Learning from museums: Resource scarcity in museum interpretations and sustainable consumption intention

Xin Xue, Yaoqi Li, Sijia Liu and Mengya Liu

Annals of Tourism Research, 2025, vol. 112, issue C

Abstract: Resource consumption poses challenges to sustainable tourism development. Museums, crucial for fostering social virtues, hold untapped potential for public education on resource conservation. Through five experiments integrating scenario-based experiments, field experiments, and eye-tracking techniques, this research demonstrates that historical resource scarcity, particularly conveyed through museum interpretations, enhances tourists' sustainable consumption intentions. Eye-tracking evidence from real visitors in a museum highlights increased narrative engagement as the key underlying mechanism. Notably, the effect of interpreting historical resource scarcity depends on tourists' time orientation: future-oriented tourists are receptive to the educational impact of interpretations, while present-oriented tourists show diminished responsiveness. These findings significantly advance ecotourism literature by demonstrating how museum interpretations can serve as effective and engaging educational tools, encouraging tourists' sustainable practices.

Keywords: Interpretations; Resource scarcity; Sustainable consumption intention; Narrative engagement; Time orientation; Eye tracking (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:anture:v:112:y:2025:i:c:s0160738325000611

DOI: 10.1016/j.annals.2025.103955

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