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Consumer attitudes and preferences on holiday carbon footprint information in the Netherlands

2016; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 24; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/09669582.2015.1101129

1747-7646

E Eijgelaar, Jeroen Nawijn, Cjb Barten, L. Okuhn, Lewis Dijkstra,

Environmental Sustainability in Business

ABSTRACTThis study, part of an R&D project with Dutch tour operators, assessed Dutch consumer preferences towards a carbon label for holiday trips. A general survey (n = 504) assessed the perceived importance of a CO2 label to consumers. To determine the preferred design, two focus groups (n = 15) followed by a panel study (n = 1246) were performed. Finally, a pilot study (n = 100) assessed potential effects of the label on attitude and booking intention. The general survey's results indicate that a carbon label could impact on the travel choice of some Dutch travellers, when label information is explicit, understandable and simply designed. The focus groups in combination with the panel study showed that Dutch consumers prefer a recognisable carbon label, similar to the EU energy label. The pilot study revealed that consumers' attitudes increased significantly, but that intention to book was not significantly affected for the group that was shown the carbon label. These findings contribute to understanding consumer attitudes towards tourism eco and carbon labels, and their content and design. Implementation of a carbon label for tour packages still requires a number of barriers to be resolved. Sustainability remains a low priority during holiday decision-making.消费者对挪威碳足迹信息的态度与偏好本研究是与荷兰旅游运营商合作的研发项目中的一部分,评估了荷兰消费者对于度假旅行中碳标签的偏好。一项综合评述(n=504)评价了碳标签对消费者的感知重要性。项目还设立了两个焦点小组(n=15)和一个专门小组研究(n=1246)来确定优选设计。最后,一个初步研究(n=100)评估了碳标签对于消费者态度和预定意图的潜在影响。综合评述的结果显示,当碳标签信息明确、易懂并设计简单时,会对部分荷兰游客的旅游选择产生影响。焦点小组和专门小组研究的成果表明,荷兰消费者更喜欢容易辨认的碳标签,比如与欧盟相似的能源标签。而初步研究则说明消费者对碳标签的态度有显著的提升,但碳标签对预定意图的影响却没有那么明显。这些研究有助于了解消费者对旅游生态和碳标签的态度,以及标签的内容和设计。包价旅游的碳标签实施仍有许多阻碍,可持续旅游还没有成为度假旅行的首选。KEYWORDS: Carbon labelcarbon managementpackage toursconsumer attitudesclimate changeemissions关键词: 碳标签碳管理包价旅游消费者态度气候变化排放量 AcknowledgementsWe would like to thank Rianne Nelemans of NHTV Breda University of Applied Sciences for her assistance in the final label design.Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.Notes1 The label text in Figure 2 was originally composed in Dutch, and in colour, with the bars ranging from dark green (A) to red (G). The "per day emissions label" (Label 3) matches Label 2 shown on the right in Figure 2, except that its bottom-left box reads "Emissions of this outbound holiday are 60 kg CO2/day" and its bottom-right box reads "Average emissions of an outbound holiday are 60 kg CO2/day".Additional informationFundingThis work was supported by the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW) through Foundation Innovation Alliance (SIA) under a RAAK-SME (Regional Attention and Action for Knowledge Circulation) Grant for the project CARMATOP (Carbon Management for Tour Operators).Notes on contributorsE. EijgelaarEke Eijgelaar is a researcher at the Centre for Sustainable Tourism and Transport of NHTV Breda University of Applied Sciences, The Netherlands, working on topics related to tourism emissions and climate change, including carbon management.J. NawijnJeroen Nawijn is a researcher at the Centre for Sustainable Tourism and Transport, NHTV Breda University of Applied Sciences, Breda, The Netherlands. His work deals mainly with psychological aspects of consumption behaviour in a tourism context.C. BartenChrista Barten is a researcher at the Centre for Sustainable Tourism and Transport, NHTV Breda University of Applied Sciences, Breda, The Netherlands, with a focus on qualitative and quantitative research methods.L. OkuhnLena Okuhn received the BSc degree in tourism at NHTV and Wageningen University. She is currently an intern at DER Touristik GmbH in Cologne.L. DijkstraLayla Dijkstra received the BBA degree in tourism management and consultancy at NHTV. Currently, she is gaining work experience in the field of sustainable tourism.