Your happiness or mine: influence of affective states and level of contact on public perceptions of elephant tourism

Many captive Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) in Thailand participate in the tourism industry at attractions known as ‘elephant camps.’ There has been significant criticism of low welfare venues, where the elephants may experience injuries, poor nutrition, unnatural social environments and aversive handling. Despite increasing concern for animal welfare, the general public often have difficulty identifying the welfare issues affecting captive animals. The aim of this study was to investigate participants’ willingness to support an elephant attraction and their perceived emotional value from the experience, based on the affective state of the captive elephant and their level of contact with it. Participants (n = 590) from the United States were randomly assigned to one of four vignettes (using a 2 × 2 experimental design) that described an elephant attraction, varying the affective state of the elephant (feels excellent, feels terrible) and the level of contact they could have with the elephant (low, high). A mixed methods approach was used, where participants provided answers to Likert-type questions, followed by an open-ended response. Participants showed greater willingness to support the elephant attraction and greater perceived emotional value from the experience when the elephant felt excellent, as opposed to when the elephant felt terrible. There were no significant differences between low and high contact for the measures included in this study. Qualitative responses varied greatly, with participants making many assumptions about the elephant and the attraction, revealing potential misconceptions that they had regarding the welfare of captive elephants. This research may be used to encourage a shift in tourism preferences to venues that reflect positive elephant welfare.泰国境内诸多圈养亚洲象（Elephas maximus）均在被称为“大象营地”的旅游景点中参与旅游运营活动。此类场所因动物福利水平低下广受诟病，园内大象可能遭受伤病、营养匮乏、非自然社交环境以及厌恶性操控。尽管公众对动物福利的关注度与日俱增，但大众往往难以识别影响圈养动物的福利问题。本研究旨在基于圈养大象的情绪状态及其与游客的接触程度，探究研究参与者对大象旅游景点的支持意愿，以及其从游览体验中感知到的情感价值。来自美国的590名研究参与者被随机分配至四组情境描述材料之一（采用2×2实验设计），这些材料分别描述了不同参数的大象旅游景点：大象的情绪状态分为极佳与极差两类，游客与大象的接触程度则分为低、高两类。本研究采用混合研究方法，要求参与者先完成李克特式量表问题作答，随后进行开放式回答。当大象情绪状态极佳时，参与者对该景点的支持意愿以及从体验中感知到的情感价值，均显著高于大象情绪极差的情况。本研究涉及的各项指标中，低接触与高接触组别之间未出现显著差异。质性作答的差异极大，参与者针对大象及景点做出了诸多主观假设，暴露出其在圈养大象福利认知上存在的潜在误区。本研究或可用于引导旅游偏好向体现大象正向福利的景点转变。