Is the pursuit of pleasure on vacation a barrier to environmentally sustainable behaviour?

Two types of happiness (eudaimonia and hedonia) could potentially be leveraged to trigger pro-environmental tourist behaviour while preserving or even enhancing guest satisfaction. Hedonia (sensory/immediate pleasure) is commonly considered a barrier to pro-environmental behaviour on vacation, while eudaimonia (fulfilment/growth) is generally thought to prompt pro-environmental behaviour. Whether, and in what way, hedonia and eudaimonia are associated with pro-environmental behaviour in tourism, remains empirically untested. This study assesses—for the first time—the empirical relationship of hedonia and eudaimonia with stated pro-environmental behaviour in both an imagined home and vacation context to determine tourism-specific context dependence. Eudaimonia emerges as being highly related to tourist pro-environmental behaviour, suggesting a promising leverage point for pro-environmental behaviour change interventions. Contrary to popular belief, there is no empirical evidence of hedonia being associated with tourist pro-environmental behaviour, suggesting it may not represent a barrier to such behaviour.