Beyond Attitudes Change: Agritourism as a Setting to Explore Tourism Experiences’ Impact on Intended Behaviors

Sara BruneFollow

Author Bios (50 Words for each Author)

Sara Brune is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management at North Carolina State University. Her research interests focus on the power of tourism experiences to instigate desirable positive behaviors and its intersection with inclusive sustainable development.

Whitney Knollenberg is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management at North Carolina State University. Her research focuses on tourism leadership and the influence of policy, planning, and partnerships in sustainable tourism development.

Kathryn Stevenson is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management at North Carolina State University. Her research focuses on children and nature, including identifying drivers of environmental literacy and understanding mechanisms of intergenerational learning.

Caitlin Reilly is an M.S. student in the Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management at North Carolina State University. Her research centers on broadening agricultural and environmental literacy through place-based, experiential learning among children.

Carla Barbieri is an Associate Professor in Equitable and Sustainable Tourism (North Carolina State University, USA) where she leads the “Agritourism & Societal Wellbeing” lab. She investigates the economic, socio-cultural, and environmental impacts of agritourism at the farm household and society levels. She also studies the sustainability of niche tourism.

Abstract (150 Words)

Tourism experiences can have desirable outcomes for society by promoting reflections that encourage pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors. Yet, more research is necessary to cover a wide variety of touristic experiences that may impact pro-environmental behaviors. Increasing consumers’ engagement in local food systems (LFS) is one pro-environmental behavior that has garnered considerable attention. As agritourism may encourage engagement in LFS, the purpose of this work is to measure the influence of agritourism experiences on three intended behaviors related to engaging in LFSs. To achieve this purpose we use we utilized a pre-post survey at six agritourism operations in North Carolina. We obtained 328 pre-post surveys. The results indicate that agritourism experiences instigate changes in behavioral intentions by offering experiences that modify subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and most importantly, personal norms which are effective predictors of intentions to engage in LFSs.

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Beyond Attitudes Change: Agritourism as a Setting to Explore Tourism Experiences’ Impact on Intended Behaviors

Tourism experiences can have desirable outcomes for society by promoting reflections that encourage pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors. Yet, more research is necessary to cover a wide variety of touristic experiences that may impact pro-environmental behaviors. Increasing consumers’ engagement in local food systems (LFS) is one pro-environmental behavior that has garnered considerable attention. As agritourism may encourage engagement in LFS, the purpose of this work is to measure the influence of agritourism experiences on three intended behaviors related to engaging in LFSs. To achieve this purpose we use we utilized a pre-post survey at six agritourism operations in North Carolina. We obtained 328 pre-post surveys. The results indicate that agritourism experiences instigate changes in behavioral intentions by offering experiences that modify subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and most importantly, personal norms which are effective predictors of intentions to engage in LFSs.