Scuba divers’ consumer-perceived value of shark-oriented tourism products: A shark conservation perspective

The purpose of the study was to explore the influence of scuba divers’ consumers' perceived value of shark-oriented tourism products on their shark conservation behaviour. Data was collected from 294 scuba divers at popular South African scuba diving destinations. As part of a quantitative deductive study, a partial least squares-structural equation model (PLS-SEM) was developed in SmartPLS 4 to test the hypotheses posed. The results of our study provide some insights into the debate around sustainable tourism and the role of tourists in conserving endangered species. The results indicated no relationship between scuba divers’ consumer perceived values and their attitude towards shark conservation. Intriguing, however, are some unique relationships between consumer perceived value dimensions and how social references mediated the relationship between the functional value of shark tourism-related products and stereotypes towards sharks. The results highlight the complexity of human behaviour and decision-making. The study concludes that shark-based tourism promotion as tourism-driven value creation is vital to shark-oriented conservation. The results may be necessary to tourism marketing practitioners, conservationists, and policymakers interested in shark or marine conservation.