Volcanic eruptions and tourism prosocial consumption

• Ubay Pérez-Granja ^[1] ; Ascensión Andina-Díaz ^[2] ; Juan Luis Jiménez ^[1]
  1. [1] Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria

     Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria

     Gran Canaria, España

     
  2. [2] Universidad de Málaga

     Universidad de Málaga

     Málaga, España

     
• Localización: Tourism economics: the business and finance of tourism and recreation, ISSN 1354-8166, Vol. 30, Nº. 8 (December), 2024, págs. 1973-2001
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • This paper exploits a recent natural experiment to analyze the effect of volcanic eruptions on tourism expenditure. Using a Difference-in-Differences methodology, we find that volcanic eruptions have a positive impact on tourism expenditure, both aggregate expenditure and expenditure by category, and both during the eruption and the post-eruption period. We investigate the mechanisms behind the increase in expenditure and obtain strong support for the empathy mechanism, prevailing over other mechanisms such as changes in prices, the profile of tourists, or simply curiosity. Our results suggest that tourist empathy with the affected community manifests through consumption, finding that prosocial consumption increases in the cultural identification of the tourist with the affected area.