Communicating Climate Action in Tourism: Emotional Responses and Their Impact on Tourist Behaviors

This study investigated the impact of climate action communication on tourists’ destination evaluations. Specifically, it examined how climate action communication (positive vs. negative) influences emotional reactions of warm glow and guilt, which subsequently impact tourists’ intention to visit the destination and evaluate it as proenvironmental. It also examined the moderating role of destination type (natural vs. cultural). Using a multimethod approach, one exploratory and two online experiments revealed that positive climate action messages result in higher levels of warm glow, while negative climate action messages heighten perceptions of guilt. However, only warm glow influences tourists’ intention to visit the destination and their perceptions of its image as proenvironmental. Additionally, positive climate action messages are more effective for shaping tourists’ evaluations of natural destinations compared to cultural destinations. These findings offer novel insights for marketers of natural destinations on effectively communicating climate initiatives and encouraging climate-responsible tourist behavior.