Closing the Attitude-Behaviour Gap: Acceptance of Mandatory Carbon Offsetting in Tourism

This dataset contains the empirical data collected for a study examining traveller acceptance of mandatory carbon offsetting measures in tourism. While voluntary offsetting has been researched extensively, this study addresses the previously unexplored acceptance of mandatory offsetting schemes. The research focuses on identifying psychological and attitudinal determinants that shape travellers’ acceptance of such measures. Data were collected through an online survey distributed to customers of a Swiss travel company. The survey targeted individuals with prior experience in organised travel and included items related to attitudes, norms, perceived behavioural control, prior knowledge, and acceptance of carbon compensation. The questionnaire and resulting dataset are based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB), Value-Belief-Norm-Theory (VBN) and additional construct identified in prior research on climate compensation and sustainable travel behaviour. The dataset includes: Sociodemographic variables (e.g., age, travel experience) Attitudinal constructs, including: Personal norms Attitude towards offsetting initiatives Perceived behavioural control Subjective social norms Prior knowledge regarding compensation measures Outcome variable (Acceptance of mandatory carbon offsetting measures) All constructs were measured using multi-item Likert scales. All responses were collected anonymously. No personally identifying information is included in the dataset. The study participants consented to the use of their anonymised data for research purposes.