Gregory-Smith, D., Wells, V.K. orcid.org/0000-0003-1253-7297, Manika, D. et al. (1 more author) (2017) An environmental social marketing intervention in cultural heritage tourism: a realist evaluation. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 25 (7). pp. 1042-1059. ISSN 0966-9582
Abstract
Following Pawson and Tilley's principles of realist evaluation and the context–mechanism–outcome (CMO) framework, this paper conducts a process evaluation of an environmental social marketing intervention in a heritage tourism organisation. Social marketing and employee environmental interventions have received relatively scant attention in tourism. Additionally, prior literature mostly focused on the evaluation of intervention outcomes (i.e. how far the intervention produces precise targeted outcomes) and ignores the importance of process evaluation (i.e. identifying what works, for whom, under which circumstances and how, plus issues of intervention maintenance). This paper fills this literature gap using realist evaluation theory and academic perspectives, as well as via the reflections of practitioners involved in intervention design and delivery. Findings suggest that a good understanding of the tourism and organisational context (regarding the dimensions of structure, culture, agency and relations) and the use of tailored, action-focused mechanisms (for each context dimension) are critical to achieving transformational outcomes in environmental interventions in cultural heritage organisations. Based on these findings, it is concluded that the CMO is a useful framework for assessing environmental social marketing interventions in tourism (both for heritage and other tourism organisations). Implications for tourism practice and further research directions are also discussed.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2017 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an author produced version of a paper subsequently published in Journal of Sustainable Tourism. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | Process evaluation; realist evaluation; context–mechanism–outcome; environmental intervention; cultural heritage tourism; social marketing |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Social Sciences (Sheffield) > Management School (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 13 Mar 2017 16:16 |
Last Modified: | 13 Jul 2023 14:33 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Taylor & Francis |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1080/09669582.2017.1288732 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:113483 |