Visitors' values and environmental learning outcomes at wildlife attractions: Implications for interpretive practice

Wildlife tourism attractions, such as zoos and aquariums, are expected to play a major role in promoting environmental learning in society. This paper applies a refined version of Schwartz's (1992) Value Theory to develop a better understanding of zoo and aquarium visitors' personal values, and the impact of their values on their reflective engagement, learning, and self-reported changes in post-visit environmental behaviour. Findings revealed that personal values are related to post-visit environmental behaviour through the process of on-site reflective engagement. The findings highlight the importance of using a values-based approach to visitor interpretation, one that engages a broader range of visitors and enhances the impact of a wildlife tourism experience on visitors' environmental learning and post-visit behaviour.