The role of information avoidance in ethical decision-making on the supply side of dark tourism

Abstract

Obtaining information can have many benefits, yet individuals often choose to avoid certain information. This applies to the business side as well. In many cases, tourism operators prefer to ignore and actively avoid information about a particular tourist attraction, the disclosure of which could lead to negative consequences. However, examining the phenomenon of dark tourism based on artificial storytelling, the marketing of tourism products and services, partly through information avoidance, raises certain ethical issues.

Building on the idea that we need to create a more comprehensive and complete picture of the supply-side of dark tourism and the causal links between ethically questionable decisions, this paper reviews the conceptual background of information avoidance, dark tourism and ethical decision-making, and explores the theoretical implications of the motivations of tourism service providers leading to information avoidance through a critical analysis. Given that the literature primarily focuses on the ethical concerns of dark tourism, there is less attention paid to mapping out the causes of unethical behaviour. This theoretical study aims to fill this gap.