Money and status or clear conscience and clean air - should we vary the marketing interventions depending on tourist's cultural background?

The purpose of this research is to identify cultural values underpinning eco-friendly tourism choices. Based on grounded theory study of tourists' perceptions of their relationship with nature gathered through in-depth interviews, we extend our understanding of why people make eco-friendly choices when traveling and explain contradictory findings regarding the role of moral obligation vs. personal gain in driving eco-friendly tourism behaviors. We show that the gap between environmental concerns and eco-friendly tourism behaviors does not exist across all cultural contexts. We suggest how to tailor intervention strategies encouraging eco-friendly choices in tourism, based on the tourist's cultural background.