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1 – 10 of 201
Article
Publication date: 26 June 2020

Mrudula Manoj, Anjitha Ram Das, Arun Chandran and Santanu Mandal

Recent studies have classified ecotourism behaviour into specific components like site-specific ecological, pro-environmental and environmental learning behaviour. However, the…

Abstract

Purpose

Recent studies have classified ecotourism behaviour into specific components like site-specific ecological, pro-environmental and environmental learning behaviour. However, the role of materialism in generating these types of behaviour is not clearly understood. Materialism might also affect tourists' environmental engagement. Hence, this study embarks on exploring these research gaps.

Design/methodology/approach

All the constructs were operationalized as first-order factors based on extant scales of measurement. After suitable pretesting, the study was able to collect 122 valid responses. The responses were analysed using partial least squares (PLS).

Findings

Results suggest that environmental engagement and environmental learning behaviour have prominent roles as enablers. Furthermore, the importance of materialism is not statistically significant and requires further investigation.

Research limitations/implications

While the study showed that environmental engagement is a crucial precursor for the development of different types of ecotourism behaviour, it also has limitations. First, the study tested the validity of the proposed associations based on the perceptual responses of 122 tourists who are interested in participating in ecotourism. However, this may lack generalizability. Future research can take a common set of tourists or a specific destination and execute a longitudinal analysis to better understand the way ecotourism behaviour has evolved over time at a destination. This would in turn help the local people and tour planners to develop tourism packages and events.

Practical implications

As tourists are interested in environmental learning, they are eventually expected to take care of the destination environment in terms of protecting it in every form. This may include reporting of any environment damaging activity, for example, activities that can enhance environmental pollution, etc.

Social implications

Materialism hinders the environmental conservation spree of tourists, when they indulge more in shopping and leisure trips. Hence, for destination planners it is very important to hold complementary events in addition to the main event to highlight the dire need of involving in ecotourism activities.

Originality/value

The study is of significant contribution for researchers and practitioners as it develops the antecedents and consequences of environmental learning behaviour. Furthermore, this study has implications for managers working for sustainability of tourism destinations.

Details

Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Insights, vol. 3 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2514-9792

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 July 2020

Xueting Dou and Jonathon Day

This paper aims to synthesize the key findings of prior research on the topic of human-wildlife interactions (HWI) in natural places for tourism.

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to synthesize the key findings of prior research on the topic of human-wildlife interactions (HWI) in natural places for tourism.

Design/methodology/approach

The methodology of systematic review was used to search for, appraise and analyze the relevant research evidence. A total of 47 English-language academic journal articles, published between 2003 and 2018, with free online access to full texts in the database of Hospitality and Tourism Complete have been reviewed. Thematic analysis was adopted to synthesize the textual data.

Findings

The reviewed articles cover a wide geographical spread, diverse wildlife species and interaction types, and various research focuses including ecological impacts, human dimensions and management issues of wildlife tourism. The interactions between wildlife and human systems in the context of tourism constitute a complicated social-ecological system, in which both the humans and animals can be affected positively and negatively. Management and scientific research provide the nexus between the ecological and human dimensions of wildlife tourism. While opportunities for sustainable development abound, challenges are not to be neglected.

Originality/value

Due to the complexity of wildlife encounters for tourist purposes, the extant literature indicates a diverse and fragmented view from which integrated implications are difficult to obtain. This paper presents the first overarching review in English of the literature on human-wildlife interactions for tourism and provides a big picture understanding of what has been and what is needed to be done in terms of both wildlife tourism research and practices.

Details

Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Insights, vol. 3 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2514-9792

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 26 November 2021

Yu-Jen Chiang

This research is apt to glean the underlying relationships between the perceived restorativeness (PR) and environmentally responsible behaviors (ERBs) transpiring in rice fields…

Abstract

This research is apt to glean the underlying relationships between the perceived restorativeness (PR) and environmentally responsible behaviors (ERBs) transpiring in rice fields. The study site, the Xinkaiyuan Laotian District Cultural Landscape in Eastern Taiwan, has gained its popularity due to its romantic, idyllic setting as a rice field close to Pacific Ocean. The study deploys a questionnaire survey which collects 301 valid questionnaires. For the data analysis, it uses structural equation modeling to test study hypotheses. The study reveals that the compatibility dimension of PR has a significant effect on the general behavior and specific behavior of ERB. However, the other restorativeness dimensions entailing being away, fascination, and coherence show no significant effect. Thus, the ERB is mainly influenced by the respondent's compatibility rather than fascination toward a nature environment. In the concluding section, this study furnishes theoretical and practical implications along with suggestions for future research.

Abstract

Details

International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, vol. 12 no. 4/5/6/7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-333X

Article
Publication date: 10 August 2015

Venkatesh Dutta, Ravindra Kumar and Urvashi Sharma

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the potential impact of human-induced intervention on hydrological regimes of Gomti river, one of the important tributaries of the Ganga…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the potential impact of human-induced intervention on hydrological regimes of Gomti river, one of the important tributaries of the Ganga Alluvial Plain in India aiming at an overall assessment of the status quo.

Design/methodology/approach

The research methodology includes following four components: study of basin morphology, sub-surface geology and sediments profile of Gomti river; a comparison of LANDSAT satellite data of 1978 and IRS-1C/LISS-III satellite data of 2008 to study the changes occurring in the built-up area, forest and water bodies of the basin; study of flow patterns in different stretches of river Gomti from 1978 to 2012; and water quality assessment at different sites from origin of the river to its confluence in the Ganges.

Findings

The paper shows that over the years, the water source in the tributaries feeding the river Gomti has shrunk, reducing the flow in the river. A steady increase in developed land area due to rapid urban sprawl has occurred in recent decades, due to which forest cover and wetlands are decreasing, the river and floodplains are getting fragmented, the hydromorphology changed considerably and several tributaries are getting dried as a result of indiscriminate exploitation of groundwater. There is no flow in the initial 57 km stretch of the river with wide encroachment in active floodplains. Groundwater over-extraction to meet the demands of increasing population and intensive agriculture has led to reduction in base-flows and in some reaches even negative. Extensive land-use changes in the Gomti river basin (GRB) severely impact the river and floodplain connectivity, the impacts are already evident as several tributaries are getting dried during the non-monsoon months.

Research limitations/implications

The information provided by the paper for GRB is significant for the understanding of the basin and to formulate integrated management and development plan of the basin. Significant changes have taken place in the GRB over the recent past and are still continuing. Because of the chosen river basin and the site-specific research approach, the research results may lack generalization. However, it provides a general framework of analysis which could be applied to other regions.

Practical implications

River channels with their floodplains and adjoining ecosystems have to be addressed as interconnected ecological entity in a holistic way. This requires comprehensive observations of the river systems and catchment characteristics using long-term data. The paper could be used as the starting point in the development of management and development strategies for the basin.

Originality/value

River and its floodplain offer multiple ecosystem services and deserve an integrated approach for their conservation and restoration. Conservation and protection of ecologically intact river-floodplain systems is extremely important and urgently needs integrated planning and management. This paper has adopted a integrated approach to study the integrity of river ecosystems and the potential pressures on them.

Details

Management of Environmental Quality: An International Journal, vol. 26 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1477-7835

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 23 February 2010

Jon Anderson

This chapter explores how the ideal of autonomous ecological living – ecotopia – is created and compromised by the everyday cultural life of mainstream society. It investigates…

Abstract

This chapter explores how the ideal of autonomous ecological living – ecotopia – is created and compromised by the everyday cultural life of mainstream society. It investigates the degree to which the structures of the mainstream are eluded, changed and subverted to create ‘ecotopia’, and also how this ideal is everyday compromised to survive. Drawing on empirical research undertaken at the Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT), this chapter argues that fragmented utopias are inevitable when attempting to live ecologically in twenty-first century Britain. However, the elusiveness of ecotopia offers an important opportunity to normalise these experiments in ecological living and emphasise their connections and capacity to inform mainstream society.

Details

Global Ecological Politics
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84950-748-6

Article
Publication date: 7 March 2016

Irene Muller and Johann Tempelhoff

– This paper aims to outline the benefits of using resilience assessment instead of command and control mechanisms to evaluate sustainable campus environments.

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to outline the benefits of using resilience assessment instead of command and control mechanisms to evaluate sustainable campus environments.

Design/methodology/approach

An exploratory mixed-method design was followed for the purposes of the project. During the first qualitative phase, a historical timeline of the focal system was created. In the quantitative phase, the resilience assessment guided the investigation. To collect data, the case study research strategy included a heuristic process of collecting and reviewing documents, semi-structured interviews, observations and the systematic implementation of the resilience assessment approach.

Findings

Based on the resilience assessment approach, it is argued that the environmental status of university campuses can be considered relevant to the local community and immediate environment. Knowledge of the finite resources and their capacity in the context of the social-ecological system may increase the resilience of a campus.

Originality/value

This research study explores the use of an alternative approach to environmental practices at university campuses. The resilience assessment is usually performed on large ecosystems. By applying this approach to a small ecosystem, the study fills a gap in the applicability of the resilience approach.

Details

International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, vol. 17 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1467-6370

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 23 March 2010

Ian M. Taplin

The purpose of this paper is to argue that cooperative behavior by key actors is often crucial for collective organizational learning to occur and new markets to become…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to argue that cooperative behavior by key actors is often crucial for collective organizational learning to occur and new markets to become established. Such cooperation is gradually replaced by competition as network interactions become formalized following the codification of knowledge and the growth of a collective identity.

Design/methodology/approach

Using detailed ethnographic studies from a broad sample, this paper uses key informants who played a role in creating and sustaining a viable market for a high status good.

Findings

The sharing of tacit knowledge complements technical skills for key industry actors and facilitates collective organizational learning in ways that expedite the emergence of a high status sector. Once knowledge is codified as the sector gains legitimacy, there is less need for informal structured interactions as vital conduits of knowledge sharing.

Originality/value

This paper shows how knowledge sharing via cooperative relationship underlies competitive market formation and provides firms with requisite quality enhancements necessary for status attainment.

Details

International Journal of Wine Business Research, vol. 22 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1751-1062

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 19 October 2020

Harry J. Paarsch and John Rust

The authors construct an intertemporal model of rent-maximizing behavior on the part of a timber harvester under potentially multidimensional risk as well as geographical…

Abstract

The authors construct an intertemporal model of rent-maximizing behavior on the part of a timber harvester under potentially multidimensional risk as well as geographical heterogeneity. Subsequently, the authors use recursive methods (specifically, the method of stochastic dynamic programing) to characterize the optimal policy function – the rent-maximizing timber-harvesting profile. One noteworthy feature of their application to forestry in the province of British Columbia, Canada is the unique and detailed information the authors have organized in the form of a dynamic geographic information system to account for site-specific cost heterogeneity in harvesting and transportation, as well as uneven-aged stand dynamics in timber growth and yield across space and time in the presence of stochastic lumber prices. Their framework is a powerful tool with which to conduct policy analysis at scale.

Details

The Econometrics of Networks
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83867-576-9

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 March 1995

Steven E. Daniels and Gregg B. Walker

The recent impasse over federal forest management in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States has been a living laboratory of conflict and its management, and provides…

Abstract

The recent impasse over federal forest management in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States has been a living laboratory of conflict and its management, and provides the context for this case study. While most of the media attention has been focused on regional or national events such as President Clinton's Forest Conference of April 1993, a larger number of localized conflicts have shaped the controversy at the grassroots level. This case study focuses on a pivotal meeting in one such conflict: the Shasta Costa planning process. Outside intervenors mediated the meeting, and USDA Forest Service personnel, timber industry representatives, and environmentalists participated Participant observation and a supplemental survey led to the following conclusions: (1) measures of standing (the legal and social basis for legitimate participation) differed between the industry and environmental representatives, (2) reliance on science differed between groups, and (3) the process was not able to overcome a power imbalance. These findings suggest that there may be little hope for local dispute efforts if there is substantial policy uncertainty at the national level. Implications for managing forestry conflict in the region are discussed.

Details

International Journal of Conflict Management, vol. 6 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1044-4068

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