Eco-hypocrisy and inauthenticity: Criticisms and confessions of the eco-conscious tourist/traveller

Abstract

Labels such as the ‘green tourist’, ‘ecotourist’, and the ‘ethical tourist’ are used to claim moral capital and distinguish this tourist from the alternative, viewed as a threat to the destination. However, these tourist groups open themselves up to feelings and criticisms of hypocrisy when they fail to live up to the moral standards they expressly espouse. This hypocrisy may be conceptualised as a form of inauthenticity—not being existentially true to one's own standards. The present netnographic study uses Graham, Meindl, Koleva, Iyer, and Johnson's (2015) typology of moral hypocrisy to illustrate the feelings of inauthenticity and dissonance, and the social condemnation the environmentally conscious tourist/traveller contends with. Findings point to the inescapability of moral weakness, and the inevitability of moral frustration.