Marketing for Sustainable Tourism

Xavier Font, Scott McCabe, Xavier Font, Scott McCabe

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN: 9781138560314
• eBook ISBN: 9781351361316
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Hospitality, Travel & Tourism Industry
• Index: Business

Tourism marketing has typically been seen as exploitative and fuelling hedonistic consumerism. Sustainability marketing can, however, use marketing skills and techniques to good purpose, by understanding market needs, designing more sustainable products and identifying more persuasive methods of communication to bring behavioural change. This book summarises the latest research on the theories, methods and results of marketing that seeks to make tourist destinations better places to live in, and better places to visit. It shares evidence on the motivations, mechanisms and barriers that businesses encounter, and on successes in changing consumer behaviour and pursuing sustainability goals. Particular attention is given to the methodologies of sustainable tourism marketing, to the subject's breadth and complexity, and to its many innovations. Further research is called for to fully understand what contextual aspects influence these pro-sustainability interventions to achieve which outcomes in other settings, in order to validate some of the exploratory studies discussed, and establish the feasibility of scaling up pilot studies for more general use.

This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Sustainable Tourism.

Sustainability and marketing in tourism: its contexts, paradoxes, approaches, challenges and potential

Xavier Font and Scott McCabe

ABSTRACT

Tourism marketing has typically been seen as exploitative and fuelling hedonistic consumerism. Sustainability marketing can, however, use marketing skills and techniques to good purpose, by understanding market needs, designing more sustainable products and identifying more persuasive methods of communication to bring behavioural change. This article summarises the latest research on the theories, methods and results of marketing that seeks to make tourist destinations better places to live in, and better places to visit. It explores sustainability marketing’s two fundamental approaches, that of market development, using market segmentation, and that of sustainable product development. It introduces a Special Issue of the Journal of Sustainable Tourism on sustainable marketing, sharing evidence on the motivations, mechanisms and barriers that businesses encounter, and on successes in changing consumer behaviour and pursuing sustainability goals. Particular attention is given to the methodologies of sustainable tourism marketing, to the subject’s breadth and complexity, and to its many innovations. Further research is called for to fully understand what contextual aspects influence these pro-sustainability interventions to achieve which outcomes in other settings, in order to validate some of the exploratory studies discussed, and establish the feasibility of scaling up pilot studies for more general use.

Introduction

There has never been a more opportune or important moment in which to address issues of marketing in sustainable tourism. At the time of writing, news agencies around the world reported that 2016 was officially the warmest year on record. A press release from the UK Met Office in conjunction with the University of East Anglia’s Climate Research Unit stated that a particularly strong El Niño event was partly responsible; however, “…the main contributor to warming over the last 150 years is human influence on climate from increasing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere” (The Met Office, 2017). This coincided with the eve of Donald Trump’s inauguration as the 45th President of the United States, who according to Ian Johnston writing in the UK newspaper, The Independent, has previously claimed “that climate change is a Chinese hoax, has appointed climate science deniers to key positions and spoken about withdrawing the US from the Paris Agreement on climate change” (Johnston, 2017). There is a sense that global politics and the world itself is at a precipitous moment in history, that decisions made in 2017 will significantly influence the direction of travel of businesses, consumer thinking and demand, and global governance for decades to come. The paradoxical nature of recent events, personified by the rise to power of more “sceptical” leaders, despite more powerful and concrete evidence on the damaging effects of human activity on the environment, point to an urgent need to evaluate practices, actions, theories and assumptions in every sphere of life. The role of tourism, both the industry and tourists as consumers, in shaping or responding to competing global forces is important for a number of reasons, including on the negative side, tourism’s contribution to global carbon emissions, its impact on Indigenous and heritage cultures, its impacts on nature, “traditional” landscapes and townscapes and, on the positive side, its role in fostering peace, transferring wealth, creating jobs and developing stronger inter-cultural relations.

Yet, it may at first appear that the concepts of marketing and sustainability are antithetical, mutually incompatible (Jones, Clarke-Hill, Comfort, & Hillier, 2008; Smith, 1998). Marketing has been defined as the activity, set of institutions and processes for creating, communicating, delivering and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners and society at large (American Marketing Association, 2013). This holistic definition suggests a benign view of marketing. Yet, it can be contrasted with an alternative, more maleficent perspective, which is critical of marketing’s role in fanning the fires of consumer culture (see McDonagh & Prothero, 2014). Jones et al. (2008) point out that some commentators argue that marketing encourages unnecessary consumption, promoting a culture of materialism and a relentless search for unattainable lifestyles, to and by people who cannot afford them and for which ultimately their attainment would not make them happier. Furthermore, some areas of marketing activity, particularly advertising, have been criticised specifically for spurious claims in the promotion of sustainability, epitomised in the practice of “greenwashing”- misleading consumers about a company’s environmental performance for business gains (Delmas & Cuerel Burbano, 2011; Laufer, 2003).

Tourism is most often conceived as a “want” rather than a “need”, a luxury or a reward, as a non-essential, hedonic, aspirational consumption activity (reflected in advertising messages), such that tourism marketing is more readily associated with the more malign view of marketing practice. Indeed tourism is sometimes conceived as essentially pure marketing, as it is often based on packaging existing resources and assets of a destination, and subsequent promotion to new markets (McCabe, 2014). Additionally, the ubiquity of marketing in contemporary society, providing the wallpaper to social life, both online and off, plays into the notion that marketing is responsible for fuelling irresponsible levels and types of consumption. Yet, marketing is fundamental to tourism businesses and destinations. Thus, for example, effective marketing is largely responsible for the number, types and origins of tourists found in a destination, and for ensuring viable destinations which provide a valuable contribution to economic development and growth. Whilst the role of government and the industry in creating and shaping destinations is critical to the achievement of sustainability, marketing has an important function in determining how successfully destinations achieve their aims and objectives, in both the short and medium terms.

Sustainability on the other hand, whilst also, like marketing, plagued by varying interpretations and contrasting viewpoints, is generally associated with a more positive moral standing in academic discourse and social understanding. Sustainability provides a long-term view of the future, one that focuses attention on a set of ethical values and principles, which guides action in a responsible and harmonious way, incorporating the environment and societal consequences of actions, as well as economic goals. It is concerned with a balanced and holistic approach that recognises the role of all stakeholders and both present and future generations’ entitlement to the use of resources. Sustainability has become an imperative: McDonagh and Prothero argue that; “We have finally recognised that at our current levels of consumption the planet cannot sustain us or its carrying capacity for humanity ad infinitum” (2014, p. 1186). It has become a “mega trend”, spawning rafts of legislation from supranational and national governments, collective and individual actions by industries and individuals. McDonagh and Prothero cite GE, Marks and Spencer, Pepsico and others as spearheading sustainability initiatives in recent years. Additionally, they refer to the plethora of terms to describe consumer actions, such as; voluntary simplifiers, downshifters, ethical and sustainable consumers, to highlight the popularisation of responsible or alternative modes of consumption, or at the very least, an awakening of a critical consumer consciousness in global marketplaces.

Yet, the extent that true sustainable development is attainable is also questioned. Some argue the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) (http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/), introduced in 2015 to replace the Millennium Development Goals, are too broad and diffuse. One example is the goal to reduce inequality within and among countries. This certainly appears to be unattainable in the light of recent statistics showing ever-increasing concentration of wealth among an ever-smaller number of global elites (Oxfam, 2017). Tourism also characterises these contrasts between ideals and realities. Some destinations are far from sustainable, based on short-term mass development models and with poor infrastructure to deal with environmental problems. Consumers may see sustainable alternatives as unappealing or too costly (involving sacrifices and inconvenience), or as “Catch 22” alternatives that could be encouraged even further by media reports of threatened ecosystems or species, to make perhaps damaging visits to destinations before they disappear forever (e.g. the Great Barrier Reef, or travel to the polar regions for polar bear viewing). And then there is the question of air travel and its contribution to carbon emissions.

Yet, tourism is both desired and required by developed and by many developing nations to enable development and to achieve sustainable economic growth. Tourism is often cited as a “green” industry, and rightly so in the context of extraction-based alternatives. It is these paradoxes and contrasts particularly that pose an important set of challenges and opportunities for debate on sustainability issues in tourism marketing. The idea that tourism marketing and sustainability can perhaps learn from each other may appear counter-intuitive. Marketing is generally associated with competitive business strategy, short-termism, and a profit imperative, promoting consumer choice in a way that advocates the benefits of self-gratification and instant satisfaction, which seems at odds with the ideals of sustainability. It is both despite and because of the inherent difficulties in reconciling sustainability issues with marketing theories, strategies and practices in a tourism context that more focused research is needed that seeks ways forward for theory development and practical solutions. This is the main purpose of this special issue. By focusing in on some of the most paradoxical and irascible issues, it may be possible to develop new ideas and propose research agendas to shape and direct future action. Whilst there is a rich seam of research and practice in the overall marketing literature on sustainable issues and responsible consumption (c.f. McDonagh & Prothero, 2014; Ulusoy, 2016; Wymer & Polonsky, 2015), this is less-well developed in tourism, but the wider literature attests to the potential role of marketing to understand and encourage consumer behaviour that is more sustainable, create and promote more sustainable tourism offerings, and ensure that tourism businesses operate in a more ethical way, congruent with the concerns of all stakeholders. We define sustainability marketing as the application of marketing functions, processes and techniques to a destination, resource or offering, which serves the needs of the visitor and stakeholder community today and ensures the opportunities of future visitors and stakeholders to meet their needs in the future. We follow the eighteenth-century cry (often attributed to radical church leaders in the UK from that period) “why should the devil have all the best tunes”: we believe that sustainable tourism should and must be marketed if the concept is to make progress. Yet, before going on to explain how sustainability marketing can address issues and offer opportunities to deliver a more sustainable tourism, the context of marketing and sustainability is outlined.

Sustainability marketing in the tourism context

Although marketing has been criticised as fuelling irresponsible consumption, it is important to contextualise marketing as a function of corporate strategy and decision-making. There are two components to this, the extent that sustainability is commensurable with corporate strategy and the ability of marketing to influence corporate decisions. Some critical management scholars point out that Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is poorly aligned to corporate capitalism. Prasad and Holzinger (2013) quote Milton Friedman’s position on this: “[T]here is one and only one social responsibility of business—to use its resources to engage in activities designed to increase its profits so long as it stays within the rules of the game, which is to say, engages in open and free competition without deception or fraud” (Friedman, 1970, cited in Prasad & Holzinger, 2013, p. 1915). Prasad and Holzinger (2013) point out that CSR has become embedded within corporate culture and practice. Partly this is driven by legislation that has attempted to encourage firms to address social and environmental considerations alongside profit as part of the triple bottom line approach to firm strategy. In turn, this legislation has been a consequence of international treaties and laws on climate change, which has attempted to set limits on future carbon emissions. However, the critical management studies perspective argues that there is a fundamental tension at the heart of all CSR initiatives that are part of corporate marketing. That is the impossibility of caring for people who are at a great distance from the day to day activities of the firm. Globalisation has brought the distant into the everyday and yet it is perhaps beyond the capabilities of ordinary people to effect real changes for people who are far removed from them. Whilst we may argue that tourism brings these two sets of stakeholders together more readily than in other consumer contexts, the level of interaction and/or connections between them are inevitably limited and at the surface level. It is in this sense that sustainability marketing in a CSR context will undoubtedly fall open to accusations of greenwashing, however laudable the intentions (for more discussion on greenwashing, see Delmas & Cuerel Burbano, 2011, Smith & Font, 2014).

However, firms do not engage in CSR initiatives solely because they are legislated to do so. Much previous research has highlighted the market-based imperative for more sustainable corporate actions, including to meet increasing interest in, and levels of demand for, “green” products and services. On the one hand, there is a consumer push and on the other there is the influence of greater sustainability on firm performance (i.e. profits) or as a means through which they can satisfy some investors, or even justify their existence. Wymer and Polonsky (2015) summarise these competing dimensions underscoring the role of green marketing. They conclude that, whilst there is evidence to suggest that a greening of production can lead to cost-savings or to greater profit through adding value or increasing the competitiveness and attraction of the firm to the market, the profit motive is necessarily limited in scope. Similarly, whilst many firms understand and subscribe to the societal benefits of their actions, it would be contrary to good business sense to adopt a pure sustainable approach, which would impact negatively on profit, and so it is not a priority for firms. In terms of green consumerism, Wymer and Polonsky argue that despite much research on the potential of harnessing consumer’s pro-environmental values and preferences, and the potential link to premium pricing, the actual uptake in the mass market has been limited. Greater sustainability would be achieved if consumers c...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Citation Information
• Notes on Contributors
• 1. Sustainability and marketing in tourism: its contexts, paradoxes, approaches, challenges and potential
• 2. Corporate social marketing in tourism: to sleep or not to sleep with the enemy?
• 3. Social marketing, sustainable tourism, and small/medium size tourism enterprises: challenges and opportunities for changing guest behaviour
• 4. Which hotel guest segments reuse towels? Selling sustainable tourism services through target marketing
• 5. Using persuasive communication to co-create behavioural change – engaging with guests to save resources at tourist accommodation facilities
• 6. Improving carbon offsetting appeals in online airplane ticket purchasing: testing new messages, and using new test methods
• 7. The influence of trust perceptions on German tourists’ intention to book a sustainable hotel: a new approach to analysing marketing information
• 8. The role of travel agents’ ethical concerns when brokering information in the marketing and sale of sustainable tourism
• 9. Greenhushing: the deliberate under communicating of sustainability practices by tourism businesses
• 10. Tourism, information technologies and sustainability: an exploratory review
• 11. An environmental social marketing intervention in cultural heritage tourism: a realist evaluation
• Index