Do Regulations Always Work? The Moderate Effects of Reinforcement Sensitivity on Deviant Tourist Behavior Intention

Abstract

Deviant tourist behavior is destructive to both the tourist experience and tourism development. Punishment and reward are two regulation approaches that are widely used to reduce deviant tourist behavior. However, few scholars have considered why punishment and reward are occasionally ineffective. Based on reinforcement sensitivity theory, this article explored the effects of punishment and reward on reducing deviant tourist behavior intention. Following the rules of a quasi-experiment design, a scenario-based survey was conducted to test hypotheses. The results showed that both punishment and reward have negative effects on deviant tourist behavior intention. However, groups with high sensitivity and groups with low sensitivity to punishment or reward exhibited significant disparities. In addition, the awareness of the impact of tourism was found to mediate the effects of punishment and reward on reducing deviant tourist behavior intention. This study contributes to a better understanding of this phenomenon for scholars and practitioners.