Lowering the harm of tourist activities: a systematic literature review on nudges

Tourists harm the destination environment in many different ways. Behavioural economics contributes to the formulation of public and private policies to reduce this harm. The nudging agenda is converging with tourism, where managers and policymakers realise that the implementation of nudges leads to lower costs, higher effectiveness of behavioural changes, and decreased harm produced by tourists. However, little effort has been made to comprehend the relationship between nudges and tourism sustainability. To fill this gap, this paper systematises the literature on nudge interventions in tourism and sustainability studies. Our results present the main disciplinary background in these investigations with Anglo-Saxon countries leading research on green nudges. The methodological approach adopted by the nudge studies is limited, and causal evidence is lacking. The thematic analysis categorises the interventions and supports the idea that nudges target both unconscious and conscious behaviours. The preferred interventions are those with a low-cost application, such as bed linen reuse. Social norms are the main trigger for developing hypotheses and designing nudges. Our study also presents the mediators and moderators of pro-environmental behaviours and develops a model to design nudges in the tourism industry. Theoretical, managerial contributions and suggestions for future studies are also discussed.