Understanding scuba divers' response to coral bleaching: An application of Protection Motivation Theory

Abstract

Coral reefs are important to the dive experience, suggesting the expected increase in coral bleaching events has the potential to alter global flows of dive tourists. There are a growing number of studies that suggest taking people's estimation of their options and ability to react to a threat into account provides a clearer picture of the decision to respond to a threat. This study applied Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) to help understand the motivational factors associated with intended adaptation to coral bleaching. Multiple regression analysis was used to analyze the effects of threat and coping appraisal variables. This study provided the first empirical evidence of scuba divers' response to marginal reef conditions, indicating that the majority of respondents would significantly alter their behavior in some way. PMT was able to explain between 12.8% and 47.7% of the variance in adaptation intentions, with response efficacy and self-efficacy consistently emerging as the strongest significant predictors. Consideration of multiple adaptation responses demonstrates the variability of model performance and highlights the need to consider the context of adaptation when interpreting results. Implications for future research and the dive tourism industry are discussed.