Setting off carbon offsets - Testing New Communication Messages in Voluntary Carbon Offset and its Correlation to Public Transportation on Vacation
(2019) BUSN39 20191Department of Business Administration
- Abstract
- Purpose: The main purpose of this research is to gain a better understanding of how communication messages can be created more effectively in order to increase the intention to participate in VCO schemes. Furthermore, this study seeks to investigate if and how VCO and public transportation as part of a low carbon footprint vacation could be communicated.
Method: A quantitative method with an experimental approach was used to test three different types of messages with a focus on transparency, status and economic. With the utilization of an online questionnaire, this thesis produced empirical data from 622 Swedish respondents based on a simple random sample. The survey tested the three messages in three homogenous groups consisting of... (More) - Purpose: The main purpose of this research is to gain a better understanding of how communication messages can be created more effectively in order to increase the intention to participate in VCO schemes. Furthermore, this study seeks to investigate if and how VCO and public transportation as part of a low carbon footprint vacation could be communicated.
Method: A quantitative method with an experimental approach was used to test three different types of messages with a focus on transparency, status and economic. With the utilization of an online questionnaire, this thesis produced empirical data from 622 Swedish respondents based on a simple random sample. The survey tested the three messages in three homogenous groups consisting of approximately 207 respondents on their effect on the intention to participate in VCO. Moreover, scenario-based questions were used to investigate the correlation between the participation in VCO and the usage of public transportation at the destination, as well as the factors that influence the choice of travel mode.
Findings: There were findings of this study in the fields of communication, VCO, public transportation and the pro-environmentalism of travelers. While the developed messages were successful in communicating the different foci, the study concluded that even if the communication messages are focused to counteract the barriers transparency, status and economic, people are not more likely to participate in in VCO. A preference for the carbon offset to be automatically included in the ticket was found. The research confirmed previous findings that knowledge positively relates with the intention to participate in VCO, however, not as strong as expected. In addition, the study indicated a strong relationship between the participation in VCO and the individuals’ pro- environmentalism. Furthermore, the study showed that there is a significant positive relationship between the intention to participate in VCO and the likeliness to use public transportation at the destination. The study revealed the individual's’ choice of travel mode to be strongly influenced by the convenience to buy or book the ticket as well as the personal and traffic safety.
Practical implications: Airline companies can tap on the potential by automatically including carbon offsetting in their tickets. Moreover, it is suggested to not base the segmentation on socio- demographics, but instead on the individual’s pro-environmentalism. Furthermore, it is suggested to focus on the convenient aspects, when promoting the participation in VCO as well as the usage of public transportation at the destination.
Originality/Value: This thesis is the first study to investigate if communication messages focused on transparency, status and economic have a positive effect on the participation in VCO schemes. Furthermore, this study brings originality by presenting an initial attempt to research if there is a correlation between the participation in VCO schemes and the likeliness of the usage of public transportation at the travel destination. With this, the study enriches the literature in VCO communication, sustainable tourism journals and marketing literature. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/8990507
- author
- Hitijahubessij, Rebecca LU and Volk, Jessica LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- BUSN39 20191
- year
- 2019
- type
- H1 - Master's Degree (One Year)
- subject
- keywords
- marketing, communication, communication messages, voluntary carbon
- language
- English
- id
- 8990507
- date added to LUP
- 2019-09-25 15:30:41
- date last changed
- 2019-09-25 15:30:41
@misc{8990507,
abstract = {{Purpose: The main purpose of this research is to gain a better understanding of how communication messages can be created more effectively in order to increase the intention to participate in VCO schemes. Furthermore, this study seeks to investigate if and how VCO and public transportation as part of a low carbon footprint vacation could be communicated.
Method: A quantitative method with an experimental approach was used to test three different types of messages with a focus on transparency, status and economic. With the utilization of an online questionnaire, this thesis produced empirical data from 622 Swedish respondents based on a simple random sample. The survey tested the three messages in three homogenous groups consisting of approximately 207 respondents on their effect on the intention to participate in VCO. Moreover, scenario-based questions were used to investigate the correlation between the participation in VCO and the usage of public transportation at the destination, as well as the factors that influence the choice of travel mode.
Findings: There were findings of this study in the fields of communication, VCO, public transportation and the pro-environmentalism of travelers. While the developed messages were successful in communicating the different foci, the study concluded that even if the communication messages are focused to counteract the barriers transparency, status and economic, people are not more likely to participate in in VCO. A preference for the carbon offset to be automatically included in the ticket was found. The research confirmed previous findings that knowledge positively relates with the intention to participate in VCO, however, not as strong as expected. In addition, the study indicated a strong relationship between the participation in VCO and the individuals’ pro- environmentalism. Furthermore, the study showed that there is a significant positive relationship between the intention to participate in VCO and the likeliness to use public transportation at the destination. The study revealed the individual's’ choice of travel mode to be strongly influenced by the convenience to buy or book the ticket as well as the personal and traffic safety.
Practical implications: Airline companies can tap on the potential by automatically including carbon offsetting in their tickets. Moreover, it is suggested to not base the segmentation on socio- demographics, but instead on the individual’s pro-environmentalism. Furthermore, it is suggested to focus on the convenient aspects, when promoting the participation in VCO as well as the usage of public transportation at the destination.
Originality/Value: This thesis is the first study to investigate if communication messages focused on transparency, status and economic have a positive effect on the participation in VCO schemes. Furthermore, this study brings originality by presenting an initial attempt to research if there is a correlation between the participation in VCO schemes and the likeliness of the usage of public transportation at the travel destination. With this, the study enriches the literature in VCO communication, sustainable tourism journals and marketing literature.}},
author = {{Hitijahubessij, Rebecca and Volk, Jessica}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Setting off carbon offsets - Testing New Communication Messages in Voluntary Carbon Offset and its Correlation to Public Transportation on Vacation}},
year = {{2019}},
}