Abstract
During the last decade, volunteer tourism has flourished as a popular alternative to traditional tourism, as evidenced by the growing number of organizations and participants worldwide. However, very little is known about volunteer tourists’ behavior. The aim of this study is to strengthen knowledge of the behavioral intention of volunteer tourists and analyze the drivers that influence the intention to participate in volunteer tourism. Using a quantitative approach, based on a review of the academic discussion on the subject, a model was designed that included self-efficacy, awareness of need and global citizenship within the framework of the Theory of Planned Behavior to analyze the behavioral intention of volunteer tourists. The structural equation modelling technique was applied to the results of a survey answered by 235 volunteer tourists. In addition, the mediation and moderation analyses were applied to evaluate the effect of global citizenship and awareness of need on the behavioral intention of volunteer tourists. The results confirm that the Theory of Planned Behavior, replacing perceived behavioral control with self-efficacy, is adequate to explain the intention to carry out volunteer tourism. In addition, awareness of need moderated the relationship between self-efficacy and subjective norms with respect to the behavioral intention to engage in volunteer tourism, separately. Finally, attitudes fully mediated the relationship between global citizenship and the intention to carry out volunteer tourism. The originality of this study lies in being the first to quantitatively integrate global citizenship into a model that analyzes the behavioral intention of volunteer tourists.
Presenters
Beatrice AvolioHead of the Graduate Business Academic Department, CENTRUM PUCP Business School, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, Lima, Peru
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
Changing Dimensions of Contemporary Tourism
KEYWORDS
Volunteer Tourism, Global Citizenship, Behavioral Intention
