Exploring the effect of zoo post-visit action resources on sustainable behavior change

Wildlife tourism experiences that convey environmental messages about climate change and sustainability to the public are considered to be important for conservation and promoting environmentally sustainable initiatives. Previous research demonstrates that learning and good intentions often fail to lead to actual sustainable behavior change. This research explores how post-visit action resources, such as printed handouts and email updates, may affect sustainable behavior change after a wildlife tourism experience at a zoo. This mixed-methods field experiment provided treatment group participants with post-visit action resources for a two-month period and examined pre- and post-treatment sustainable behavior differences between the control and treatment group participants using questionnaires and open-ended interviews. Results were conflicting, as treatment group participants felt that their behavior had changed yet there were no significant differences found between the treatment and control groups with regard to specific targeted sustainable behaviors. These findings contribute to our understanding of the contribution of post-visit action resources in learning for sustainable behavior change in free-choice environmental education contexts.