Responsible tourist motivation: How valuable is the Schwartz value survey?

Relatively little is known about the motivations of responsible tourists, but even less is known about the contribution of the values construct in their decision-making. The values construct is well used in consumer studies in the knowledge that deeply held beliefs are the key to understanding motivation. Indeed, because values underpin individuals' moral choices they are also particularly relevant in an ethical context, and therefore highly appropriate in a study of responsible tourists. Much of the values research incorporates the Schwartz list of values (1992), but while it has received wide support in consumer research, there are disagreements about its utility in ethical consumer studies. These are the issues this paper seeks to address through the presentation and discussion of results from a recent study into the values of responsible tourists. The paper argues that while Schwartz's values typology might be useful in a general consumer context, its lack of universality means it offers insufficient insight into responsible tourists' motivations. This paper contributes to tourist motivation research by identifying several new values in a significant modification to the Schwartz values typology, and concludes by discussing how these additional values offer a deeper understanding of the motivations of responsible tourists.