From Consumption Reduction to Consumption Redirection: Comparative Demarketing as a Catalyst for Promoting Sustainable Consumption in Tourism
(A2025-130447)

AUTHORS

Jeevan Lawrence, Goa Institute of Management; Manu C, Goa Institute of Management/Goa Institute of Management; Nandakumar Mekoth, Goa Institute of Management/Goa Institute of Management

ABSTRACT

Encouraging sustainable consumption among tourists is essential to reduce the negative environmental impacts of tourism. In this context, demarketing and green marketing strategies have become more prevalent in the tourism and hospitality sectors as effective approaches in driving sustainable behaviors. However, these strategies are plagued by limitations such as increased scepticism. Hence, this study proposes that comparative demarketing, which is an alternative strategy that integrates the synergetic effects of both green marketing and demarketing approaches, has the potential to overcome these limitations by redirecting consumption from environmentally harmful products to less harmful substitutes. This research extends the conceptual boundaries of the comparative demarketing approach and empirically examines its effectiveness using an online experiment in the context of sustainable consumption in the tourism domain. Grounded in the regulatory focus theory, the results of the experiments demonstrate that comparative demarketing is a superior approach to green marketing and demarketing in developing better product attitudes towards environmentally less harmful substitute products among consumers, mediated by reduced skepticism. The study also provides novel contributions to managerial practice by proposing an innovative marketing approach to promote sustainable tourism.