Animal Ethics and Tourism: Deepening a Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) Framework

Animal ethics has been recognized as an emerging issue in tourism, but limited research has concentrated on tourists' behaviors toward animal ethics and its fundamental mechanisms. This study develops a research framework to address this gap, including media coverage and organizational strategies on reducing animal abuse, cognitive and affective states toward animal ethics, norm activation model variables, and behavioral intentions using stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) theory. Findings indicate that media coverage and organizational strategies can be construed as underlying external stimulus constructs within the S-O-R model in the background of animal-related tourism. This study additionally shows the mediating nature of cognitive and affective states. Findings particularly indicate that personal norm is the focal influencing factor of tourists' behavioral/word-of-mouth intentions toward animal ethics. This research contributes to reducing animal abuse and understanding the underlying theoretical mechanism linked to tourist behaviors and animal ethics.

Automated summary

Animal ethics in tourism is a growing concern, but there is limited research on tourists' behaviors towards animal ethics and its underlying mechanisms. This study develops a research framework that considers media coverage, organizational strategies, cognitive and affective states, norm activation model variables, and behavioral intentions. The findings show the influence of media coverage and organizational strategies as external stimuli, the mediating role of cognitive and affective states, and the significant impact of personal norms on tourists' behavioral intentions towards animal ethics. This research contributes to reducing animal abuse and enhancing understanding of the theoretical mechanisms underlying tourist behaviors and animal ethics.