What drives ecotourism: environmental values or symbolic conspicuous consumption?

Despite an influx of ecotourism research since the term was first coined, it is still not entirely clear why tourists choose ecotourism over other tourism experiences. While most of the previous literature assumes that ecotourism is preferred by travelers for moral reasons, emerging evidence suggests that opportunities to project one’s social status are increasingly salient factors in decision-making about travel. This article compares the relative influence of two possible predictors of ecotourism intention: environmental values (measured through the value-belief-norm theory) and symbolic conspicuous consumption (measured through expected social return). Respondents were drawn from a panel of U.S. tourists who had taken an overnight trip within the last year (n = 786). Results of a structural equation model suggest that both personal norms (β = 0.22, p < 0.001) and social return (β = 0.60, p < 0.001) explain a considerable amount of variance in ecotourism intention (R2 = 0.44), with social return having the stronger influence. These results suggest that environmental values are not the sole reason for travelers’ choice of ecotourism alternatives, and that ego-enforcing motives play an important role. The positive and negative implications of demand for ecotourism extending beyond those with strong environmental values are discussed.