Diffusion of innovation: The case of ethical tourism behavior

Ethical consumption is increasingly important for governments, consumers and researchers. Adopting new ethical tourist behavior requires consumer innovation. Using a sample of ordinary travelers, the research investigates behavioral innovativeness through constructing a hierarchy of Ethical Tourist Behavior (ETB). As ETB fits the Rasch Model, behavior might provide a link between the relatively static individual innovativeness and the dynamic Diffusion of Innovation Model. Universalism, age and gender influence behavioral ethical tourist innovativeness. Using Rasch Modeling and relating results to the levels of adoption and Diffusion of Innovations, companies gain insights about the success potential and uptake of future innovations.

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