzina, 2019, p. 518). Social media tools have transformed policy by treating it as an open platform for citizen collaboration, consultation and organization of action. It is now reaching the point where citizens are no longer called citizens, but ‘netizens’ instead (Chatzina, 2019, p. 513). Social media activism encompasses new and more forms of activism than traditional, offline activism (Gretzel, 2018, p. 7; Mkono, 2018, p. 1610). Changing one’s profile picture to raise awareness of a cause or using a specific hashtag are already seen as forms of SM activism. In addition, SM memes are engaging and viral content that enables the dissemination of cause-related information. Public shaming by retweeting or sharing other people’s posts and adding negative comments are also common forms of activism (Gretzel, 2018, p. 7). Online petitions are also frequently featured on SM as

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a way of trying to bring about change, with calls to sign a particular petition often automatically posted on the SM pages of the petition signer (Gretzel, 2018, p. 7). Politically and socially committed organizations reach a wider audience through social networks (Chatzina, 2019, p. 513) and activist groups often create SM pages that supporters can subscribe to and acquire new members because it is here that members can express their feelings and ideas about issues that concern them (Chatzina, 2019, p. 513; Dahlgren, 2005, p. 155; Gretzel, 2018, p. 7).

In the literature, various voices are heard regarding the effect of SM activism. Some optimists argue that the Internet and other forms of electronic communication are contributing to a new form of public sphere, potentially leading to a new kind of democracy. Within this new form of democracy, social movements are promoted through the Internet. In contrast, there are also sceptics who argue that the creation of a viable network of activists cannot exist over the Internet. According to them, some restrictions prevent these digital activities from replacing traditional forms of activism and personal communication. The sceptics also argue that SM does not automatically lead to politics, protest and political participation (Chatzina, 2019, p. 513). In addition, the ease of attracting and mobilizing participants for a good cause with just a click of the mouse is seen as potentially problematic. Since it is so easy to click on ‘Join Group’ or ‘Sign Petition’ – which gets the name of clicktivism – this ensures that cyber activism attracts members who are genuinely committed to the cause, but also those who are jumping onto a bandwagon. The latter is dubbed slacktivism. That is why critics emphasize that cyber activism does not replace traditional social movements, but rather complements t hem (Mkono, 2018, p. 1610).

4.2 Tourism and communication

Communication focussing on ecotourism can be used as a powerful tool. It has the possibility to increase interest in ecotourism areas and influence the thinking, feeling and behaviour of ecotourists (Cheng et al., 2017, p. 428-429; Tölkes, 2018, p. 15). One of the few studies on the effects of media indicates that the environmental content in mass media messages has a positive relationship with the biospheric values of young people to motivate environmental behaviour in the private sphere (Tölkes, 2020, p. 119). When someone has high biospheric values this indicates that they are more likely to have pro-environmental preferences and intentions, and are more likely to act pro-environmentally (Werff, Steg & Keizer, 2013, p. 55-56).

However, sustainability communication seems to be a challenge. Especially the vague nature of the concept of sustainability and sustainable tourism poses a problem and makes it hard for consumers to recognize and understand sustainability product attributes (Tölkes, 2018, p. 10).

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Ecotourism service providers are seen being attracted towards SM and using the Internet as a promotional tool to describe ecotourism notion and components. However, ecotourism operators provide only conceptual details of ecotourism. They are unable to promot e ecotourism adequately on the Internet as they are failing to provide chances of interactivity to tourists and information regarding their marketing mix. Most ecotourism providers ignore topics such as local community participation, education, and sustainability as, among others, they have yet to develop their marketing concept to promote ecotourism effectively (Bindu, 2018, p. 137). Research indicates that there is a lack of sustainability information and the visibility and accessibility of sustainable tourist products should increase (Tölkes, 2020, p. 117-118). According to Tölkes (2020, p. 128), designing value-consistent, personally relevant and visible sustainability messages will help to better exploit the tourism market ’s potential of the sustainability segment.

The Internet is considered the primary medium for ecotourists to search for travel -related information (Lu et al., 2012, p. 704; Sotiriadis, 2017, p. 181). Social media is an online communication method that plays a significant role. (Sotiriadis, 2017, p. 182). Social media platforms have become a powerful social tool for online communication, enabling tourists to communicate and share their views, collaborate and contribute to developing, expanding, assessing and commenting on tourism experiences. The platforms have also enabled knowledge sharing as tourism consumers can connect, share and interact with others (Mkono et al., 2017, p. 288; Sotiriadis, 2017, p. 179-180). Social media usage could teach ecotourists to behave more socially responsible and be conscious (Cheng et al., 2017, p. 428-429). Moreover, SM engagement can drive consumers to buy products because referrals on social networking sites typically have a longer carryover effect than traditional advertisements, leading to significantly higher response elasticity (Cheng et al., 2017, p. 418). Using the theory of uses and gratification, Mkono and Tribe (2017, p. 290-296) recognize five user roles related to the online interactions of individual tourists using SM. These roles are beyond the basic role of information provision. The five roles are 1) the troll, who seeks gratification from manipulating and deceiving other users; 2) the activist, who rallies other users to take action in pursuit of a cause and can raise awareness of relevant and critical issues affecting the tourism industry; 3) the socialite, who seeks status and display; 4) the social critic, who engages discursively and reflexively with other users, and articulates sociocultural and political issues, dilemmas and ambiguities; 5) the information seeker, who asks for content from other users while highlighting information gaps and enriching SM content in the process (Mkono et al., 2017, p. 290-296).

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Regarding ecotourism marketing communications and promotions, one of the most productive and cost-effective promotion methods for ecotourism business is word-of-mouth (Cheng et al., 2017, p. 418; Sotiriadis, 2017, p. 182; Wearing et al., 2009, p. 171). In terms of electronic word-of-mouth in the context of SM, tourists’ post-experience behaviour – the satisfaction of the tourist consumer with a trip made – can take the form of tourist engagement. This refers to the willingness to share their tourism experiences on the internet and thus contributing to the generation of online reviews and consumer recommendations on travel products. Such online consumer reviews provide user-oriented information about travel products and services and act as recommendations for other consumers (Sotiriadis, 2017, p. 182). This user-generated content in the form of electronic word-of-mouth is seen as a particularly suitable source of reliable and credible information for ecotourists (Lu et al., 2012, p. 704). Research provides strong motivations to better use the electronic word-of-mouth channels of communication and that research-wise there is a need for a deeper understanding regarding, among others, what factors motivate and influence tourists to share their travel experience and post online reviews (Sotiriadis, 2017, p. 182).

So far, research into sustainability communication channels has mostly covered non-personal communication channels, which are channels that carry out messages without the use of personal contact or feedback. Within this field, most research covers organisations’ websites and communication channels referring to hotel information or certifications (Tölkes, 2018, p. 14). Overall, research is mostly dominated by a focus on hotel contexts and environmental sustainability (Tölkes, 2018, p. 16). Quite recently, since 2017, research started covering SM (Tölkes, 2018, p. 14). Although research into the use of SM in tourism is no longer in its infancy, the research agenda is still long and far from adulthood (Cheng et al., 2017, p. 415; Sotiriadis, 2017, p. 216).

How to design effective sustainability messages that motivate sustainable consumer behaviour is a problem that still has limited understanding and tourism researchers cannot fully explain theoretically. Despite the importance of effective communication about sustainability for the tourism industry, its theoretical foundations, influences and results have yet to be explored (Tölkes, 2018, p. 10). In general, outcomes of sustainability marketing communications are characterized by a superficial understanding of sustainability communication in tourism. This is the case as they are based on a limited application of theory and a set of research methodologies insufficient to further develop a practical and theoretical understanding of designing effective sustainability messages (Tölkes, 2018, p. 17). Furthermore, there is a lack of research on personal communication channels and message-related issues (Tölkes, 2018, p.

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16). In addition, more research is needed regarding the effectiveness of messages through a holistic approach to sustainability communication, the interdisciplinary broadening and deepening of theoretical understanding, and employing a broader spectrum of methodologies for theory formation and the study of communication effects (Tölkes, 2018, p. 17-19).

4.3 Tourism and activism

There has been a growing ethical awareness among tourist consumers, also referred to as ethical purchasing, green consumerism and ethical consumerism. Tourism activists who show this orientation are trying to influence other users to use their dollar vote more ethically when making purchasing or patronage decisions (Mkono, 2018, p. 1608; Mkono et al., 2017, p. 292). An example of online individual tourist activism is online reviews. Online reviews have a strong impact on consumers’ decision-making processes and studies have shown that online evaluation can help consumers make informed and accurate decisions (Sotiriadis, 2017, p. 182). One of the most well-known platforms for this form of activism is TripAdvisor. TripAdvisor allows consumers, among other things, to voice their complaints and encourage others to boycott certain companies (Gretzel, 2018, p. 7-8; Mkono et al., 2017, p. 288). Another example is Change.org, one of the most popular petition websites. The website regularly features travel-related petitions (Gretzel, 2018, p. 8).

Another form of activism is consumer activism, which is seen as wanting to create desired change or stop unwanted changes related to consumer issues (Gretzel, 2018, p. 4; Mkono et al., 2017, p. 292). Activists take satisfaction in the fact that they can potentially influence the actions of others, and by highlighting the causes that they are passionate about (Mkono et al., 2017, p. 292). Types of consumer activism differ according to their place, time, goals and targets. Targets suggest that activism need not only target companies or government agencies but can target celebrities or other consumers as well. While much of the literature assumes that consumer activism involves collective actions, some emphasize the need to include individual actions in research, such as complaints, negative word-of-mouth, and individual decisions to refrain from certain forms of consumption (Gretzel, 2018, p. 4; Mkono, 2018, p. 1611).

A term closely related to consumer activism is consumer resistance. Consumer resistance is understood as the unwillingness of consumers to accept a specific product, service or change. This resistance can take many forms that are determined by different dimensions. These dimensions include organizational dimension, ranging from individual to collective action, and purposeful dimension, ranging from reformist to radical. Another dimension is the tactic dimension which ranges from actions aimed at changing the marketing mix to actions aimed at

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changing the meaning of products (Gretzel, 2018, p. 4). The marketing mix refers to a mix between product, place, promotion, price and people (Michels, 2010, p. 182). The last dimension is the relationship dimension, distinguishing whether consumer resistance appropriates marketing institutions or tries to stand outside these institutions (Gretzel, 2018, p. 4).

It is evident that activism is taking place within the tourism industry. The high involvement, high risk and often international aspects of tourism consumption that give tourists little opportunity to express their opinions legally or politically make activism on SM a particularly important topic in tourism (Gretzel, 2018, p. 9). However, SM its potential to support different forms of activism has been largely neglected in tourism research (Gretzel, 2018, p. 4). Systematic research on its forms, range, emergence, longevity, success rates or results is currently missing in the literature (Gretzel, 2018, p. 9). Overall, it has been noted that most studies have addressed the political and policy outcomes of movements while overlooking their broader cultural and institutional impact (Mkono, 2018, p. 1610). Research requires more of a tourism-specific perspective to understand activism in a tourism context since a more critical framework for digital tourism studies is needed (Gretzel, 2018, p. 9; Mkono, 2018, p. 1610; Mkono et al., 2017, p. 296). Individual forms of activism in particular are currently not well understood, especially when they relate to tourism-related consumption (Gretzel, 2018, p. 9; Mkono et al., 2017, p. 296). The link with sustainable tourism, such as ecotourism for example, and the potential of SM activism to positively influence tourist consumption also needs further exploration (Gretzel, 2018, p. 9).

5. Theory

5.1 Theory of planned behaviour

To determine whether ecotourists are willing to participate in activism related to ecotourism, this research will rely on the well-established social-psychological model, The Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) (Ajzen, 1991; Ajzen, 2012; Fielding, McDonald & Louis, 2008, p. 318). The TPB is often referred to in the literature and has helped research a variety of subjects. For example, the TPB has been involved in researching the use of birth control pills (Fishbein, Jaccard, Davidson, Ajzen, & Loken, 1980), marijuana consumption (Ajzen, Timko, & White, 1982) and the determinants of recycling behaviour (Tonglet, Phillips & Read, 2004), to name a few. The TPB has also been used closer to the current research topic. For example, the TPB has been used to research intentions to engage in environmentalism (Fielding et al., 2008) and to

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enhance tourism in private households (Heiny, Ajzen, Leonhäuser & Schmidt, 2019). However, as mentioned earlier, there is still far too little research on ecotourists in relation to ac tivism and therefore, little similar research is available in the literature.

Since its inception, the TBP has been used with success to explain, predict and alter behaviour in a wide variety of areas (Heiny et al., 2019, p. 2). According to the TPB, intentions record the motivational factors that influence behaviour. They are indications of how hard people are willing to try and how much effort they plan to put into carrying out certain behaviour. For that reason, a central factor in the TPB is the individual’s intention to perform the behaviour. As a general rule, the stronger the intention is to engage in certain behaviour, the more likely is the performance of the behaviour (Ajzen, 1991, p. 181). Intentions are determined by a combination of attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioural control. Attitude is decided by a person’s behavioural beliefs about whether certain behaviour has relevant traits and how important these traits are. Attitude refers to the extent to which a person has a favourable or unfavourable evaluation or judgment of the behaviour in question (Ajzen, 1991, p. 188; Ajzen, 2012, p. 441-442; Francis et al., 2004, p. 9). The subjective norm refers to the perceived social pressure to which a person is subjected in shaping its attitude. Subjective norm is formed by two elements: the opinion of significant others and how sensitive someone is to social pressure. These two elements make up the normative beliefs and motivation to comply (Ajzen, 1991, p. 188; Ajzen, 2012, p. 443-444; Francis et al., 2004, p. 9). Perceived behavioural control is the extent to which a person feels they can perform the behaviour. This is also determined by two elements, namely to what extent a person has voluntary control over the performance of certain behaviour and the extent to which a person thinks it can perform this behaviour. These elements form the control beliefs and the power of control (Ajzen, 1991, p. 188; Ajzen, 2012, p. 445-448; Francis et al., 2004, p. 9). The more favourable the attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioural control are, the stronger a person’s intention is to perform the behaviour in question. When there is enough control over behaviour, people are expected to carry out their intentions when the opportunity arises (Ajzen, 1991, p. 188; Ajzen, 2012, p. 448).

The TPB (Ajzen, 1991; Ajzen, 2012) will be used to analyse the predisposition of ecotourists to become environmental activists. This will help answer RQ 4. To do so, questions will be asked to ecotourists that will test all elements of the TPB (Ajzen, 1991; 2012). According to Ajzen (2013, p. 2), before designing a research method, the researched behaviour and research population must be clearly defined. This will be taken into account in this study and will be included in the creation of a research method.

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16 5.2 Self-identification

While there is broad support for the TPB, for some behaviours and contexts the inclusion of other variables may increase the predictive utility of the TPB (Fielding et al., 2008, p. 319). A growing body of research shows that self-identity is also a predictor of behavioural intention (Callero, 1985; Callero, Howard, & Piliavin, 1987; Conlin & Heesacker, 2018; Conner & Armitage, 1998; Deng et al., 2015; Fielding et al., 2008; Mannetti, Pierro & Livi, 2004; Sparks & Shepherd, 1992). For example, it appears that self-identity as a green consumer is an independent predictor of intentions to buy organic products (Sparks et al., 1992). Research has also shown that an environmentalism self-identity was related to environmentalism (Werff et al., 2013, p. 56). For example, an identity as a tourism activist motivates action. Failure to engage in the associated role-specific behaviour can create a state of internal tension in case of a conflict between identity and actions (Conlin et al., 2018, p. 930; Fielding et al., 2008, p. 320). On the other hand, role-adapted behaviour validates the role of individuals, and thus their own identity (Callero, 1985). The more important and conspicuous an identity is, the greater the likelihood of role-consistent actions. Given the strong correlations between intentions and self-identity, self-identity is likely to be an important predictor of intentions for some behaviours (Fielding et al., 2008, p. 320).

In addition, research proposes that people may additionally have a more general environmental self-identity that can be associated with several environmental preferences, intentions and behaviours. For example, green self-identity has been related to ecological shopping, waste reduction, and water and energy savings. An ecological self-identity has been related to various pro-environmental behaviours, like recycling, buying fair trade products and not flying for holiday purposes (Werff et al., 2013, p. 56). In addition, self-identity is most probably influenced by an individual’s biospheric values. For example, if someone thinks that protecting the environment is a tenet in their life, they likely think they ought to act according to their values and see themselves as a person acting in an environmentally friendly way (Werff et al., 2013, p. 56). Moreover, one’s own identity is likely to be influenced by past behaviour as well. For example, if someone realizes that they have recycled their waste, they are more likely to perceive themselves as a person acting pro-environmentally (Werff et al., 2013, p. 56). In addition to the TPB, self-identification will be included in the current study. Since an environmental self-identity and past behaviour seem to possibly affect one's behaviour as well (Werff et al., 2013, p. 56), these elements will be incorporated into the research additionally. Self-identification will play a part in answering RQ 2 and RQ3.

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6. Methods

6.1 Data collection

Since answering the research questions requires in-depth information regarding ecotourists their opinions and views, it was decided to conduct interviews. Interviewing is a popular way to collect qualitative research data. The main reason for this is because an interview is seen as talking, which is a natural action. Interviews are one of the most common and powerful tools for measuring and understanding an individual perspective. In an interview, the perception of the interviewees is central and the goal is to collect information about a certain subject, like knowledge and attitude (Fontana & Frey, 2005, p. 697-698; Griffee, 2005, p. 36; Michels, 2010, p. 221; Verhoeven, 2014, p. 155). In addition, interviews are an appropriate research method for sustainable communication within tourism, as qualitative research methods are only minimal within the field and can bring a highly necessary deeper understanding of consumer beliefs (Tölkes, 2018, p. 19-20).

The interviews were conducted between May 7th_{, 2021, and May 17}th_{, 2021. Due to the}

ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, all interviews were conducted online as a health precaution. Interviews were conducted on the video telephony software program, Zoom. However, due to the preference of one of the interviewees, Skype was used for one interview. The choice fell on these types of programs, as they offer the possibility to have a slightly more personal and face-to-face conversation by using a video connection. Therefore, in all interviews, the camera was turned on by both the interviewer and the interviewee. The interviews had an average duration of 53 minutes. The shortest interview lasted 33 minutes and the longest interview was 1 hour and 23 minutes in length.

Respondents were approached based on a combination of convenient and snowball sampling. A convenient sample randomly asks people if they want to participate in a study. With snowball sampling, a network is asked whether they know possible respondents (Verhoeven, 2014, p. 203). For this research, the network was used to ask whether people could and wanted to participate in the interview. Subsequently, these same people were asked, regardless of whether or not they appeared to correspond with the research population and whether or not they wanted to participate in the study, if they knew people within their network who could match the study population. These people were then approached.

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18 6.2 Specifying research population

Before conducting the interviews, it was important to know who ecotourists are, since they are the research population. However, this was no easy feat as, as mentioned before, there seems to be little literature devoted to the ecotourist (Abrams et al., 2019; Boley et al., 2015; Palacio, 1997; Stark, 2002; Stoddart et al., 2016; Wight, 1993). Most of the research done in this area lacks a theoretical foundation for what it means to be an ecotourist and instead focuses on geographic location or behavioural characteristics to identify ecotourists (Nowaczek et al., 2010) and even these studies show irregularities. According to Deng and Li (2015), ecotourists will most likely have higher levels of education and a family income of over approximately € 50,000 a year. Their research shows gender and age to not be significant (Deng et al., 2015, p. 260-261). Lu and Stepchenkova (2012) agree and indicate that ecotourists are higher educated and have higher household incomes. While they state that gender indeed does not seem to play a role, they do see that ecotourists are more likely to fall within the age group of 25-54 years old (Lu et al., 2012, p. 703). Both these articles focused on the North American market. Wearing and Neil (2009, p. 196) include findings from North American, Canadian, German, Swedish and Australian ecotourists. They agree with the above-mentioned characteristics but express that ecotourists tend to be more female than male and that many ecotourists have an age of 20– 40 or 55+ years old. Tao, Eagles and Smith (2004) their research in Taiwan shows different socio-demographic results than in North America based research. Therefore, it is highly possible that ecotourist their socio-demographic characteristics strongly differ per country. Since research shows inconclusive data, socio-demographic outcomes could not be strongly adhered to for identifying ecotourists in this study.

Instead, it was determined whether people could participate in an interview using a self -identification approach. This is not new within ecotourism research and by some perceived as a more meaningful method (Deng et al., 2015; Tao et al., 2004). This approach means that when someone identifies themselves as an ecotourist, this person is seen as an ecotourist and is therefore eligible to participate in the interview. The population of interest, as it should be clearly formulated according to the literature (Ajzen, 2006, p. 2; Francis et al., 2004, p. 10), is, therefore, self-identified ecotourists.

People were first asked whether they see themselves as an ecotourist. Due to the pandemic, this also happened online via instant messaging services such as WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, or by phone call. When the person approached indicated that they defined themselves as an ecotourist, they were invited to participate in an interview. A total of 35

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possible respondents were approached, resulting in 17 self-identified ecotourists. Of these 17 ecotourists, 13 respondents ultimately took part in an interview. The interviews were held with Dutch-speaking respondents in Dutch. Non-Dutch speaking interviewees were interviewed in English. To preserve the identity of the interviews, all interviewees had been assigned a letter in the range from A to Q. These letters will be used in the report when referring to an interviewee.

The age of the respondents ranged from 19 years old to 70 years old with a mean age of 38 years old. Female participants (69.2%) were in the majority and outnumbered their male counterparts (30.8%). The vast majority of the participants had a bachelor’s degree (76.9%) as their highest level of education, two respondents had a master’s degree (15.4%) and one participant had a high school diploma (7.7%). More participants’ current occupation was within the professional field (53.8%) compared to students (38.5%). One of the respondents was currently retired (7.7%). All participants came from a European country and lived in a European country at the time of the interview. Countries of birth alternated with the Netherlands (46.2%) being the most common, followed by Germany (23.1%). Other participants came from Bulgaria (7.7%), Hungary (7.7%), Poland (7.7%) and Switzerland (7.7%). At the time of the interviews, the vast majority of the respondents lived in the Netherlands (53.8%), followed by Sweden (30.8%), Switzerland (7.7%) and the United Kingdom (7.7%). Despite previously indicating that socio-demographic elements are not a very reliable indicator for defining ecotourists, the socio-demographic elements of the interviewees do correspond to the research of Wearing and Neil (2009, p. 196), which has a partly European perspective. Just as in their research, the vast majority of ecotourists are highly educated and female. In addition, interviewees aged 20-40 (46.2%) and 55+ (15.4%) accounted for the majority of respondents (61.6%), as is the case in Wearing and Neil their research (2009, p. 196).

6.3 Measures

The interviews were conducted semi-structured. This type of interview is in between an open interview and a structured interview (Verhoeven, 2014, p. 155). The semi-structured interview has clear questions and themes that need to be addressed, but there is also room for new input from both the interviewee and the interviewer. This allows the interviewer to improvise follow-up questions based on the responses of the interviewee and allows room for individual verbal expressions of the interviewees (Kallio, Pietilä, Johnson & Kangasniemi, 2016, p. 2955; Verhoeven, 2014, p. 155). Since the semi-structured interview method is suitable for studying

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people’s perceptions and opinions regarding research topics, this form of interview was best suited for the current study (Kallio et al., 2016, p. 2959).

The semi-structured interviews consisted of seven sections. The first section contained socio-demographic questions. The following three sections each covered a different topic that was significant for this research. Sustainability was the topic for section two, as Van der Werff, Steg and Keizer (2013, p. 56) indicate that in general, a more sustainable self-identity can also be an indicator for the performance of certain behaviour. Section three covered the topic of ecotourism and section four environmentalism. The same questions were asked in all of the three sections to not influence the response of the interviewees and to make it possible to compare answers to the same questions asked on the three different topics. The self-identification approach was used in these sections as the interviewees were, among other things, asked whether they identified themselves as a sustainable person, ecotourist and environmentalist. In addition, respondents were asked how they define these topics and what they thought are actions linked to the topics. These questions were used to answer RQ 2 and RQ 3. The answers of the interviewees to the mentioned questions were accepted as truth and the rest of the questions operated based on their answers. Questions related to the use of communication were also asked within the three topics; sustainability, ecotourism and environmentalism. These questions try to help answer RQ 1. Each of the three topics concluded with how the interviewees would explain the topic’s role in their lives to someone else. This question was asked to receive additional information about how ecotourists conceptualise their actions and ecotourism.

The fifth section of the interviews focused on whether the interviewees carry out certain activist actions, without specifically mentioning that it concerns activism. The reason for this section was to test whether a respondent who did not define themself as an environmental activist in the previous section, does not carry out activist actions within ecotourism either. In addition, these questions were also incorporated as past behaviour could affect the ecotourists’ behaviour (Werff et al., 2013, p. 56). The questions were based on activist actions found in the literature review. The question of whether the interviewees share their experiences within ecotourism measures whether the ecotourists’ post-experience behaviour takes the form of tourist engagement. Their positive or negative contribution and contribution to the generation of online reviews about travel products were measured by asking follow-up questions (Gretzel, 2018, p. 4 & 7; Sotiriadis, 2017, p. 182). The question whether the respondent tries to convince others to participate in ecotourism focused on trying to influence the actions of others, highlighting the causes that they are passionate about and trying to influence others to use their

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dollar vote more ethically (Mkono, 2018, p. 1608; Mkono et al., 2017, p. 292). Both this and the previous question also focused on word-of-mouth (Cheng et al., 2017, p. 418; Sotiriadis, 2017, p. 182; Wearing et al., 2009, p. 171). Next, it was tested whether the interviewees are trying to make changes in the mainstream tourism industry. This was developed based on the own dollar vote, consumer resistance and wanting to create desired change or stop unwanted changes (Gretzel, 2018, p. 4; Mkono, 2018, p. 1608; Mkono et al., 2017, p. 292). This section of the interview focused on individual activist actions, as information about these appears to be missing in the literature (Gretzel, 2018, p. 4). The section ended with whether the interviewees perceived ecotourism and ecotourists as connected to activism, and whether they considered themselves, as ecotourists, as an activist. These last three questions test RQ 2 and RQ 3.

The sixth section of the interviews was drawn up based on literature regarding the TPB to help answer RQ 4 (Ajzen, 2006; Ajzen, 2013; Francis et al., 2004; Fielding et al, 2008). Most current studies using the TPB apply quantitative approaches to analyse specific behaviours. However, interviews are an essential step in applying TPB when examining related factors of a particular behaviour, such as related behavioural outcomes and facilitators, and disincentives. In addition, interviews make it easier to examine both negative and positive answers to questions (Kim & Oh, 2015, p. 109). Therefore, the TPB was used in the interviews. To do so, according to the TPB, behaviour under study must be clearly defined (Ajzen, 2006, p. 2; Francis et al., 2004, p. 10). The behaviour of interest for this part of the interview was established as conducting

activism activities within the field of ecotourism. The TPB questions were asked to 12 out of

the 13 respondents as one of the respondents turned out to not have enough time for the interview to include the TPB part.

The interview ended with the seventh section of the interview. Here the interviewee was asked one last time whether they did or did not perceive themself as an activist. This question was asked again to measure whether the interviewee their answer remained the same after the interview. The question was added when during the first interview it became apparent that it might be possible that the interviewees would change their initial answer as the interview progressed.

As aforementioned, section three and four were used to test what, according to the respondents, ecotourism and environmentalism entail and what actions are connected to them. This was done so to better understand what ecotourism and environmentalism mean to the respondents. This creates a clear picture of what definitions the respondents used to answer the last three questions of section five related to ecotourism and activism.

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Appendix 1 provides an overview of the interview questions per section. This appendix also indicates which question focused on which part of the TPB.

6.4 Data analysis

The interviews were analysed on the basis of four phases. The first phase is called exploration. In this phase, it was investigated which concepts were visible in the material. The second phase is specification. Herein, concepts were further developed and named. Phase three concerned

reduction. Concepts found were ordered and linked back to the problem definition. In the fourth

phase, integration, the concepts analysed were integrated into a certain structure (Verhoeven, 2014, p. 319). During the four phases, the interviews were being coded. First, it was examined how certain fragments could best be described. Raw information was reduced into smaller units, such as categories or themes. Next, it was looked at what belonged together and terms with overlap were grouped, after which hierarchy was added in the codes. Adding hierarchy analysed which code was most important and which followed next. Furthermore, relationships between the codes, such as associations and combinations, were looked at. Subsequently, structure was added to the concepts and again searched for relationships. Eventually, the relationships and sequence were brought together (DeCuir-Gunby, Marshall & McCulloch, 2011, p. 141-144; Verhoeven, 2014, p. 318-319). The qualitative software package for data analysis, NVivo 12, was used for the coding practices.

The answers given by the respondents to the questions related to the TPB were rated on a scale from 1 to 5 (Montaño & Kasprzyk, 2015, p. 99). On this scale 1 was extremely negative, 3 was neither negative nor positive and 5 was extremely positive. The numbers of all 12 TPB respondents per TPB question were added together and divided by five. The result that came from this calculation indicated how positive or negative the overall answer was to this specific TPB question. The means were then calculated for each part of the TPB. To do this, the averages of each question assigned to the same TPB item were added together and divided by the number of questions associated with that item. The outcome indicated how positive or negative t he respondents were towards that specific part of the TPB (Francis et al., 2004, p. 11-22).

6.5 Discussion

As indicated earlier, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all interviews were conducted in an online format. Although this is a pleasant and safe alternative, it is not the ultimate form of interviewing. This form of interviewing is heavily dependent on a good internet connection and sufficient equipment on both the interviewers’ and the interviewees’ side, which is not always

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the case. It sometimes happened that a conversation faltered, got stuck or there was a noise in the interviewee’s microphone, making them difficult to hear. Interviewee A (personal communication, May 7, 2021) even had to move themself to another room for a better internet connection as the connection was unstable. Although all questions were clearly answered by the interviewees, it is important to note that not everything was equally intelligible due to the above-mentioned forms of noise.

In addition, due to the online approach to the interview, it was only possible to approach people who had electronic devices and an internet connection. This applied both to approaching people to see if they corresponded to the research target group and to conducting the interview. This automatically ensured that the target group of self-identified ecotourists who did not have electronic devices or an internet connection were unable to participate in the interview. Not only the online background of the interview influenced the respondents, but the convenient and snowball sampling did so as well. By using this form of sampling, only the own network was used and other self-identified ecotourists had no opportunity to participate in an interview. Although, respondents did vary in age, country of origin and current country of residence. The online approach made it possible to speak to people from all over the world. As all respondents came from and lived in Europe it is important to note that the study has a European perspective. In retrospect, interviewing turned out to be an even more appropriate research method, as during the interviews it turned out that not all interviewees were aware of what ecotourism means and entails. It also turned out that the interviewees had never actively thought about many of the questions before. Interviews are appropriate when participants have a low level of awareness of the subject or when there are issues that participants are not used to talking about (Kallio et al., 2016, p. 2959). However, one limitation was that the interviews could only be held in Dutch and English. Interviewees whose native language was neither Dutch nor English had to be interviewed in English. Although their English appeared to be sufficient to understand questions and have a conversation, it is more convenient to communicate and express oneself in their native language.

One interviewee stated that they had looked up ecotourism on the internet prior to the interview as they were not aware of what it entailed (interviewee Q, personal communication, May 14, 2012). It is highly plausible that the answers of this interviewee would have been different if they had not done so. In addition, the pandemic may have also influenced respondents their responses. In the current pandemic situation, people undertake little travel activities and interviewees made comments on some of the questions, remarking that they needed some extra time thinking as their last trip was some time ago.

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Finally, the questions regarding the TPB were rated by the author on a scale of 1 to 5 for analysis purposes. The advice is given to others to ask respondents in future interviews after their answer to a TPB question whether they can rate their answer on a scale to be determined. This way, the answer will not be influenced by anyone else later on.

7. Results

7.1 RQ 1: Communication consumption patterns of ecotourists

As mentioned earlier, interviewees were asked in what ways they gather and share information on sustainability, ecotourism and environmentalism. The interviews showed that subjects like sustainability and environmentalism require relatively little effort to get informed and obtain knowledge about. One has the luxury of providing their information need by adopting a passive information-seeking attitude concerning the foregoing topics. Without making an active effort, enough information is passed on to keep the respondents informed. This is explained in more detail below.

The most common sources used for informing about sustainability and environmentalism are online sources. The most commonly used online sources for informing are SM. Many of the respondents already follow channels or people on there that keep them informed: “A lot of Instagram accounts. That helped me a lot to change my matter. Just to see how other families does it” (interviewee C, personal communication, May 12, 2021), “I definitely follow several Fridays for Future groups on social media” (interviewee A, personal communication, May 7, 2021) and “I follow a lot of climate activists, such as Greta Thunberg. I follow Alice, she is an English photographer, I think. So she is, like, raising the problem about that as well” (interviewee H, personal communication, May 10, 2021).

The most frequent source for informing other than online sources are personal sources. Personal sources for communication often occur as most of the interviewees have people around them that have a similar mindset, as interviewee O mentioned (personal communication, May 10, 2021): “Many of my friends (…) are also having a sustainability-focused mindset. So, I talk about sustainability a lot with them.” Personal sources are considered separately since this can nowadays happen both online as offline with the advent of instant messaging programs.

The news was also a frequently used source of information. As interviewee A (personal communication, May 7, 2021) mentioned: “And then whenever I read the news (…) I often (…) also read about activism.” Interviewee Q (personal communication, May 14, 2021) made a similar remark: “So if something comes up in the news or in a current affairs program, I will

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watch it.” Since the news is read offline by one respondent (interviewee P, personal communication, May 10, 2021), online by many and also watched on television (interviewee Q, personal communication, May 14, 2021), the news is considered a separate source.

Audio-visual sources are also regularly referred to as a source of information. Interviewee P (personal communication, May 10, 2021) mentioned this as follows: “I also always find it interesting to follow documentaries (...) So it is indeed on television.” Audio-visual sources are analysed separately since this can happen both offline on television and online by using streaming services, such as Netflix and YouTube. Audio-visual sources in this analysis include series, films, documentaries, television programmes and the like.

The ease of receiving information seen in sustainability and environmentalism is not the same when it comes to the topic of ecotourism. To meet the ecotourism information need, it appears that ecotourists themselves have to actively search for what they are in need of. The majority of the interviewees indicate that information is not easily encountered. Interviewee J (personal communication, May 17, 2021), a 70-year-old ecotourism veteran who has been actively involved in sustainability, environmentalism and ecotourism since his twenties1_{, expressed the}

availability of ecotourism information in their interview as follows: “It does require either an active attitude or an alertness (...) It is not yet that prominent, I think.” Interviewee B (personal communication, May 16, 2021) indicated that the topic of ecotourism only comes up “sporadically.” Two of the respondents indicated to not inform themselves about ecotourism at all. Both mentioned that the availability of information is not sufficient enough to do so (interviewee B, personal communication, May 16, 2021; interviewee F, personal communication, May 16, 2021). This could be due to a lack of sustainability information and the invisibility and inaccessibility of sustainable tourist products (Tölkes, 2020, p. 117-118). It is plausible that if ecotourists already have difficulty in meeting their information needs regarding ecotourism, it is even more difficult for non-self-identified ecotourists. The chance that they will become familiar with ecotourism is currently small. Thus, gains can be made in communication by significantly improving information density and distribution in terms of ecotourism. As online sources are the most used sources for information provision, these would be suitable means of communication for the development of communication expressions.

Most informing practices regarding ecotourism happen as much online as they do in person. The share of online platforms as a means of finding ecotourism information is consistent with the Internet being considered the main medium for ecotourists to search for travel -related

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information (Lu et al., 2012, p. 704; Sotiriadis, 2017, p. 181). Google is the most used online source for informing, followed by SM. A few of the respondents indicated they were able to gain ecotourism information while taking a passive attitude. These respondents indicated that they could do so since they were already in possession of information sources, such as newsletters (interviewee C, personal communication, May 12, 2021; interviewee J, personal communication, May 17, 2021; interviewee M, personal communication, May 17, 2021).

Ecotourists may receive their information regarding sustainability, environmentalism and ecotourism mainly with the help of online sources, but they then share this information to a large extent in a personal context. For example, interviewee Q (personal communication, May 14, 2021) indicated that they share their information with their family and friends. Interviewee N (personal communication, May 12, 2021) indicated to share with friends as well. Respondents also stated to share matters on SM. For example, interviewee C (personal communication, May 12, 2021) indicated that they create their own posts regarding sustainable travel and reducing one's footprint on their public Instagram profile. Interviewee O (personal communication, May 10, 2021) indicated to have their own YouTube channel and to share tips and tricks regarding travelling more sustainably on there. Finally, interviewee H (personal communication, May 10, 2021) stated that they try to educate others by making Instagram posts themself. It can be concluded that the dissemination of information by ecotourists has a strong word-of-mouth character illustrated by sharing matters in a public and personal environment.

Without explicitly asking, the vast majority of the respondents indicated that education in terms of sustainability, environmentalism and ecotourism is of great importance. According to ecotourists, education and awareness are crucial for creating a change in human behaviour and in certain sectors. Without awareness, people will not change their behaviour. Interviewee O (personal communication, May 10, 2021) mentioned it in their interview: “(…) I think first you have to make sure that people know why you expect them to take action about an environmental issue because without very good reasons it is very hard to change your behaviour and of course to convince other people to change their behaviour. So, for that reason, education has to be like step zero.” Education should therefore play a major role in communication regarding ecotourism.

Even though the majority of respondents share their information, some respondents indicate to be a bit reluctant to share regarding the subjects of sustainability, ecotourism and environmentalism. Interviewee N (personal communication, May 12, 2021) indicated: “Not often, because most of the time it gets to discussions.” Interviewee J (personal communication, May 17, 2021) indicated something similar. They say that when it comes to sustainability, they

Ecotourists as activists : The conceptualisation of ecotourist’s practices and the role of communication