Are men and women different in perceptions of and reactions to unruly behavior in theme parks?

Purpose This study explored the attitudes of men and women toward inappropriate guest conduct in theme parks, focusing on differences in the acceptability and frequency of encounters, perceived causes, responses to disruptive behaviors and expectations from the park’s management regarding these disturbances. Design/methodology/approach Using a mixed-method approach, the authors first conducted interviews with 25 theme park managers to identify the types and causes of problematic behaviors. The keywords identified in interviews were used to develop scales for a structured survey of US residents (n = 500) who visited theme parks in the past three years through Amazon’s MTurk in March 2023. Participants provided ratings on multi-item scales assessing potential unruly behaviors of theme park visitors, the underlying causes, the expected measures from management, and respondents’ likely reactions to such behaviors. Findings Results indicate that behaviors like eating, running and loud talking were more tolerated, whereas actions such as hitting, stealing, being disrespectful to guests from other cultures and smoking were least tolerated. Gender differences emerged, with men generally more accepting of certain behaviors despite witnessing more incidents. However, men also had higher expectations from management to tackle behavioral problems and were more likely to show certain reactions to unruly behavior issues compared to women. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to examine differences of men and women in their reactions to unruly guest behavior in theme parks. It provides a detailed unruly behavior list for broader application in other tourism and hospitality sectors. The findings offer insights into managing consumer behavior and tailoring responses for male and female visitors in theme parks.