INFLUENCE OF MASS MEDIA ’ S COVERAGE OF ADVENTURE TOURISM ON YOUTH PERCEPTIONS OF RISK

Perception is a complex construct that is influenced by a number of factors, including the mass media, which can produce a distorted view of reality. This is of significance to adventure tourism businesses because a person’s perceptions of adventure, risk, and safety are what determine whether they will participate. Research was undertaken to examine how the mass media’s coverage of adventure tourism accidents influences youth perceptions of risk. It was found that the news media increases the perceived risk associated with an activity, but instead of discouraging youth participation it actually encourages future participation intentions.


Introduction
. Adventure tourism has been summarized by Hall (1992) as a Adventure tourism is a rapidly growing segment of the tourism industry, yet remains a relabroad spectrum of outdoor touristic activities, oftively new area of research.This article reports on ten commercialized and involving an interaction research undertaken to ascertain the effect of the with the natural environment away from the parmedia's construction of "risk" in adventure tourticipant's home range and containing elements of ism on youth travelers' propensity to undertake risk; in which the outcome is influenced by the participant, setting and management of the tourisadventurous tourism activities.As with many aspects of tourism, there is no universal definition of adventure travel, and there is some controversy surrounding the terms "ad-In addition, there has been some differentiation between the level of risk attached to adventure ac-venture tourism" versus "adventure travel."In general, adventure travel is a self-organized expe-tivities, described as soft versus hard adventure, where soft adventure is seen as taking place out-rience with no time restrictions, whereas adventure tourism is limited by time and facilitated by doors and requiring some physical activity but risk is minimal, while hard adventure involves high a commercial operation (Morgan & Fluker, 2000, 162 KING AND BEETON levels of physical challenge in difficult terrain creating high level of risk and the possibility of death.It can be argued that the degree of risk is relative and, for some, a soft adventure activity such as horse riding is seen to be extreme or hard adventure, and is one of the most accident-prone adventure activities (Beeton, 1999a(Beeton, , 1999b(Beeton, , 2001)).
However, the entire notion of "adventure" involves the deliberate seeking of risk, which is the acknowledged attraction in adventure activities.Strangely, it is the only situation in which people seek rather than avoid risk (Ryan, 2003).By entering into this risky activity, they want to experience the feelings that are derived from putting oneself in harm's way to meet a challenge.Hall (1992) Figure 1.The adventure experience paradigm.Source: Martin and Priest (1986, p. 19).labels these feelings intrinsic psychological benefits, such as increased self-confidence, conquering fears, realizing one's full potential, a release of emotions, and a sense of achievement or fulfill-tence is high, there is no challenge and a participant would use this experience to experi-ment.
Risk is the "potential to lose something of ment with new tricks or skills to try to increase the challenge.The other extreme is if risk is high value" (Priest, 1999, p. 159).Due to the nature of adventure activities, there are real risks involved, and competence is low, resulting in misadventure or even death.The ideal is to achieve a perfect such as injury or death resulting from equipment failure, human error due to lack of skills, or un-balance between risk and competence so that a peak experience can be had, which results in the controllable environmental conditions.It is the subjective judgment of these real risks that forms intrinsic benefits mentioned earlier.The key to achieving this is to have an accurate perception of an individual's perception of risk and hence determines the decision to participate in an activity or the risk involved and of one's competency to deal with the risk (Priest, 1992).not.In other words, a participant will make an assessment of the risk based on their knowledge of Therefore, "perception" plays a significant role in adventure tourism.It is the process by which an the activity and other contributing factors and compare it with the level of risk they are willing individual organizes or clarifies what is communicated to them through their senses.Lashley and and able to endure.
Martin and Priest (1986) illustrate this process Ross ( 2003) say that it is making sense of "a chaotic world of information" to create a unique pic-well with their adventure experience paradigm, reproduced in Figure 1.The model visually repre-ture of reality.This is particularly so when information is incomplete and inferences need to be sents the adventure experience as the interaction between risk and competence.It is an expansion made (Severin & Tankard, 1997).
The mass media has been identified as an influ-of Mortlock's (1984) four stages of an outdoor adventure journey-play, adventure, frontier adven-ential force in shaping perceptions (Beeton, Bowen, & Santos, 2005;Surette, 1992).When the ture, and misadventure-and incorporates Csikszentmihalyi's (1975) concept of flow and Ellis' mass media produces images and information, it not only provides information but also helps to (1973) theory that adults at play seek optimal levels of arousal through raising performance stan-construct images of social reality.According to Surette (1992), "over time people tend to perceive dards.
The model depicts five varying levels of chal-things the way the media portray them.The media thus play not only a reporting role but also a defin-lenge, which are the balance of risk and competence.For instance, when risk is low and compe-ing role, establishing their audience's sense of re-ality" (p.76).They also provide a framework for study, based on Sung's ( 2004) criteria that they had to be between 19 and 34 years of age, single, understanding and taking action when people have not developed their own social reality.
with an income of less than $30,000.Tourism is an experience, and the way in which it is interpreted "has become more and more inter-Research Method twined with the consumption of media images" A mixed method was adopted, combining a (Jansson, 2002, p. 431).Adventure tourism busisurvey of the youth travel market using a selfnesses rely heavily on images when promoting completion questionnaire with two in-depth intertheir products, particularly in the initial stage of views of experts from major adventure tourism creating product awareness (Heath, 1997).In businesses.As universities tend to have a high permany instances, the mass media are responsible centage of young people in the defined "youth for spreading these images, but, as they are not market," three university lecture classes at La controlled by the tourism businesses, they are Trobe University from three different faculties equally likely to spread many negative images and were surveyed.Seventy-five valid surveys were misinformation.Johnston (1989Johnston ( , 1992) ) claims that obtained, and the first in-depth interview was with the media reinforces misconceptions about the frethe operator of a long-standing adventure comquency of accidents and hence blame is attributed pany offering rock climbing, abseiling, caving, for accidents that did not occur.and skiing.The second interview was with the Apart from Johnston's study, there has been litmarketing department of a hot air ballooning comtle research conducted on the mass media's role in pany, and in addition the interviewee had worked adventure tourism and in particular its role in with a major rafting and canoeing adventure opershaping perceptions of risk and its relationship ator for 11 years.Consequently, all areas of adwith the youth traveler.Risky images, however, venture tourism were covered-land, water and are frequently used to portray adventure activities air. in advertising material.The effect of these risky By using the in-depth interviews in conjunction images and the use of fear to appeal to people with the questionnaires, a deeper understanding of have recently become of interest to academics the quantitative results was obtained, as well as who have found them to have a positive effect the opportunity to use expert knowledge to underon participation rates (Hem, Iversen, & Nysveen, stand the difference between perception and re-2002;Palmer, 2002).With the heightened profile ality. of adventure tourism accidents in the media (Wilks & Davis, 2000;Swarbrooke et al., 2003), Results this therefore raises the question of whether the images portrayed in the media's coverage of these In the survey questionnaire, respondents were given a list of 16 adventure activities, which they accidents are having a similar effect to the portrayal of risk in advertising.Is it encouraging par-had to rate in terms of the risk they associated with the activity.They did this using a 5-point scale ticipation or turning people away?
The aim of the research outlined in this article where 1 represented no risk and 5 represented extreme risk.As shown in Table 1, skydiving was is to determine if the mass media's coverage of adventure tourism accidents alters the perceived perceived to be the riskiest activity, followed by bungee jumping and outdoor rock climbing.Snor-risk associated with that activity and, if so, what is the behavior associated with that change.As keling was perceived as the least risky, closely followed by four-wheel driving with a mean of 2.05.young people tend to be high risk-takers, particularly men in the early to mid-20s age group, it was From the business perspective, these results were reflected as being fairly accurate in terms of decided to study this group in particular.Specifically, how does the mass media's coverage of land adventure activities.Interviewee One claimed that in his business "rock climbing is perceived adventure tourism accidents influence the youth travel market's perception of risk?The youth riskier than caving when in actual fact, caving is more dangerous than rock climbing."He said, travel market has been broadly defined in this ing to/reading news stories.They believe that the news media's coverage of adventure activities has "perception is therefore a selling point" because a medium level of influence when forming their the danger is what attracts people to his activities.
opinion about the risk involved in these activities.White water rafting was also quite accurately When reporting about adventure tourism acciplaced in terms of perceived risk.Interviewee Two dents, newspaper is considered to be the most commented that in rafting there is "a sense that accurate form of media and magazines the least there are risks all the time.If you are on a chalaccurate.However, none of the media scored exlenging river . . .you can tell by the guides, if they tremely highly in terms of self-reported influence are tense and by their safety set up if they have to factors (Table 3).run a big rapid . . .you know or can sense there is At this point, it is worth noting the issue of a danger issue.It has the challenging nature of an self-reporting: the low influence rates here are the adventure activity because in rafting you are much respondents' perceptions and beliefs.The evimore involved," and therefore it is perceived fairly dence in the literature outlined earlier suggests risky.Hot air ballooning, however, is generally that the media's influence is far higher.This is a perceived to be much riskier by Interviewee methodological issue of all self-reporting surveys; Two's older business clientele than what is reit can be argued that people are only responding flected in the youth market.
Respondents were also asked to indicate which of the listed activities they had participated in or The majority of the youth market spends be-Scale: 1 = not accurate, 2 = slightly accurate, 3 = mostly accurate, 4 = very accurate, 5 = extremely accurate.
tween 16 and 45 minutes per day watching/listen-in the way they believed they should, even when called a rafting accident within a competitor's commercial operation where two people died."I anonymous.
thought that it was going to affect the business but the evidence was that it didn't at all.If anything, Change in Perceived Risk by Adventure Activity it slightly increased their numbers, which sur-When asked to recall an adventure accident prised me.People were not worried there had just they had heard about in the news media, 28% were been a death-maybe that increased the thrill unable to recall an accident and therefore did not of it."answer the question.A further 40% of the respon- The mass media's coverage of such accidents dents named land adventure accidents, 21.3% draws people's attention to the activity and highnamed air adventure accidents, and 10.7% named lights the risk involved, which in turn acts as a water adventure accidents.Of the 72% of respondraw-card rather than a deterrent, particularly for dents who did answer, a significant 52% claimed young males.Young people forget the specific dethat after hearing about the accident their view of tails of the accident and therefore the mass methe risk involved in that particular activity india's coverage is a form of advertising.It could be creased (Table 4).
suggested that "all publicity is good publicity" for land adventure activities.

Effect on Behavior
Ballooning, however, is affected by mass media coverage.Interviewee Two stated Of those respondents claiming that the mass media's coverage increased the risk associated I think the media has an influence on ballooning with an adventure activity, 7.1% participated in in that if ever there is any incident in ballooning the activity after the accident, 50% did not particiseemingly worldwide they pick it up and run it pate but considered participation in the future, and as a news story.Ballooning is on the fringe of 42.9% did not participate and decided never to adventure; it is a luxury activity.Therefore, it is disturbing if they show an incident from America participate.
or Europe because they are very rare.I think peo-Interviewee One claimed that, for the youth ple have a perception that there are risks and danmarket, every time there is an accident within land ger and stuff in ballooning which is probably adventure activities it reminds them that the activskewed a bit by that sort of exposure.
ity is there, which in turn generates interest and News media coverage of accidents can thereencourages participation.For instance, as Interfore have a negative effect on participation rates; viewee One reflected on the Interlaken canyoning however, this primarily attracts an older market.disaster, he commented, "talking to friends who "A serious ballooning accident in Alice Springs run canyoning, for the 12 months following Inter-10 to 15 years ago totally destroyed the whole ballaken their business went up by about 40%."Mass looning industry for a number of years."media coverage of accidents within the rafting industry has a similar effect to land activities.It in-Conclusions creases the risk and thrill associated with rafting and in turn leads to an increase in business.This In comparing the level of risk perceived with the likelihood of participation in an activity, a was the experience of Interviewee Two, who re- trend was observed that the youth were more acts as a reminder to young people that the activity is risky and there is the possibility of death.This likely to participate in those activities that they perceived to have little or no risk.Nevertheless, aligns with Surette's (1992) view that people tend to perceive things the way the media portray them.this does not necessarily contradict risk as a motivating factor in adventure tourism, as many of the In this instance, the media portrays the activity as dangerous and risky and therefore people begin to youth may have previously experienced low-risk activities in their lives to date.According to Priest perceive it that way.Furthermore, the media's coverage of adven-(1992), previous experience with a particular adventure activity can influence one's perception of ture accidents affects different types of activities differently.Although a chi-square test revealed risk.Bunting and Little (1987) found that those with the least experience perceived risk to be there to be no significant relationship between the two variables, it was observed that air activities greater than those with the most experience.
Finally, Pizam et al. ( 2004) claims that risk-was the only type of activity in which the number of respondents who experienced a change in per-taking behavior is a personality trait that varies among individuals.Many of the respondents in the ceived risk clearly outnumbered those who experienced no change in their perceived risk level.The sample simply may not have had the personality trait of sensation seeking (Zuckerman, 1979).De-greater influence on air activities also became apparent in the interviews.Interviewee Two sug-spite this reasoning, some may argue that risktaking behavior is inevitable in all youth (Chang, gested that perhaps this could be contributed to the media profile of the activity.For example, hot air Dixon, & Hancock, 2001); however, such studies are usually conducted on adolescents and do not ballooning has a very high profile and the media reports everything that happens within the bal-study youth beyond the age of 25 as in this article.The "youth" in this study are between 19 and 34, looning industry.However, the profile of land and water activities is not as high and therefore acci-so we may be seeing some adults in the sample who have outgrown the risk-taking behavior.It dents can occur that never receive a mention by the media.The frequency of media coverage is has also been said that females mature and move on from risk-taking behavior earlier than males likely to be a contributing factor to the level of influence the media has on perceptions.It is also (Chang et al., 2001).As there were a significant number of more females than males in the sample likely to impact on behavior.It has been established that, in the majority of (70% vs. 30%), this may have been a contributing factor to the results.
cases, the media's coverage of adventure accidents increases the youth market's perception of risk.So The extent of influence the mass media has on an individual is determined by the degree of de-how then does this affect their behavior?The survey results showed that 7.1% participated in the pendency on the media information.The fact that the majority of the respondents spend between 16 activity soon after, 50% did not participate but considered participation in the future, and 42.9% and 45 minutes per day viewing news stories and yet 28% of the respondents surveyed were unable did not participate and, while 43% decided not to participate in the activity, 57% either had or in-to recall an adventure tourism accident they had heard about in the news media is significant.It tended to.It is clear that the increase in risk encourages contemplation of participation in the fu-indicates that there is a fair proportion of the youth market that pays little attention to mass media ture.Perhaps the increase in perceived risk adds kudos to those that participate or even talk about news.
However, of the 72% who do pay attention, the participating (another interesting issue of selfreporting!).People are encouraged to participate media information and images were influential enough to increase the perceived risk associated in a risky activity because of the psychological benefit of receiving recognition for their achieve-with the activity involved in the accident recalled for over half (51.9%) the respondents.Interviewee ment (Ewert, 1989).It also shows that the news media has a similar positive effect on participation One commented that media coverage of accidents rates, as Hem et al. (2002) andPalmer (2002) ers would become exposed to the publicity created by adventure tourism accidents in the media.found risk images did in advertising adventure tourism.
Another interesting result to emerge from this study was that for most adventure activities the Both interviewees raised the point that, unlike the older generations, the youth market tends to media's coverage of adventure accidents increases the perceived risk associated with the activity, forget the details of adventure accidents reported in the media very quickly.Therefore, as Inter-which in turn encourages participation if notions of kudos and achievement are key motivators.In viewee One pointed out, the media's coverage of an accident acts as a form of publicity for the ac-other words, the media's coverage raises awareness of the activity and acts as positive publicity.tivity involved, reminding people that the activity exists and that it is risky.People then start to in-Adventure tourism businesses could use this free publicity to their advantage.quire about the activity and go in search of a reputable operator because as far as they are con-Interviewee One suggested that the peak marketing bodies should also be making the most of cerned, all operators cannot be unsafe.As noted in the interviews, business actually increased after the publicity generated by the news media's coverage of adventure accidents.While the accident is an accident within each of the rafting, canyoning, and caving industries.A similar pattern was also still fresh in people's minds they should be getting the media to report on how the activity can be observed following the death of eight climbers on Mount Everest (Heath, 1997).
enjoyed if done safely and with a reputable operator.It is also an opportunity to promote the benefits of adventure tourism in general.Although this Recommendations is not as easy as it sounds, Interviewee Two demonstrated how this could be done through the me-A key finding of the research was that a significant proportion of youth were more likely to par-dium of talk-back radio.However, in the instance of the youth market, it is advisable that such pro-ticipate in those activities that they perceived to be low in risk.As a result of this finding, adventure motion be done through newspaper or television because according to the findings of this study, the tourism businesses may need to reconsider how they market their adventure activity to the youth youth market identifies these to be the most accurate forms of news media when reporting about market.Risk-taking behavior has been classified as a characteristic of young people (Chang et al., adventure tourism. 2001) and therefore it has been assumed that the youth market are more inclined to participate in Further Research high-risk activities.However, as this study suggests, this is not the case for all youth, so that As with all research during the process of conducting this study, a number of other questions market may require further segmentation and understanding to adequately market the adventure that did not relate directly to the research objectives surfaced.It would be beneficial to explore product to all possible participants.Further research is therefore required to confirm this trend these questions further at a later stage to add to the knowledge obtained from this research and and to investigate the reasons for it, in order to give adventure businesses direction in their mar-therefore provide an even deeper understanding of the influence the mass media has on the adventure keting.
Although the youth associate low levels of ac-tourism industry.One of these questions was whether the mass curacy with the news media's reporting of adventure accidents, the results showed that the news media affects different adventure activities differently, and in what ways.It would be beneficial media does have an effect on them.Therefore, it is important that adventure tourism businesses take a to conduct a study that focuses primarily on the influence the mass media has on individual sec-proactive stance when an accident occurs within their business, as a greater number of youth travel-tors, such as air adventure activities.This would tic experience.(p.143)

Table 2 Table 1 Current
Youth Perception of Risk in Adventure Activities Youth Participation in Adventure Activities = no risk, 2 = low risk, 3 = medium risk, 4 = high risk, 5 = extreme risk.

Table 3
would be likely to participate in, as shown in Ta-

Table 4
Adventure Activity and Change in Perceived Risk