The Temporal Paradox of Sustainability: How Goal Time Frames, Immediacy, and Contextual Cues Motivate Tourist Engagement

While environmental sustainability inherently relies on long-term strategies, how the time frames of sustainability goals shape tourist engagement remain unclear. Drawing on temporal motivation theory, this research examines the temporal paradox in tourism, the tension between the distal goals sustainability requires and tourists’ preference for the present. Across nine studies, distal goals consistently elicited lower engagement than proximal goals across attitudinal measures, provider choice, and willingness to pay a premium. The effect was driven by reduced perceived immediacy. The research further identifies two boundary conditions, local framing and communication of progress, that mitigate the paradox by restoring immediacy and enhancing engagement for distal goals. These findings offer providers a framework for communicating long-term sustainability while maintaining the immediacy needed to drive tourist engagement.