Leiden University Student Repository

Moerland, Fleurtje (2021)

Affective responses towards zoo animals enhance conservation intentions: The effect of affective responses on conservation intentions, predicted by proximity, interaction and active animal behavior.

Master thesis | Psychology (MSc)

Research has found that zoo visits can enhance conservation intentions. The current research (N = 200) examined possible explanations for this relationship by conducting correlational research in the form of an online survey. It was expected that positive affective responses towards zoo animals would enhance conservation intentions. Positive affective responses, in turn, were expected to be predicted by proximity to the animals, interaction with the animals, and active animal behavior. The results of this study confirmed all these expectations, but also showed that proximity, interaction, and pacing predicted negative affective responses, which in turn led to higher conservation intentions. This study thus provided a new insight, namely that affective responses in general can enhance conservation intentions. Zoos could stimulate affective responses by enriching the animal habitats, so that the animals show more active behavior, or by enabling consumers to get closer to the animals.

zoo

conservation

affective responses

Author

Moerland, Fleurtje

Faculty

Faculty of Social & Behavioural Sciences

Specialisation

Economic and Consumer Psychology

Supervisors

Doesum, N. van
Weiden, A. van der

ECTS Credits

20

Language

en