Beyond good and bad tourists: mapping dimensions and profiles of (un)sustainable behaviour in travel contexts
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1590/SciELOPreprints.18104Keywords:
Sustainable behaviour, Motivation–Ability–Opportunity–Behaviour (MAO-B), Consumer behaviour, Tourism, Susteinability, Factor-to-ClusterAbstract
Understanding tourist behaviour is central to tourism sustainability, given the externalities associated with visitors’ choices. Given the still fragmented understanding of these practices and the influence of travel circumstances, this study adopted the Motivation–Ability–Opportunity–Behaviour (MAO-B) model as a theoretical lens to identify dimensions of (un)sustainable behaviour and characterise behavioural profiles. An exploratory mixed-methods approach was adopted, comprising 38 in-depth interviews with hotel managers and a survey of 780 international tourists. Quantitative data were analysed using the Factor-to-Cluster approach. The results identified six dimensions and three distinct behavioural profiles, associated with different psychosocial and contextual configurations, showing that sustainable and harmful practices do not necessarily constitute opposing poles. The findings advance a multidimensional understanding of tourist behaviour and provide theoretical and managerial insights for promoting sustainability during travel.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Veronica Feder Mayer, Carlos Marcelo Ardigó, Rômulo Duarte, Aline Barbosa Tinoco Luz, Lucia Silveira
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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Data statement
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The research data cannot be made publicly available
- Os dados não estão disponíveis publicamente em razão de restrições éticas destinadas a preservar a privacidade e a confidencialidade dos participantes, conforme estabelecido no Termo de Consentimento Livre e Esclarecido (TCLE). The data are not publicly available due to ethical restrictions protecting participants’ privacy and confidentiality, as established in the informed consent form. Los datos no están disponibles públicamente debido a restricciones éticas destinadas a proteger la privacidad y confidencialidad de los participantes, conforme a lo establecido en el consentimiento informado.
