Promoting responsible tourism using generative AI nudges

Purpose With rapid modernization and globalization, responsible tourism practices at cultural heritage sites are in decline, as many visitors disengage from activities like volunteering, donating or mindful visits. This shift presents a significant challenge for governments, organizations and societies working to promote meaningful interactions with cultural heritage. Encouraging responsible tourism – where visitors respect local cultures while minimizing negative impacts – is crucial. generative artificial intelligence (GAI) offers an emerging avenue for innovative management practices, providing personalized and emotionally resonant digital nudges that can influence visitor engagement. However, limited empirical evidence exists regarding which types of nudges are most effective across cultural contexts. This study aims to investigate the impact of artificial intelligence (AI)-driven nudges delivered on emotional response and engagement, aiming to foster responsible tourism behaviour. Design/methodology/approach Using a mixed-methods approach, this study adopted a three-stage investigation. Firstly, this study conducted a content analysis gathered from 262 articles via web scrapping which identified five key themes surrounding responsible tourism. Stage two consisted of 25 in-depth interviews, which provided deeper insights on the factors influencing emotional response towards cultural heritage tourism. In stage 3, this study conducted 300 experiments and surveys, focusing on responses to six cultural nudge images representing Indian and UK cultures. Each image was categorized into neutral, positive and negative nudges, capturing participants’ engagement. Findings The findings suggest that AI-driven nudges significantly enhance tourists’ emotional responses (β = 0.108, p < 0.05) and engagement towards cultural heritage tourism (β = 0.224, p < 0.001), leading to greater appreciation and respect for local cultures and in turn leads to responsible tourism behaviours. Most importantly, engagement was found to be a powerful predictor of responsible tourism behaviour, demonstrating a strong positive relationship (β = 0.792, p < 0.001). Negative nudges (afraid, bitter) were most effective in encouraging responsible behaviours. However, the effectiveness of nudges varied based on an individual’s cultural identity, perceived cultural accuracy and AI hallucination potential highlighting the importance of tailored approaches for diverse audiences. Research limitations/implications The study is limited by a small sample, focus on Indian and UK contexts to capture participants’ perceptions and immediate responses to AI-driven nudges. It examines short-term behavioural intentions within a controlled experimental setting and applies continuous moderation to explore cultural effects. Building on these insights, future research can expand to broader cultural contexts, adopt longitudinal designs to assess behavioural change over time, incorporate objective behavioural data and explore the role of AI transparency and immersive technologies such as VR and AR in enhancing responsible tourism engagement. Originality/value This study provides novel empirical evidence on the role of Generative AI–driven emotional nudges in shaping responsible tourism behaviour, integrating cultural identity, perceived cultural accuracy and AI hallucination as key boundary conditions in a cross-cultural context.