Cognitive biases as a source of suboptimal decisions in tourism and (un)sustainability problems: Understanding biases for better management of tourism - BIASTOUR

Project details:
BIASTOUR project is based on the principles of behavioural economics, which will be applied in the study of cognitive biases in the perceptions and decisions of tourists and local residents, from the perspective of environmental and social sustainability of tourism. A better understanding of cognitive biases and decision-making mechanisms represents untapped potential for increasing the effectiveness of measures and policies that support sustainable tourism development. During this project we will systematically examine the potential of affective components of attitude in promoting pro-environmental behaviour, i.e., voluntary carbon offsetting. We will also study the existence of cognitive biases in the consideration of voluntary carbon offsets and the preferences of tourists towards the attributes of carbon offsetting programs. Cognitive biases also exist in other aspects of tourism experience, and during the course of this project we will analyse cognitive biases that can potentially explain the week association between the subjective or objective use level of the protected natural area and visitor satisfaction. Methodological guidelines will be defined to mitigate the risk of distorted valuation of ecosystem services, which will enable the creation of a better information basis for managing protected natural areas. Croatian destinations are increasingly facing the problems of overtourism, which leads to environmental risks and adversely affects the well-being of the local population. Existing research indicates that a decision to support tourism may be affected by cognitive biases, which should be investigated in more detail. By creating a methodological framework that enables a better understanding of the (ir)rationality in the residents' decision to support tourism development, this project will support the formation of tourism development policies that promote the long-term well-being of the local population.

Project Objectives:

• To systematically examine the potential of affective components of attitude in promoting pro-environmental behavior of tourists in the context of carbon offsetting, as well as the possibilities of easy implementation of affective incentives in practice.
• To investigate whether willingness to pay for carbon offsets, uptake of carbon offsetting and the actual payment of carbon offsets are related to different sources of bias such as regret avoidance, selective perception and social desirability.
• To examine which cognitive biases, with an emphasis on anchoring or the reference level that tourists use when evaluating their experience, are present in the valuation of visitor experience in protected natural areas facing the problems of overcrowding.
• To analyse the mechanisms of tourism support in destinations facing the problems of overtourism – is residents’ support for tourism an outcome of a rational decision making process and adaptation, or an outcome of cognitive biases, such as status quo bias and loss aversion?

Project leader:
Ivan Sever, PhD

Team members:

• dr. sc. Ana Perišić, PhD (Faculty of Science Split, Šibenik University of Applied Sciences)
• Jelena Mušanović, PhD (Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management, Opatija)
• Velibor Mačkić, PhD (Faculty of Economics & Business Zagreb)
• Vedran Recher, PhD (Faculty of Economics & Business Zagreb)
• Dr. rer. nat. Dominik-Borna Čepulić (Catholic University of Croatia, Zagreb)
• Ivan Sever, PhD (Institute for Tourism)