SEGMENTS OF TOURISTS’ BEHAVIOURAL RESPONSES TO SINGLE-USE PLASTIC WASTE AT BEACHES

Abstract

Though single-use plastic waste remains a global challenge, there is little knowledge on tourists’ behavioural responses to single-use plastic waste. Underpinned by behaviourism, and with a sample of 603 tourists in Ghana and analysed with the two-step cluster technique, this study characterises tourists’ behavioural response to single-use plastic waste. Three segments of tourists’ behavioural responses to single-use plastic waste emerged, namely leavers, swappers, and unresponsives. The leavers react to single-use plastic waste by leaving the beach and not visiting any beach at the destination while the swappers substitute the beach with others. The unresponsives are unconcerned and do not react to the presence of single-use plastic waste. The three segments are characterised by unique environmental values and some socio-demographic and travel characteristics including sex, age, educational attainment, type of tourists and repeat visit status. The implications of these findings in the context of sustainable coastal destination management are discussed.