Does tour guides’ ethical behavior matter for tourists’ revisit and recommendation intentions? Examining with a gender perspective

Purpose This study aims to investigate the impact of tour guides’ ethical behavior on tourist satisfaction, intention to revisit and to recommend and examine whether gender plays a moderating role in these relationships. Design/methodology/approach The study was conducted in the Cappadocia Destination in Turkiye. A total of 910 participants were included in the study. The partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) method was used to examine the research model in this study. Findings The study results indicate that the ethical behavior of tour guides has a significant impact on tourists’ satisfaction with the tour, satisfaction with the tour guide, recommendation intention and revisit intention. Furthermore, the study found that the effect of ethical behavior on these outcomes was more pronounced among male tourists than female tourists. Research limitations/implications Despite the tourists’ satisfaction, they may want to remember the experience using mental time travel, and they may fear not having the same positive experience during any revisits. Tour guides should be given continuous training on the concept of professional ethics throughout their education and professional life. The factors causing higher ethical perceptions in male tourists than female tourists may be examined in further studies (i.e. marital status). Originality/value The research fills an important gap in the literature by shedding light on the significance of ethical behavior in the context of tour guides, a topic that has received relatively little attention. In particular, the results obtained reveal the originality of the study. Besides that, investigating the moderating role of gender and determining the behavioral intentions of male and female individuals according to the ethical behaviors of tour guides are important for the future of Cappadocia tourism.