Causal Research

Following SHIFT’s fifth research phase, our causal research design will test the hypotheses and behavioral interventions described above. We use an experiment to establish the validity of our independent variables (X) causing our dependent variable (Y), so we can infer a relationship between the two (Churchill & Iacobucci, 2005). Part of the reason we will use an experiment is to establish the time order occurrence of these variables so that we can measure that our independent variables (X) occur before our dependent variable (Y) (ibid.).

Additionally, a controlled experiment also allows us to eliminate any other explanatory variables and establish concomitant variation, defined as the extent to which X and Y occur in the way predicted in our hypotheses (ibid.).

Figure 9: Survey Flow

Given the role of Instagram in our research, we needed to employ a digital platform for the research and thus decided an online lab experiment would work best. Through a true experiment design, we established a survey that measures the concepts of interest before and after treatment to compare to a control group (Churchill & Iacobucci, 2005). This approach creates a contrived experience for the respondents, allows us more control and often provides the most convincing evidence of a causal relationship (ibid.) Our survey flow is summarized in Figure 9 with the full questionnaire in Appendix B6. Respondents partake in a single screening question, that they must be familiar with Instagram to participate in our research.

Then, they partake in a pretest that measures the third variables and the dependent variables.

Next, the respondents are randomly assigned to a group: control, social influence treatment, or tangibility treatment. Each group sees two Instagram posts as a part of the groups’ treatment or control (Appendix B2-B4). Across the groups, we tried to hold as many aspects of the Instagram posts constant to reduce other explanatory variables. Table 4 shows what elements of the posts were held constant and what was manipulated. The specific manipulation of the captions for each group while holding the photos, influencer, and engagement consistently allowed us to measure the impact of the caption’s message.

Table 4: Elements Manipulated in Treatment Posts

All post captions were carefully written using the tools for sustainable consumer behavior change proposed in the SHIFT framework (White et al., 2019). In the social influence

Post Elements Held Constant Post Elements Manipulated

• Type of adventure tourism activity

• Number of people in the image

• Geo-tagged region (Norway)

• Influencer identity

• Number of influencer followers

• Number of likes / engagements, length of caption, number of hashtags

• Caption message & topic

• Tone of voice

• Hashtags

captions, we primed and reminded readers of relevant injunctive social norms, such as in traveling off-season, by stating how important it is to travel outside the peak season in order not to overwhelm nature and the local community. Likewise, the trail erosion post stated how walking off-trail will cause trail erosion. In survey 2, the captions reminded people of the importance of choosing public transportation to reduce the negative externalities of car travel, and also about the collective impact travelers can have by removing waste we find while in natural landscapes. The posts also showed the respondents representations of the desired sustainable behavior by stating that the influencer has tried to make a change with the actions.

In addition, the desired behavior was linked to the relevant ingroup of sustainable travelers by differentiating them from mass tourism travelers. By using an encouraging voice, the captions made the behavior socially desirable for readers to want to join this movement and to make public and meaningful commitments. The captions called upon a change towards sustainable travel behavior in the community by asking questions such as “What’s your next off-season destination?” or “Save the trails […] Who’s with me?”

The key differentiating characteristic of the tangibility treatment was the informative statistics communicated to the readers in every caption. By specifically stating “during peak season I would have been 1 of 1000” or “Kvalvika Beach saw […] a 60% increase from last year,”

respondents consumed tangible, concrete information related to sustainability. Sustainable traveling can be considered an intangible, yet valuable experience to a consumer. Our captions encourage the desire for intangibles with specific examples like a rewarding sense of collective action in reducing litter or traffic problems. SHIFT advises researchers to, “communicate the specific steps consumers can take, as well as the precise outcomes.” (White et al., 2019). We adhere to this recommendation because the influencer treatment communicates specific steps that a traveler can take to be more sustainable and therefore communicates sustainable actions and outcomes to engender local effects. For example, one caption informs a follower to plan a little more when using public transportation but also states the positive impact this will have consequently.

The captions in the control group were all kept general and made no mention of sustainability following the common approach followed by many travel influencers on Instagram. In survey 1, the first caption included a short description of the experience of stepping on Kjerag, encouraging people to consider traveling during the peak season because “it is the best season to travel even if there is a long queue.” For the trail erosion treatment in survey 1, while

encouraging people to visit, the influencer showcases an unsustainable behavior, by traveling off-trail to avoid mud. In survey 2, the first post shows the influencer choosing car-travel instead of public transit, with an added complaint about traffic and parking. This complaining voice is maintained in the second post, with laments about Kvalvika beach being covered in trash. For all the treatments in the control group, the caption reveals the influencer’s ignorance toward the problem presented in the second photo of the post. Instead, it focuses on the beautiful locations without stating anything informative and educational.

After the treatment, respondents then went through a posttest measuring additional third variables and the dependent variable. Finally, to conclude the experiment, demographic questions were included to measure for any audience differentials. This causal research experiment provides us a quantitative dataset that can be analyzed against our hypotheses developed in the exploratory research phase. Ideally, the SHIFT methodology guides researchers to be iterative and test multiple interventions to optimize and find what works best before moving on to step six, putting the strategy into action.