Value co-destruction for contagion of tourist misbehaviour: The moderating role of moral disengagement and social norm

Abstract

The contagion of tourist misbehaviour is a challenging issue in visitor management. The mechanism of how some tourists’ misbehaviours lead to other tourists’ misbehaviours is worth investigating. This study adopted Situational Action Theory (SAT) as a research framework and value co-destruction as a lens to understand the contagious effect. A questionnaire survey among 372 Chinese tourists was conducted to test the relationship between value co-destruction and tourist misbehaviours. Findings reveal that the contagious effect exists, and value co-destruction can be both the consequence and antecedent of tourist misbehaviours in the contagion. The moral disengagement positively moderates the relationship between value co-destruction and misbehaviour intention, while social norm negatively moderates the relationship between perceived other tourists’ misbehaviours and own misbehaviour intention. This study provides an alternative explanation for the contagion of tourist misbehaviour and insights for visitor management at attractions.