DO EMOTIONAL RESPONSES MOTIVATE ZOO VISITORS TO HELP WILDLIFE?

Zoos often try to elicit emotional responses in zoo visitors.  These emotions may take the form of happiness and excitement, or anger and frustration about processes that threaten animals in the wild.  In other contexts, strong emotions can motivate actions. 

Dr Liam Smith, Professor Betty Weiler and Professor Sam Ham from the Monash University Tourism Research Unit investigated the emotional responses of zoo visitors during encounters with animals and how these responses translate into actions to support wildlife.

AIMS

To assess the role of emotion experienced by zoo visitors during animal encounters in motivating pro-wildlife actions.

METHODS & RESULTS

Four studies were undertaken as part of this project:

Study 1

Zoo staff were consulted about experiences they felt elicited emotion in visitors.  This was done through in-depth interviews with approximately ten key curatorial and executive staff across all three Zoos Victoria properties.  Eight experiences were identified and subjected to testing.

Study 2

Eight subjects were exposed to the eight selected experiences and their emotion was assessed using three psycho-physiological measures (pre-ejection period, respiratory sinus arrhythmia and heart rate) and two self-reported measures (self-assessment manikin and the Pleasure-Arousal-Dominance scale). 

Two experiences consistently elicited high levels of emotional arousal – the Birds of Prey show at Healesville Sanctuary and the behind-the-scenes lion feeding tour at Werribee Open Range Zoo. 

The Birds of Prey show was selected for further testing because:

• It consistently elicits high levels of emotional arousal
• The presenters consistently ask visitors to undertake behaviours to help birds of prey
• The show is available to all zoo visitors

Study 3

The researchers measured visitors’ attitudes to three pro-wildlife actions:

1. Removing road kill from the road so that carrion-feeding birds don’t get hit by passing cars
2. Buying 100% recycled paper
3. Recycling all paper and cardboard

This study found that visitors consider two things when asked to act:

1. Whether or not they think the behaviour is a good thing to do.  Most visitors thought that all three behaviours were a good idea
2. What is involved in undertaking the action.  This varied between the behaviours, with most visitors saying that removing road kill would not be pleasant

Study 4

The researchers assessed the role of emotion in changing visitors’ attitudes toward the three pro-wildlife actions at the Birds of Prey show.  Using a before-and-after study with a control group, the researchers found that attending the show did change visitors’ attitudes toward removing road kill.  Attitudes toward the other behaviours did not change.  However, the change in attitude did not appear to be caused by emotion (measured by self-reporting).

PROJECT OUTCOMES

Emotions affect people’s behaviour.  Indeed, the evolutionary advantage of emotions may be that they prepare us for action.  However, this does not appear to be occurring at Healesville Sanctuary’s Birds of Prey show.  This may be because visitors are not given an immediate opportunity to act on their emotional state, and so they forget.  Alternatively, high levels of emotion may distract visitors from the key messages being given out.  More research is needed to better understand how to use visitors’ emotional reactions to facilitate action that helps wildlife.

Although emotion doesn’t appear to cause a change in attitude in this case, visitors’ attitudes toward and intention to remove road kill did improve as a result of attending the show.  The may be because the behaviour is a novel one, and so the message has a high impact.  This suggests that zoos should look to target new or novel behaviours – a finding backed up by the findings of another study (‘What should zoos ask?’).

FOR MORE INFORMATION

This project was conducted between 2004-08 as Liam Smith’s PhD.  For more information on this project, see:

Smith, L. D. G., Weiler, B. V., and Ham, S. H. (2008), Measuring emotion at the zoo, Journal of the International Zoo Educators' Association, 44, 26-31

Smith, L. D. G., Broad, S., and Weiler, B. V. (2008), A closer examination of the impact of zoo visits on visitor behaviour, Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 16 (5), 544-562.

Smith, L.D.G. 2009. The zoo proposition: an examination into the role of emotional arousal in influencing pro-environmental behaviour, Unpublished PhD dissertation, Dept of Management, Monash University, Melbourne. Available on written request - Liam.Smith@buseco.monash.edu.au

- on the Monash University Tourism Research Unit - click here