• Login
• Admin

Jiang, Fenfen (2025) Moral encounters in tourism: the role of regret. PhD thesis, University of Nottingham.

PDF (corrections) (Thesis - as examined) - Repository staff only until 19 March 2027. Subsequently available to Anyone - Requires a PDF viewer such as GSview, Xpdf or Adobe Acrobat Reader Available under Licence Creative Commons Attribution. Download (3MB)

Abstract

This thesis examines the role of regret in moral tourism encounters. Regret is a highly valued emotion due to its psychological benefits, involving the facilitation of behavioural change and insights into the self (Saffrey et al., 2008). This points to the potential of regret in promoting moral practices and moral self-development. However, little has been discussed regarding the moral significance of regret. In this regard, tourism provides a suitable research context. Tourism is a moral field of experience through encounters with different cultures and people (MacCannell, 2011). Thus, this study focuses on tourists’ regret experience involved in moral issues or dilemmas to explore how tourists engage their sense of morality in tourism encounters, including the emotional construction of regret experience and its subjective meanings.

This study adopts a constructivist approach and develops a phenomenological framework to explore the psychological construction process of the regret experience. Specifically, it combines reflective thematic analysis (TA) and Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), with both secondary data from travel blogs and primary data from individual interviews collected. Reflective TA allows the analysis of the secondary data to capture the diversity of moral tourism encounters in emotional construction. The results show that the regret experience is a dynamic process developing from the negative affect of moral judgement to a negative sense of self from moral reflection; however, the regret experience may be managed by rationalising behaviour and externalising responsibility. IPA was used to analyse the primary data to capture the particulars and details in the meaning-making of the regret experience. The results show that regret experience in moral tourism encounters means a transformation of the moral self, from the loss of the moral self to the growth of the moral self. This reveals the motivational role of regret experience in promoting personal growth and responsible tourist behaviour.

By exploring regret experience in moral tourism encounters, this study has several theoretical and methodological contributions: 1) it contributes to emotion (regret) studies by emphasising the subjective and dynamic nature of emotional experience and revealing the diversity of regret experience in moral contexts; 2) it contributes to moral studies by highlighting the role of emotions in moral value judgement and moral practices and showing the dynamic process of moral self-development; 3) it contributes to tourism studies by illustrating moral meanings of tourism encounters and the engagement of moral sense in tourist (emotional) experience. The use of the constructivist approach offers a holistic perspective to gain a comprehensive understanding of the phenomenon of “moral regret”.

In terms of practical implications, this study offers valuable insights into fostering moral behaviour in tourism by addressing the pre-travel, on-travel, and post-travel stages to cultivate “regret-free” tourism consumption experiences. Pre-travel strategies include personalised travel planning to minimise moral conflicts, regret-driven travel insurance, and educational resources to empower informed choices. During travel, real-time tools, reflective practices, and positive role models could encourage responsible behaviour and reduce regret. Post-travel initiatives focus on processing regret experiences through workshops, forums, and sustainable tourism certifications to support ongoing moral engagement. By fostering education, reflection, and shared learning, these approaches help overcome barriers to ethical consumption and encourage sustainable tourism practices.

Item Type:	Thesis (University of Nottingham only) (PhD)
Supervisors:	Zhang, Carol McCabe, Scott
Keywords:	tourism, regret, moral tourism, morals, regret experience, moral self, emotion studies
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GV Recreation. Leisure H Social sciences > H Social sciences (General)
Faculties/Schools:	UK Campuses > Faculty of Social Sciences, Law and Education > Nottingham University Business School
Item ID:	80373
Depositing User:	Jiang, Fenfen
Date Deposited:	03 Jun 2025 08:47
Last Modified:	03 Jun 2025 08:47
URI:	https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/id/eprint/80373

Actions (Archive Staff Only)

Edit View