Unravelling tourists’ and residents’ appraisals to unethical cannabis-related businesses and their impact on resistance behaviours in tourism cities

This study investigates how tourists and residents morally and emotionally respond to unethical practices in cannabis-related hospitality and tourism businesses and how these responses shape resistance behaviours. Drawing on the dual-process theory of moral judgement, we conceptualise affective and cognitive appraisals as antecedents of ethical evaluations (moral equity, relativism, contractualism, utilitarianism) and resistance in cannabis tourism cities. Survey data were collected from international tourists and residents in three major Thai tourism cities (Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Phuket), where cannabis businesses are densely clustered in entertainment and visitor areas. Using partial least squares structural equation modelling and necessary condition analysis, we identify probabilistic and necessary conditions for resistance to emerge. Findings reveal that while tourists’ resistance is primarily cognitively driven, residents’ resistance requires the convergence of emotional and rational engagement. Contractualism and cognitive appraisal emerged as sufficient and necessary across groups, while utilitarian concerns were critical enabler for residents. By integrating dual-process moral reasoning with necessity logic, this study extends urban tourism scholarship in two ways. First, it theorises resistance to cannabis-related businesses as a morally grounded response to perceived harms in tourism cities. Second, it offers an analytically comprehensive account of how tourists and residents differentially regulate urban cannabis tourism through everyday acts of resistance behaviour. Practical implications are discussed for the ethical governance of cannabis-related businesses in tourism cities.

Text 127973.pdf - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. Download (1MB) Official URL or Download Paper: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/20565...

Actions (login required)

View Item