University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh UNIVERSITY OF GHANA THE IMPACT OF STAKEHOLDER MARKET ORIENTATION ON SUSTAINABILITY PERFORMANCE AT TOURISM DESTINATIONS BY ERNEST KAFUI KWASI TSETSE 10600207 THIS THESIS IS SUBMITTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF GHANA, LEGON IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE AWARD OF A DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY DEGREE IN MARKETING OCTOBER, 2020 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh DECLARATION i University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh CERTIFICATION I hereby certify that, this thesis was supervised in accordance with the laid down regulations of the University. Professor Mahmoud Abdulai Mahmoud Date Lead Supervisor Professor Charles Blankson Date Co-Supervisor Dr. Raphael Odoom Date Co-Supervisor ii University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh DEDICATION I dedicate this thesis to GOD for HIS endearing guidance and protection and for opening the doors of education to me. THANK YOU, FATHER. Next, I dedicate this to my parents, wife, siblings and children. I thank you for your support through the thick and thin. I say, GOD richly bless you! iii University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I wish to acknowledge the individuals and parties who made this study a reality. The completion of this study has been possible because of the support from the management of the Ho Technical University, who granted me a study-leave for the study. My special thanks go to my supervisors, Professor Mahmoud Abdulai Mahmoud, Professor Charles Blankson and Dr. Raphael Odoom for their direction and mentorship in aiding me to build valuable research skills and hence, making it possible to complete this thesis successfully. I wish to thank Dr. George Acheampong for his insightful counsel which made me focused too on this area of study. I further wish to thank the entire faculty of the Marketing and Entrepreneurship department of the University of Ghana Business School for being a useful network of scholars to support my study with valuable counsel. I further wish to acknowledge my class mates who have been there for discussions. I further want to thank Agbesi Emmanuel for his special support during the study period. My special thanks go to my wife, Mrs. Sherie Tsetse and my children; Amenuveve, Etornam and Korlade for their support in allowing me to be out of the house during the study period. iv University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ABSTRACT Market orientation has become the cornerstone of the marketing practice and management. As a result, it has attracted scholarly attention in the past years to call for the reconceptualization of market orientation and its combination with other strategic orientations and its ability to have a significant impact on sustainability performance. As a result, this study reconceptualised the market orientation (MO) into sustainability stakeholder market orientation (SStMO) by expanding its constituents and applying it To predict sustainability performance (SP). The study examines the impact of StMO on sustainability performance (SP) at tourism destinations (TDs) in Ghana. Using the stakeholder and institutional theories, the study in conjunction with extensive literature review produce a conceptual framework. A quantitative survey method of 313 respondents of tourism businesses was used for the study. The Smart PLS- structural equation modelling was employed to analyse the empirical data through measurement and structural models as well as examining the moderating role of state regulations. Further, the study finds that, environmental performance tops the level of sustainability practices at the tourism destinations, followed by economic sustainability performance and social sustainability performance. Out of twelve (12) hypotheses that were used to test the relationship between StMO and SP, nine (9) out of the twelve were supported whilst three (3) were rejected. The study also finds that, ecological regulation positively moderates the relationship whilst political regulation was negative. The theoretical and managerial implications as well as future research are also discussed in the study. v University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION ..................................................................................................................................... i CERTIFICATION ................................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined. DEDICATION ....................................................................................................................................... iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ..................................................................................................................... iv ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................................ v LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES ...................................................................................................... xi CHAPTER ONE ..................................................................................................................................... 1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Background of the Study ............................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Research Problem ......................................................................................................................... 3 1.2.1 Issue Gap ............................................................................................................................. 4 1.2.2 Theoretical Gap ................................................................................................................... 6 1.3 Research Objectives and Research Questions ........................................................................ 7 1.4 The Scope of the study............................................................................................................ 9 1.5 Significance of the Study ......................................................................................................... 9 1.6 Chapter Organization of the Study ........................................................................................... 12 CHAPTER TWO .................................................................................................................................. 17 CONTEXT OF THE STUDY ............................................................................................................... 17 2.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 17 2.2 Tourism and Sustainability Issues ......................................................................................... 18 2.2.1 Understanding the tourism landscape in Ghana .............................................................. 18 2.2.2 Development of tourism infrastructure ............................................................................ 20 2.3 The Need for Sustainability Issues in Ghana ......................................................................... 21 2.3.1 Bad farming methods and practices ................................................................................. 21 2.3.2 Hunting and bushing fires ................................................................................................. 22 2.3.3 Mining activities ....................................................................................................................... 22 2.3.4 Low levels of education and greed .......................................................................................... 23 2.3.5 Poor sanitation practices/ attitudes ........................................................................................ 24 2.4 Sustainability in Tourism: Issues and Evidence ..................................................................... 25 2.5 Tourism Development in Ghana ........................................................................................... 27 2.6 Marketing of Tourism in Ghana ............................................................................................ 32 CHAPTER THREE .............................................................................................................................. 34 LITERATURE REVIEW ..................................................................................................................... 34 3.0 Overview ..................................................................................................................................... 34 3.1 Market orientation ................................................................................................................ 34 vi University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 3.2 Sustainability marketing ....................................................................................................... 36 3.2.1 Sustainability performance indicators ..................................................................................... 44 3.2.2 Market Orientation (MO) and Sustainability Performance (SP) ....................................... 47 3.2.3 Regulations and Sustainability Performance .................................................................... 48 3.3 Stakeholder marketing .......................................................................................................... 53 3.4 Destination Marketing .......................................................................................................... 55 3.5 Key Themes in the StMO-SP Review ..................................................................................... 55 3.5.1 Market/Customer orientation and sustainability performance ....................................... 56 3.5.2 Stakeholder pressure and sustainability performance ..................................................... 56 3.5.3 Community engagement and sustainable tourism ........................................................... 57 3.5.4 Competition and sustainability performance ................................................................... 57 3.6 Methodological Issues .......................................................................................................... 58 3.7 Geographical Focus ............................................................................................................... 60 3.8 Theoretical Focus .................................................................................................................. 61 CHAPTER FOUR ................................................................................................................................. 63 THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS ...................................................................................................... 63 4.0 Overview ..................................................................................................................................... 63 4.1 Stakeholder Theory ..................................................................................................................... 63 4.2 Assumptions of the Stakeholder Theory ............................................................................... 66 4.3 Institutional Theory ............................................................................................................... 69 4.3.1 Dimensions of the institutional theory ............................................................................. 70 4.3.2 Assumptions underlying institutional theory.................................................................... 71 CHAPTER FIVE .................................................................................................................................. 74 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK ......................................................................................................... 74 5.1 Conceptualising Stakeholder Market Orientation (StMO) and Sustainability Performance (SP) .......................................................................................................................................................... 74 5.2.1 Competitor Orientation (CompO) and Environmental Sustainability Performance (EnvSP) ... 77 5.2.2 Competitor Orientation (CompO) and Social Sustainability Performance (SocSP) ................. 79 5.2.3 Competitor Orientation (CompO) and Economic Sustainability Performance (EcoSP) ........... 81 5.2.4 Stakeholder Industry Orientation (IndO) and Environmental Sustainability performance (EnvSP) .............................................................................................................................................. 82 5.2.5 Stakeholder Industry Orientation (IndO) and Social Sustainability performance (SocSP) ...... 84 5.2.6 Stakeholder Industry Orientation (IndO) and Economic Sustainability performance (EcoSP) 85 5.2.7 Stakeholder Visitor Orientation (VTO) and Environmental Sustainability Performance (EnvSP) .......................................................................................................................................................... 87 5.2.8 Stakeholder Visitor Orientation (VTO) and Social Sustainability Performance (SocSP) .......... 89 5.2.9 Stakeholder Visitor Orientation (VTO) and Economic Sustainability Performance (EcoSP) .... 90 vii University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 5.2.10 Stakeholder Community orientation (ComO) and Environmental performance (EnvSP) 91 5.2.11 Stakeholder Community orientation (ComO) and Social performance (SocSP) ............... 93 5.2.12 Stakeholder Community orientation (ComO) and Economic performance (EcoSP) ........ 95 5.3 The Moderating Role of State Regulation on StMO and Sustainability Performance Nexus ..... 96 5.4 Conceptual Framework Stakeholder Market Orientation (StMO) .................................................. 99 CHAPTER SIX ................................................................................................................................... 102 RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY .............................................................................. 102 6.0 Overview ................................................................................................................................... 102 6.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 103 6.2 Paradigms and Philosophical Perspectives ............................................................................... 104 6.2.1 Positivism as a Research Paradigm ........................................................................................ 107 6.3 Research Purpose...................................................................................................................... 108 6.3.1 Descriptive Studies ................................................................................................................. 109 6.3.2 Explanatory Studies................................................................................................................ 109 6.3.3 Exploratory Studies ................................................................................................................ 110 6.4 Research Strategy ..................................................................................................................... 110 6.5 Research Approach ................................................................................................................... 112 6.5.1 Qualitative Research .............................................................................................................. 113 6.5.2 Quantitative Research ........................................................................................................... 114 6.5.3 Mixed Methods Research ............................................................................................... 115 6.6 Research Method – Survey ....................................................................................................... 116 6.7 Research Design for the Study .................................................................................................. 118 6.8.1 Research Instrument .............................................................................................................. 121 6.8.2 Population and Sampling Frame ............................................................................................ 124 6.8.3 Sampling Techniques ......................................................................................................... 125 6.8.4 Sources of Data ...................................................................................................................... 125 6.9 Analysis Procedures of Survey Questionnaire .......................................................................... 126 6.9.1 Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modelling ...................................................... 126 6.9.2 Measurement Theory ..................................................................................................... 128 6.9.3 Measurement Model Assessment ......................................................................................... 130 6.9.3.1 Internal Consistency Reliability ................................................................................... 131 6.9.3.2 Convergent Validity ..................................................................................................... 131 6.9.3.3 Discriminant Validity ................................................................................................... 131 6.9.3.4 Formative measurement models assessment ............................................................ 132 6.9.4 Structural Theory ............................................................................................................ 133 6.9.4.1 Structural Model Assessment ......................................................................................... 134 viii University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 6.9.4.2 Assessing R 2 estimates ............................................................................................... 134 6.9.4.3 Assessing ƒ 2 values ...................................................................................................... 135 6.9.4.4 Assessing Q 2 Values .................................................................................................... 135 6.10 Mediation and Moderation Analysis....................................................................................... 136 6.11 Summary ................................................................................................................................. 137 CHAPTER SEVEN ............................................................................................................................ 140 PRESENTATION OF EMPIRICAL DATA AND ANALYSIS ........................................................ 140 7.0 Overview ................................................................................................................................... 140 7.1 Descriptive Statistical Analysis .................................................................................................. 140 7.1.1 Firm Characteristics ........................................................................................................... 140 7.1.2 Construct Descriptive Analysis ........................................................................................... 142 7.2 Exploratory Factor Analysis ....................................................................................................... 149 7.3 Levels of Sustainability Performance ........................................................................................ 150 7.4 Measurement Model Assessment (Confirmatory Factor Analysis) .......................................... 152 7.4.1 Reliability and Convergent Validity Tests ........................................................................... 152 7.4.2 Discriminant Validity Tests ................................................................................................. 159 7.5 Structural Model Assessment (Analyses on StMO Dimensions Predicting SP Dimension) ...... 162 7.5.1 Collinearity Checks ............................................................................................................. 163 7.5.2 Model Fit ............................................................................................................................ 164 7.5.3 Model Predictive Power and Predictive Relevance ........................................................... 164 7.5.4 Hypothesis Assessment on StMO Dimensions Predicting SP Dimension .......................... 165 7.6 Moderation Analysis ................................................................................................................. 167 CHAPTER EIGHT ............................................................................................................................. 170 DISCUSSION OF RESEARCH FINDINGS ..................................................................................... 170 8.0 Overview ................................................................................................................................... 170 8.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 170 8.2 Discussion of Findings ............................................................................................................... 172 8.2.1 Development of conceptual framework to measure sustainability performance at tourism destinations..................................................................................................................................... 172 8.2.2 The relationship between StMO and Sustainability Performance (SP) ................................. 173 8.2.2.1 Competitor orientation (CompO) and environmental sustainability performance (EnvSP) 173 8.2.2.2 Competitor orientation (CompO) and social Sustainability performance (SocSP) ..... 175 8.2.2.3 Competitor Orientation (CompO) and Economic Sustainability Performance (EcoSP) .. 176 8.2.2.4 Stakeholder Industry Orientation (IndO) and Environmental Sustainability performance (EnvSP) .................................................................................................................. 177 ix University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 8.2.2.5 Stakeholder Industry Orientation (IndO) and Social Sustainability performance (SocSP) 178 8.2.2.6 Stakeholder Industry Orientation (IndO) and Economic Sustainability performance (EcoSP) 179 8.2.2.7 Stakeholder Visitor Orientation (VTO) and Environmental Sustainability Performance (EnvSP) 180 8.2.2.8 Stakeholder Visitor Orientation (VTO) and Social Sustainability Performance (SocSP) 182 8.2.2.9 Stakeholder Visitor Orientation (VTO) and Economic Sustainability Performance (EcoSP) 183 8.2.2.10 Stakeholder Community orientation (ComO) and Environmental performance (EnvSP) .................................................................................................................................................... 184 8.2.2.11 Stakeholder Community orientation (ComO) and Social performance (SocSP) ........... 185 8.2.2.12 Stakeholder Community orientation (ComO) and Economic performance (EcoSP) .... 186 8.3 Moderation ............................................................................................................................... 187 8.2.4 The level of sustainability performance at tourism destination ............................................ 189 CHAPTER NINE ................................................................................................................................ 193 SUMMARY OF CONCLUSIONS AND REFLECTIONS ................................................................ 193 9.0 Chapter Overview ..................................................................................................................... 193 9.1 Summary of the Research and Major Findings ......................................................................... 193 9.2 Reflections................................................................................................................................. 197 9.2.1 Reflection on Theories ........................................................................................................... 198 9.2.2 Reflection on the conceptual framework .............................................................................. 199 9.2.2.1 Reflection on the research methodology ................................................................... 200 9.3 Contributions and Implications for Future Research ................................................................ 201 9.3.1 Implications for Management and Practice ........................................................................... 203 9.4 Conclusions ............................................................................................................................... 205 9.5 Research Limitations and Directions for Future Research ........................................................ 206 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................................... 210 APPENDICES .................................................................................................................................... 247 x University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES Details Page Figure 1.1 Diagrammatic Illustration of Chapters Organisation 15 Table 3.1 Economic sustainability indicators 43 Table 3.2 Environmental Sustainability Indicators 44 Table 3.3 Socio-cultural sustainability indicators 45 Table 3.4 Mapping of Articles: Themes and Methodological approaches 57 Table 3.5 Mapping of Articles: Context and Conceptual Approaches 59 Figure 4.1 Conceptual Framework 96 Figure 6.1 Diagrammatic representation of research methodology 98 Table 6.1 Paradigms in Social Science Research 100 Table 7.1 Firm characteristics 133 Table 7.2 Descriptive statistics for Stakeholder Market Orientation (StMO) 136 Table 7.3 Descriptive statistics for Sustainability Performance (SP) 141 Table 7.4 Descriptive statistics for State Regulations (SR) 143 Table 7.5 Summary of Results Showing Factor Analysis of the Study Variables 145 Figure 7.1 Levels of sustainability performance 146 Table 7.1 Levels of sustainability performance 146 Table 7.7 Results on Reliability and Convergent Validity – First Iteration 148 Table 7.8 Results on Reliability and Convergent Validity – Second Iteration 150 Table 7.9 Results on Reliability and Convergent Validity – Final Iteration 152 Figure 7.2 Measurement model 154 Table 7.10 Fornell and Larcker criterion of discriminant validity 155 Table 7.11 Cross loading criterion of discriminant validity of Latent Variables 156 Table 7.12 Results of Heterotrait-Monotrait Ratio (HTMT) analysis criterion of Discriminant validity 157 Table 7.13 Results of VIF 159 Table 7.15 Results of coefficient of determination analysis 160 Table 7.16 Hypothesis Assessment on StMO Dimensions Predicting SP Dimension 161 Table 7.17 Moderating Effect of ER and PR 162 xi University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Figure 7.3 Slope analysis of the moderation effect of ER 163 Figure 7.4 Slope analysis of the moderation effect of PR 163 Figure 7.5 Final Model 165 Table 9.1 Summary of major results/findings Research 185 Table A1 Summary of Empirical Literature Sources and Year of Publication 217 Table A2 Summary of Conceptual Literature Sources and Year of Publication 219 Table A3 Mapping of Empirical and Conceptual Literature Sources and Databases 220 Table A4 Mapping of Issues, Country/Methods/Level of Analysis and Theory/Models221 Table A5 List of Articles used for Literature Review 227 A6 Introduction Letter from the Department of Marketing and Entrepreneurship228 A7 Ethical Clearance from the Ethics Committee for the Humanities (ECH) 229 xii University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh GLOSSARY CHRAJ - Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice ComO - Stakeholder Community Orientation CompO - Competitor Orientation DMO - Destination Marketing Organisation EcoSP - Economic Sustainability Performance EnvSP - Environmental Sustainability Performance EP - Environmental Performance EPA - Environmental Protection Authority FC - Forestry Commission GSCMP - Green Supply Chain Management Practices GTA - Ghana Tourism Authority IndO - Stakeholder Industry Orientation MO - Market Orientation MSMO - Multi-Stakeholder Market Orientation MTN - Multi Telecommunications Network RBV - Resource Based View SDGs - Sustainable Development Goals SEM - Structural Equation Modelling SocSP - Social Sustainability Performance SP - Sustainability Performance StMO - Sustainable Market Orientation TDs - Tourism Destinations UNESCO - United Nations Education Social and Cultural Organisation UNWTO - United Nations World Tourism Organisation VTO - Stakeholder Visitor Orientation WTTC - World Travel and Tourism Council xiii University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh xiv University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background of the Study Tourism as an industry has grown tremendously in recent years and its importance to nations, regions, communities, cities, towns and specific destination cannot be underestimated. International tourism arrivals stood at 7% in 2017 and this showed an increase over the 4% record in 2018 at the Global level. Between January and March 2019 (in the first quarter), international tourist arrivals (overnight visitors) grew by 4% (UNWTO, 2019). Europe’s international arrivals stood at 8% with Africa also giving 8% in 2018. (UNWTO, 2019). The travel and tourism sector has contributed 10.3% to the world’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and contributed 330 million jobs globally (623,100 jobs in Ghana) {World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC, 2019)}. In Ghana, the travel and tourism sector is the third contributor to GDP. The sector contributed in total GHS17, 497.3 million (USD 3305.1 million) to Ghana’s GDP in 2019, or 5 % to total GDP (WTTC, 2019). There are a lot of potentials in this sector and governments and the private sector are investing heavily in infrastructure such roads, power, pipe borne water as well as coming out with good regulatory frameworks to regulate tourism and its related industry. When governments are able to effectively and efficiently regulate the stakeholders then the industry can reap the huge investments in the sector. Tourism destinations (TD) are subsets of destinations that need special attention due their peculiar nature in terms of the role they, can play in improving the status of the rural populations, contributing to sustainable income of nations and conserving natural and social environment of the TDs (Peña, Jamilena, & Molina, 2013). TDs offer unique offerings that give visitors memorable experiences in order to build competitive advantage (Musa, Kayat, & Thirumoorthi, 2010). However, tourism destinations are saddled with some challenges, for instance, low investments in infrastructure such as roads, water, power, and as a result make these destinations somewhat 1 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh unattractive. Improvement in tourism destinations do not translate only into the physical landscape of the destination but also the social life of the community in general (Hwang, Stewart, & Ko, 2012). The above benefits to the nation might be cut short due to human activities that threaten the continuous survival of natural vegetative cover, animals, landmarks and water bodies which are used as attractors to the tourism destinations. Bad mining practices, bad farming practices, excessive bushfires and global climate change are destroying the green vegetative cover, the animals and water bodies of the destinations. These strategic natural resources serve as the tourist destinations for the country. The forest vegetation in Ghana, for instance, has seen massive deterioration with 80% of it disappearing in the past 100 years. The forest reduced from 8.2 million hectares to 1.6 million hectares with an annual depletion rate of 65000 hectares (Forestry Commission (FC), 2018). The country has lost the quality and quantity of its water bodies as a result of illegal mining called “galamsey” and other human activities like farming and bush burning. These unsustainability human activities pose a lot of threat to the natural resources of the country hence demand immediate action to stop the continuous destruction of these strategic natural resources. This calls for all stakeholders to come on board to put in sustainability policies and practices to prevent such deterioration to these natural resources. One option that will help in tackling this deterioration is through stakeholder management of these natural resources where stakeholders would commit to putting in resources to prevent further destruction by way of behavioural change which will support the existence of these strategic natural resources that form the tourism destinations of Ghana. 2 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh One business strategy that can be adopted by TDs is Stakeholder Market Orientation (StMO). The researcher therefore conceptualized StMO as a broad network of destination’s stakeholders that establish relationships among themselves with the aim of gathering market information and other resources, exchange them among the stakeholders to be used to make strategic marketing decisions that benefit all stakeholders at the destination to achieve long term survivor of the resources of the destinations that translate into providing sustainability superior services to their customers and other stakeholders (Narver & Slater, 1990; Jaworski & Kohli, 1993; Polo Peña et al., 2013; Mahmoud, Blankson, & Hinson, 2017). More so, extant literature has identified the limited stakeholders of market orientation (MO) and calls for their expansion (Mitchell, Wooliscroft, & Higham, 2010; Crittenden, Crittenden, Ferrell, Ferrell, & Pinney, 2011; Line & Wang, 2017a) hence the adoption of StMO which exploit many more stakeholders. This strategy can result in the tourism destination’s competitiveness, visitor satisfaction, visitor loyalty, profitability, and the overall growth of the destination. 1.2 Research Problem In order to improve the performance of businesses, management and marketing scholars have proposed Market Orientation (MO) which is anchored on the marketing concept. These scholars proposed that generating customers and competitors’ information, disseminating these information within the organisation and being responsive to these market information hold the key to providing superior value to customers and building competitive advantage and improved performance (Kohli & Jaworski, 1990; Narver & Slater, 1990; Jaworski & Kohli, 1993; Peña, Jamilena, & Molina, 2013; Mahmoud et al., 2016a; Mahmoud, Blankson, & Hinson, 2017; Oluwatoyin, Olufunke, & Salome, 2018) . This concept has been tested in both the developed countries (Kohli & Jaworski, 1990; Narver & Slater, 1990a; Line & Wang, 2017b) and developing countries (Kuada & Buatsi, 2005; Mahmoud, 2011). However, other scholars in 3 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh management have also proposed that the organisation is made up of different stakeholders and managing the interest of these stakeholders is crucial to the success of the organisation. The assumption is that shareholders are not the only stakeholders of the organisations. Employees, customers, suppliers, regulators and competitors are also crucial and the organisations relationships with these stakeholders becomes fundamental to the success of the organisation (Donaldson & Preston, 2017). The argument is that marketing scholars who adopted the Stakeholder Orientation (SO) contend that the business has multiple stakeholders that the business must interact and network with (Ferrell et al., 2010; Ferrell, Ferrell, Mena, Hult, 2011) . This has given the business a broader stakeholder view which allows the business to relate with many stakeholders other than the customers, competitors, and shareholders. Other stakeholders of the business are employees, suppliers, regulators, community and the natural environment. As a result, the business would be satisfying or creating value for multiple stakeholders rather than the customer as the conventional MO used to achieve ( Mitchell et al., 2010; Line & Wang, 2017b). Research Gaps 1.2.1 Issue Gap This broader stakeholder view has shifted the conversation to new concepts like Sustainable Market Orientation (SMO) and Multi-Stakeholder Market Orientation (MSMO). According to Mitchell et al., (2010), SMO contend that the incorporation of economic, social and ecological concerns into MO strategy, can result in improved business performance. In reconceptualising MO, these scholars sighted the shortcomings of the conventional MO strategy to be more orientated towards short-term profit maximization which had adverse ecological, social and 4 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh economic impacts on society. They called for a more universal and comprehensive corporate management strategy that can gather environmental intelligence and disseminate market information to broader stakeholder with the help of operational and marketing systems that are responsive to customer and other stakeholders needs. This is a more efficient resource management and competitive marketing strategy that creates more sustainable environmental, economic and social outcomes that give direct financial benefits to primary stakeholders and indirect benefits for secondary stakeholders. However, this postulation theorizes sustainability constructs as antecedents. This study proposes sustainability constructs as an outcome of stakeholder market orientation (StMO). Researchers have called for the empirical testing of sustainability and the operationalization of sustainability measures ( Mitchell et al., 2010). Also scholars have proposed an expansion of the constituents of MO and more especially to meet the needs of the tourism destination sector (Line & Wang, 2017b, 2017a). In addition scholars have called for the adoption of MO and SO strategies to study sustainability issues (Heikkurinen & Bonnedahl, 2013). A recent study by Green, Toms., & Clark, (2015) about the impact of market orientation on environmental sustainability strategy established a positive relationship between MO and environmental performance of manufacturing firms in United States of America (USA). However, the relationship between StMO and economic and social sustainability performance is yet to be known especially at TDs. In shifting the discussion on the conventional MO, Line and Wang (2017a) postulated a broader stakeholder view of the MO called MSMO. Their position is that the firm or the corporation should create value through multiple actors other than the customer and shareholders. The thinking is that the firm should be interested in stakeholder value creation as compared to customer value as postulated by the original proponents of MO concept (Kohli & Jaworski, 1990; Narver & Slater, 1990a; Kohli, Jaworski, & Kumar, 1993) . This goal can only be 5 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh achieved when the firms generate, disseminate and react to information from multiple stakeholders in the marketing environment. This shift in marketing thought, meet the needs of the customers, and preserve the ecology and the society at large. The corporate strategy aligning with this contemporary marketing thought is likely to build efficient relationship with many stakeholders by leveraging on their resources that assist the businesses in meeting its stakeholder value. This macro marketing perspective of Line and Wang (2017) agrees with the position of Mitchell et al., (2010) where SMO has a positive relationship with business performance and MSMO also has a positive impact on Destination Marketing Organizations (DMOs) performance. The positive relationship between MO, MSMO and SMO and business performance has been established in the marketing literature (Kohli & Jaworski, 1990; Narver & Slater, 1990; Jaworski & Kohli, 1993; Mahmoud, 2011; Mahmoud et al., 2016). However, there is little research on the impact of StMO on sustainability performance at tourism destinations. The United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) also calls for the introduction of sustainability practices into marketing management strategies of businesses (SDGs. 2017). This further implies that to provide sustainable superior value for customers and business stakeholders in general, businesses need intelligence on many actors in order to improve strategic corporate plans that would be enduring to prolong the life span of the businesses. 1.2.2 Theoretical Gap Most of the studies in MO related research have used the resource based view (RBV), resource advantage theory (Green, Toms, & Clark, 2015; Mahmoud et al., 2017), stakeholder theory (Line & Wang, 2017b), system theory (Mitchell et al., 2010; Line & Wang, 2017b) and so on. However, the stakeholder and institutional theories have not been used extensively to study StMO and sustainability performance. This study plans use the stakeholder and institutional 6 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh theories to deepen the understanding of StMO and sustainability performance relationship and its moderation with state regulations. 1.2.3 Contextual Gap MO’s application to destination marketing has received little attention by scholars (Mitchell, Wooliscroft, & Higham, 2010; Line & Wang, 2017). Scholars have called for further research in tourism destinations in other geographical locations to stimulate debate and to raise questions for studying and monitoring stakeholder participation (Longart et al. 2017) With the global call for sustainability practices to be incorporated into businesses, this study is one of the few studies that investigates the impact of StMO on sustainability performance in tourism destinations in Ghana as an emerging economy. 1.3 Research Objectives and Research Questions 1. To develop a conceptual framework to measure stakeholder market orientation (StMO) and sustainability performance (SP). 2. To establish the relationship between StMO dimensions and sustainability performance dimensions. 3. To determine the moderating role of state regulation (political and ecological) on sustainability performance at tourism destinations (TDs). 4. To determine the level of sustainability performance at tourism destinations The following questions need to be answered in order to achieve the research objectives for this study. 7 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 1. What is the conceptual framework to measure stakeholder market orientation and sustainability performance? 2. What is the relationship between StMO dimensions and sustainability performance dimensions? 3. What is the moderating role of state regulation on sustainability performance at TDs? 4. What is the level of sustainability performance at tourism destinations? 8 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 1.4 The Scope of the study The study covers all tourism enterprises or businesses at tourism destinations (TD) at the Volta, Greater-Accra and Central regions of Ghana that are functional in terms of having staffs and regular visitors. 1.5 Significance of the Study This study contributes to the sustainability marketing, stakeholder marketing and MO literature. This would assist future researchers in this area find literature to review for their research. The conceptual framework developed would guide future researchers to develop variables in conceptualising similar studies. The study is also relevant to regulators and policy makers in adopting StMO in tourism destinations management to improve sustainability performance which in turn improve tourist visits, revisits and improve the performance of the destinations in general and TDs in particular. Furthermore, the study would assist practitioners and stakeholders in general to manage tourism destinations (TDs) more profitably in order to create wealth for the stakeholders of the TDs. Again, the study would assist and whip up interest in of Ghanaians in undertaking visits to TDs and generate revenue for individual businesses and the government. When the TDs are managed well and service quality is improved as a result of adopting StMO in improving sustainability performance, they attract both domestic and international tourists which further boost the revenue of the state. 9 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Last but not the least, the study contributes to assessing the level of achievement of the SDGs at the tourism destinations in Ghana. This can assist government and the private sector to put in more efforts and resources to achieve some of the SDGs in Ghana. Achieving sustainability performance at the tourism destinations in Ghana means the country is meeting goals one, three, six, seven, eleven, twelve, thirteen and fifteen. Goal is about eradication of poverty. As tourism destinations adhere to sustainability performance, tourism businesses would be doing well and this would improve revenue and job creation for the citizens. Revenues generated from the tourism enterprises would assist the country to invest more in agriculture and processing factories and increase food production and consumption. This would assist the country to achieve zero hunger. As sustainability performance is improved at tourism destinations, good health and wellbeing would be attained and therefore achieving SDG three. Sanitation and clean water which is goal six can be achieved if tourism businesses practice environmental and ecological sustainability. By this our beaches and towns would be clean. When tourism businesses provide toilet facilities at the destinations, open defecation would be a thing of the past. This would prevent diseases and improve the overall health of the population. Healthy mining and farming practices can save our water bodies from destruction and provide clean water for the growing populations of the country. Furthermore, good environmental and ecological sustainability would promote affordable and clean energy for the country which would help attain goal seven. One of the cheapest energy sources is from hydroelectric power. Good ecological practices can sustain water bodies that can be used to generate affordable hydroelectric power for the country. Tourism destinations would be associated with eco-friendly buildings: - buildings that are small and use local materials to build. As tourism destinations adopt these eco-friendly buildings the country would attain sustainable cities and communities which would help achieve SDG seven which sustainable 10 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh cities and communities. Tourists and tourism enterprise can promote sustainable consumption and production. As tourists begin to demand sustainable products, automatically tourism enterprises would also begin producing sustainable products which would assist in attaining goal twelve. For instance, as tourists begin to demand reduced fatty and oily foods or stable energy and water efficient rooms, tourism businesses would respond to it positively. Climate change goals which SDG thirteen is another goal that the tourism enterprises can assist to achieve. By becoming environmentally and ecologically conscious tourism businesses would prevent cutting trees but rather encourage tree planting, conserving animal species and plants would go a long way to improve climatic conditions like adequate rainfall, sunshine and wind speed. Tourism businesses can make it a policy to buy food products from farmers that adhere to good farming practices such as not burning the bush or applying the right agro- chemicals at the right quantities and at the right time too. This would force farmers to conform to good agronomic practices and hence improve food quality and the environment. As climatic conditions improve as a result of sustainable environmental and ecological performance, life on land which is goal fifteen can be achieved. As good sanitation and environmental conditions as well as social and economic sustainability performance are adhered too, life on land would be improved and citizens would be sure of good health and good life on land. The study would also contribute to the growing call for multidisciplinary research. The concepts of stakeholder market orientation and sustainability performance hinges on many disciplines such as management, economics, marketing, sociology, geography, agriculture, biology, chemistry and many more. This type of research draws from many subject areas and enables the researcher to propose good solutions to life problems which in itself is multifaceted. 11 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 1.6 Chapter Organization of the Study Chapter one introduces the study by giving a background to the study where the importance of the tourism industry has been discussed. The next item that follows is the research problem which anchors the rationale for the study. Gaps in research which include issues, methodological, theoretical and context gaps were also discussed. The research objectives and questions followed the research gaps to set the aims of the study with the scope of the study delineating the study. The significance of the study also falls under chapter one where the importance of the study was generally discussed and the chapter was concluded with the chapter organisation describing how the study is organised in each chapter Chapter two sets the context for the study by discussing the need for sustainability research in tourism destinations in Ghana, the state of development of tourism infrastructure in Ghana, classification of tourism products in Ghana, tourism development in Ghana where the various tourism plans have been discussed up to date and tourism marketing in Ghana has also been attended to in this chapter Chapter three covers the review of extant literature from which key gaps were identified. The chapter reviews literature on key concepts such market orientation, stakeholder orientation, destination marketing and sustainability marketing to provide an in depth understanding into the research area. This chapter dealt with a systematic review of literature mainly from 2010 to 2020 relating to StMO and sustainability performance (SP) which covers main themes/issues, methodology, theoretical and geographical categorisations. 12 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Chapter four covers the theoretical foundation for the study. This is where the study fell on stakeholder and institutional theories to underpin the research. The stakeholder theory was used to explain the key stakeholders of the tourism destination businesses and how tourism businesses relate to their multiple stakeholders to be able to carry out the StMO strategy to practice SP. The institutional theory is used to explain how state institutions regulate tourism businesses in order to achieve SP compliance. Chapter five of the study developed a conceptual framework that assisted in the conceptualisation of the study by operationalising independent and dependent variables used in the study. This chapter covered the formulation of testable hypothesis that assisted in testing the relationships. Chapter six outlines the research design and methodology to cover the research paradigms, research purpose, and research strategy, research approach, data collection and method of analysis. The major paradigms looked at in this chapter include positivism, interpretivism, realism, relativism and critical realism. The research purpose espoused in this chapter involved exploration, description and explanation. The research strategies covered include deduction, induction, abductive and retroductive. The major research approaches include quantitative, qualitative and mixed method. The data collection approach was the survey method with mainly closed-ended questionnaires and PLS-SEM was the data analysis method used. 13 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Chapter seven presents the empirical data and analysis which involve demographics, descriptive statistics measurement and structural models. The demographics mainly include age, number of employees, type of business and location. The measurement model is made up of exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis to determine the reliability and validity of the items. The structural model covers the collinearity and model fit assessment to determine the predictive power and relevance of the model for hypotheses testing. Chapter eight presents detail discussions of the research findings-based on research objectives, conceptual framework and hypotheses in relation to extant literature. Chapter nine which is the final chapter of the thesis presents summary of the thesis, conclusions to the study and implications of the study to various stakeholders. The chapter also provides direction for future research. The organisation of the study has been illustrated in a diagram below (see figure 1.1 below). 14 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 15 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Figure 1.1-Diagrammatic Illustration of Chapters Organisation 16 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh CHAPTER TWO CONTEXT OF THE STUDY 2.1 Introduction Ghana, is sited on the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean in West Africa with the following immediate neighbouring countries: Togo to the east, Cote D’Ivoire to the west, and Burkina Faso to the north. Having a land mass of about 238,533 km2 (92,098 mi2). Ghana’s population stands at about 25.5 million, standing for over one hundred ethnic groups and numerous native languages. English Language is evidently the widely accepted official language whilst Twi stands as one of the most spoken local dialects (Baah et al., 2020). As a developing economy with a lower to middle income status, this country is viewed as one of the fastest increasing economies in the west African sub-region with about GDP US$40.71 billion (Akyeampong, 2009; Baah et al., 2020). Ghana is known as one of the leading producers of cocoa (2nd), the second biggest gold miner in Africa, as well as a topical oil producer (Akyeampong, 2009; Baah et al., 2020). On the global screens, Ghana is notable for its steady and thriving democracy and peaceful society. She is enviably endowed with good tourism appeals such as its hospitable people, its ecotourism features, and its rich historical and cultural heritage. Initially the Europeans arrived in sub-Saharan Africa for commercial activities, where the country’s shores were spotted with the Elmina Castle, the Fort St. Jago marked as UNESCO world heritage, with old European forts and castles, as well as the Cape Coast Castle (Ayeh, 2015; Baah et al., 2020). The country is blessed with numerous cultural and historical festivals due to its varied ethnic groups. Furthermore, its savannas and tropical rainforests serve as a home for many wildlife species. Geographic destinations of attraction consist of estuaries, mountains, nature reserves, 17 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh waterfalls, rivers, lakes, caves, springs, wildlife parks, among many others. The Atlantic Ocean coastline of the country is dotted with sandy beaches and swamps which serves as home for migratory birds. The economy of Ghana is dominated by many foreign players who are aiding in developing a more contemporary, state-of-the-art and intricate facilities and is increasingly inviting visitors, tourists and investors as well as earnings into the economic basket (Akyeampong, 2009). “In 1992, the Hotel, Tourism and Catering Training Institute was established to improve professional standards. University-level education began in 1996 with the University of Cape Coast program in Tourism. Since then, a number of public and private tertiary institutions have started offering various related degrees and diplomas” (Akyeampong, 2009; pg 6). 2.2 Tourism and Sustainability Issues 2.2.1 Understanding the tourism landscape in Ghana Ghana can boast of many natural resources in the area of different vegetation types, water bodies, iconic landscapes and coastline and beaches. These natural resources produce diverse tourist attractions all over the country. The forest vegetation for instance has seen massive deterioration with 80% of it disappearing in the past 100 years. The forest cover of Ghana has seen a reduction from 8.2 million hectares to 1.6 million hectares with an annual depletion rate of 65000 hectares (Akyeampong, 2009) (Forestry Commission (FC), 2018). Mention can be made of protected land such as forest reserves which are home to many animals, birds, butterflies and important tree species. Animals such as monkeys, lions, elephants, antelopes, buffalo and others become excellent attraction to most tourists. For instance, Kakum National Park is one important tourist attractions in the Central Region of Ghana. The Mole National Park is another protected area found in the northern part of Ghana. There are other forest 18 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh reserves dotted all over the country such as Digya National Park, Kyabobo National Park, Bia National Park and Resource Reserve, Bui Forest Reserve, and Nini Suhien National Park. Ghana can also boast of Wildlife Sanctuaries and Ramsar Sites such as Owabi Wildlife Sanctuary, Agumatsa Wildlife Sanctuary, Boaben – Fiema Monkey Sanctuary, Tafi Monkey Sanctuary and Keta Lagoon Complex Ramsar Site (FC, 2019). According to the FC, if immediate action is not taken Ghana would lose it forest vegetative cover as a result of human activities and climate change phenomenon. Sand and rocky coastlines are also found at the southern part of Ghana. These coast lines have produced sandy beaches that have become very good tourist destinations for both domestic and international visitors. Some of these beaches are Keta, Ada, Labadi, Kokrobite, Winneba, Cape-Coast, Elmina, and Cape Three Point among others. However, human activities like sand winning and the rise in sea level as a result of global warming threaten the continuous existence of these beaches. These tourist sites generate a lot of revenue for the local people as well as government. It is estimated that tourism and its related activities are the third contributor to Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The tourism sector also generates various forms of employment to a lot of Ghanaians and as a result holds a lot prospect to solving the unemployment menace of the country. The tourism sector’s contribution to infrastructure development cannot be underestimated. Various degrees of hotels have sprung up to serve the high demand from tourists. For instance, five-star hotels such as Holiday Inn, Labadi hotel, Novotel, Golden Tulip and many others have sprung up due to the tourism sector demand. The low budget hotels call the Guest Houses and motels dotted around the cities and rural areas are also key in meeting the demands of visitors to various destinations in Ghana. 19 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Road infrastructure and other communication systems have been constructed from the cities to the rural areas to open up most of these tourist sites. These roads have opened the country for a lot of economic activities and reduced the time spent on travelling. The Kotoka International Airport has seen a lot of face lift in order to accommodate bigger carriers. Other domestic airports like Kumasi, Tamale and Wa have all seen expansion. A new airport has also been constructed in Ho, the Volta Regional Capital as part of the effort to open up the country to visitors. Communication, in terms of mobile and fixed networks has also seen a lot expansion and penetration to the rural areas. Currently, MTN, one of the largest telecommunication companies has a nationwide coverage. Internet penetration has also seen a lot of improvement in Ghana and some of these improvements have come in order to serve both domestic and international visitors in the country. However, the above advantages in terms of constructions of hotels, roads, telecommunication networks and other human activities like farming, hunting, bush burning, and mining put most of the destinations at risk if nothing is done about them. 2.2.2 Development of tourism infrastructure Construction of roads, hotels, telecommunication networks and energy distribution lines has resulted in the destruction of the land and vegetation. As the country creates space for these developments forest and other vegetative cover are removed to allow for the construction of these amenities to tourism destination. These actions destroy the ecology and its habitants such as birds, animal, insects, and trees which otherwise can form part of the attractions. This is termed tourism paradox. Can we estimate how much vegetative cover and its habitats have been lost through construction of Accra –Tamale- Bolgatanga roads? As these constructions 20 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh are going on most of the habitats migrate to different zones which sometimes are across national boundaries. This means these fauna and flora are lost to the country. 2.2.3 Classification of Tourism Products in Ghana Tourists visit various destinations in order to enjoy different offerings that are offered by these tourism destinations. The tourism products can be classified into natural and manmade (Bormann & Agyeman-Duah, 2015). The natural tourism products are made up of natural or destinations such as landscapes, beaches, climates, vegetation (forest, savannah, and deserts), waterfalls, mountains, caves, wildlife, rivers and so on. The man-made products involve all products that are created by human beings. These manmade products involve, history, culture, castles and forts, festivals, and other artificially created events and entertainments like discos, clubs and so on. 2.3 The Need for Sustainability Issues in Ghana 2.3.1 Bad farming methods and practices Farming is the major activity in Ghana and majority of farmers still resort to the use of outdated farming methods. Shifting cultivation is one of the oldest farming methods that is still being used by farmers in the rural areas of Ghana. This type of farming method does not employ scientific process. Farmers cut most trees and burn the dry cover that destroy the living organisms in the soil and expose the soil to the vagaries of the weather leading to soil erosion. Due to the destruction to the soil fertility farmers have to move to another area in the next season and may not come back to the old plot again. This kind of farming method would destroy large parcels of land which otherwise could be used for forest reserve to serve as a tourist attraction. 21 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 2.3.2 Hunting and bushing fires Hunting is another traditional economic activity that is detrimental to sustainability tourism in Ghana. Hunting is done especially during the dry season through burning of the bush for the animals to move out of their habitats for the hunters to shoot at or catch with their dogs. This activity has been a destruction to both unprotected and protected lands. The fire strays to protected lands like forest reserves and wildlife sanctuaries destroying fora and fauna. These primitive actions destroy the beauty of the vegetation and destroy its habitats which hither to act as attractions for tourists and researchers. Sometimes bushfires also result from palm wine tapping when fire used for the tapping process is not quenched well. These actions can lead to wild fires destroying several hectares of vegetation and its habitats. 2.3.3 Mining activities Mining is also an old economic activity and its scale increased with the demand for raw materials for machines and tools. There are two forms of mining which both destroy the ecology. These are the regulated mining and unregulated mining activity which is known as ‘galamsey’ in Ghana. The regulated mining is when concessions are given to registered companies to mine so that sound environmental practices would be observed. For instance, pits and degraded lands would be reclaimed through filling and afforestation. But most of the time, these sound practices are not followed and regulated bodies like Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Minerals Commission and others do not enforce the laws to the letter. This allows most of the foreign mining companies to destroy the forest, pollute water bodies which act as tourism destinations for the country. The unregulated mining called galamsey is the worse mining method as individuals or groups of people mine without going through approved process of acquiring concessions. These ‘galamsey’ miners mine in water 22 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh bodies and tend to pollute many water bodies that serve as sources of drinking water for these mining communities. The mining in the rivers lead to silting of the river beds and channels leading to pollution and sometimes flooding. In some occasions the silting of the river can lead to drying up of the rivers entirely especially during the dry seasons. These actions have and continue to destroy our vegetation, rivers and lands with their habitats which could act as tourism destinations and generate income. Important rivers like Ankobra, Densu, Pra and many others are being lost as a result of galamsey. 2.3.4 Low levels of education and greed Other factors leading to unsustainable management of our natural resources are low levels of education and greed. Majority of Ghanaians are still illiterates or have low levels of educations. As a result, these segments of the population do not see the need to protect the environment and the ecology. Some people also know the essence of sustainable environmental behaviours but due to greed and corruption would not obey the laws or enforce the laws regarding environmental protections. The coastal lands are also not spared. The sandy sand is an important resource for the building industry. Sand wining is therefore becoming the norm at beaches. These activities are destroying the beaches that serve as destinations to tourists and holiday celebrants in Ghana. 23 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 2.3.5 Poor sanitation practices/ attitudes Poor sanitation practices are key unsustainable behaviours destroying the beauty of our beaches in Ghana. Throwing rubbish into gutters is a common practice in the cities and villages in Ghana. The rubbish which mostly made up polythene bags and water sachets is moved into the sea and lagoons. This rubbish is moved by the sea to the shore which become an eye sore. These activities coupled with open defecation at the beaches prevent tourists from patronising these beaches in Ghana. These actions are also depleting the fish and other aquatic stocks from the sea which further affect tourism activities like surfing (speed boating) and fun fishing The question is, do we not need the above developments and activities? Another question is, do we need these tourism destinations to continue generating revenue and employment? Then something must be done to protect these cash cows to continue to give the country the benefits enumerated above. One strategy that the country can adopt to protect these important tourism destinations from destruction and depletion is to adopt sustainability behaviour which has been a global call to protect our planet from depletion and make sure that the future generation can meet the earth as a better place than it is now (SDGs, 2017). Human activities like farming, industrializations have increased the emission of carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. These gases warm the earth’s atmosphere and also destroy the ozone layer which further allows more heat into the earth. This increases the earth’s temperature leading to the warming of the earth’s atmosphere. This is called global warming. The negative effect of the global warming is excessive heat trapped on the earth. This leads to extremely high temperatures that affect our weather, destruct the rainfall and wind patterns and ultimately affect food production negatively leading to food shortages. This phenomenon which is called climatic change is a huge challenge for the world. 24 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh The excessive rise in the earth’s temperature has led to melting of ice at the arctic regions leading to a general rise in sea levels. This is causing flooding and submerging coastal lands. In Ghana towns like Keta, Ada, Winneba and other towns at the coast have seen submergence of the costal lands causing loss of humans and property. Stakeholder Market Orientation (StMO) is a strategic business strategy that if adopted in the tourism destinations in particular and Ghana in general would go a long way to protect our tourism destinations such as the beaches, forest reserves, waterfalls, lakes, rivers, animals, beautiful landscape like mountains and valleys and many more from destructions. This strategy calls for all stakeholders involved in managing our ecological resources to come on board to design and implement sustainability policies that can restore these strategic natural resources. 2.4 Sustainability in Tourism: Issues and Evidence In the view of current tourism trends, at its “development” phase is a country as Ghana (Akyeampong, 2009; Baah et al., 2020), categorised with a growth of foreign investors in emerging more contemporary and complex facilities (Akyeampong, 2009). “This industry is progressively mounting comings (arrivals) at 1,080,000 and inflows of about $2.2 billion in 2011” (Adu-ampong, 2018; p.3). The tourism sector, which was appraised as the fourth foreign exchange earner and a subset of the services industry, in total has contributed 49.3 % to GDP of Ghana (WTTC, 2014). Ghana’s tourism sector lingers its course as the economy’s fastest sector of growth; commencing a small beginning of becoming the third highest earner in foreign exchange for Ghana in the year, 2010 (Adu-Ampong, 2017). Recently, this industry has extended very significantly internationally to become one of the most recognised economic and social sectors of national development (UNWTO, 2007). The 25 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh tourism industry is contributing to developments in higher disposable incomes, greater economic growth, telecommunication and transportation, decrease or purging of trade and political barriers, and a more confident and extremely planned travel and tourism industry have risen in development as well (Akyeampong, 2009; Adu-Ampong, 2018). Considering the essential role tourism plays in many developing countries, their planning of tourism development tends to involve “big-bang masterplans” (Adu-Ampong, 2018; p.2). The big-bang masterplans are normally drawn with technical assistance programmes from donors who normally involve external experts. Participation of these external consultants in the development of the tourism master plans most of the times result in disparities between the goals of external funding agencies and the needs of local community, which affects the implementation of such plans (Adu-ampong, 2018). The Statistical projections normally underpin the development of these masterplans which are derived from expected tourist arrivals and receipts, and as a result become the base for current and future investment. The development of these master plans normally spans for ten years and becomes the basis for both domestic and international investments to help in the development of the sector. Due to the unpredictable arrivals and receipts of the tourism sector, it normally becomes difficult in getting adequate investments to fully fund the implementation of most of the long-term tourism plans (Adu-Ampong, 2018). Due the short-term goals in changing governments like Ghana, most of the tourism plans are left redundant. As a result, many of these masterplans are left on the shelves of the tourism ministries without seeing its complete implementation (Teye, 1999; Burns, 2004; Akyeampong, 2007; Adu-Ampong, 2018). 26 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 2.5 Tourism Development in Ghana The development of tourism in Ghana is arguably a volatile subject for discussion in both research and practical settings, despite its undeniably essential impact on the economy of Ghana over time. At the time of Ghana’s independence, 6th of March 1957, the country’s endowment in tourism potentials had been acknowledged and documented due to it being known as the country in gold production. The tourism sector has been viewed as a source of opportunity which can result in sustained growth and a reduction in regional disproportions, because most of the tourism assets were amazingly found in deprived localities in Ghana. For example, the Ambassador Hotel was constructed in 1956 in Accra to host the invited visitors to the first celebration of Ghana’s independence (Adu-Ampong, 2018). The construction of this hotel by government has been noted as the first main tourism development project in Ghana (Akyeampong, 2009; Baah et al., 2020). Following this, various tourism development plans involved short, medium and long-term national development policies and plans and these plans had disparities in the policy goals and priorities within the tourism sector (Adu-ampong, 2018). Currently, the Tourism Development Enterprise plan by the Government of Ghana in 2020 to boost the tourism industry reveals the extents and depths of tourism stake in the country as well. Going back in time, the “7-Year Development Plan for National Reconstruction and Development (between 1963/64 and 1969/70)” began the tourism development chart in Ghana (Adu-Ampong, 2018, p.3). Parliament approved this plan on the 16th of March, 1964; seven years after independence with its two main supports on plans for “the modernisation of agriculture and the most rapid expansion of industrial activities in Ghana” (Adu-Ampong, 2018, p.3). It was expected that by 1970 when implementation was to be completed, a solid and firm foundation would have been laid towards transforming Ghana into a strong 27 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh industrialised socialist economy and society. This was to coincide with the tenth anniversary of Ghana being a republic” (Adu-Ampong, 2018). Succeeding was the “5-Year Development Plan (1975/76–1979/80) was developed under and approved by a military government – the Supreme Military Council (SMC) – in January 1977” (Akyeampong, 2007; Adu-Ampong, 2018). This was a “two-part plan, with Part I consisting of general national development issues stressing on the resources available for achieving planned goals. Part II of the plan comprises a series of sector chapters prepared by various state ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs)” (Adu-Ampong, 2018). Following this development is the “Ghana: Vision 2020 (The First Step: 1996–2000)” (Adu- Ampong, 2018). “Between the 1970s and early 1990s, Ghana experienced a number of coups d’état and military governments which affected both long-term economic development planning and tourism development” (Akyeampong, 2009, p.3; Adu-ampong, 2018). In 1983, under the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) of the World Bank and the IMF, Ghana commenced an Economic Recovery Programme (ERP). “An upshot of this was the drawing up of the Ghana Vision 2020 Strategy, with the ultimate goal of leading the country into middle- income status by 2020. The First Phase 1996–2000 national economic development plan under the Vision 2020 Strategy sought to fuse the economic and development gains that had been made since the start of the SAP” (Adu-Ampong, 2018; p.4). “The goal was therefore to lay a foundation for augmented growth and development of the country over the subsequent two decades. Within this strategy, tourism was considered an avenue for diversifying the economy and increasing foreign exchange earnings” (Konadu-Agyemang, 2001). The emphasis in this plan was on effectively linking the tourism and recreation industry with agriculture (forestry). 28 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Consequently, “the development of agriculture, for example, as the dominant economic sector of the economy was to be linked with providing inputs to the tourism sector. Tourism’s role is therefore conceptualised in terms of; agriculture (forestry) linkages; trade, export and services sectors in order to establish Ghana as a major venue for international tourism and increase foreign exchange earnings; and culture, especially on the basis of the past relationship with European countries and Africans in the diaspora” (Government of Ghana, 1995). “For the first time in national economic development planning, a link was made for culture – specifically Ghana’s history of the slave trade, colonialism and pan-Africanism – to be a basis for tourism promotion in order to appeal Africans in the diaspora” (Adu-Ampong, 2018, p.3). “The Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy 2003 - 2005 (GPRS I) followed as a medium-term development plan is fixated on poverty-related spending and redistributive policies as a direct poverty reduction strategy. The GPRS I is built around five main priorities: infrastructure, modernisation of agriculture for rural development, enhanced social services, good governance and private-sector development” (Akyeampong, 2007, p.3; Adu-Ampong, 2018; Government of Ghana, 2003, p.72). “The overall goal of the plan is to identify and develop strategies that can directly help in poverty reduction. The development of the tourism sector is identified as one such strategy since tourism has the potential ‘through multiplier effects to create employment opportunities in other sectors, for example the food industry’” (Government of Ghana, 2003, p. 72). The onset of the development train is the Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy 2006-2009 (GPRS II) as compared to GPRS I, which had poverty-related spending and redistributive strategy as its fundamental goal, the 2006–9 plan resulted in a change of direction. This change 29 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh was undertaken as a result of the change of name from the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy to the Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS II). This diversion was not only emblematic but shows the change in direction of the basic gaol of the policy. The GPRS II sees growth as the most important path to poverty reduction and the key goal is to quicken the rate of growth of the economy so that Ghana can attain middle-income level within an assessable planning period (Government of Ghana, 2005; Akyeampong, 2007; Adu-Ampong, 2018). The next phase of these development series had the Ghana Shared Growth and Development Agenda (2010–13) surfacing to rear out another plan for tourism in Ghana (Akyeampong, 2007; Adu-Ampong, 2018). In a continuation of the trajectory of the GPRS II, the Ghana Shared Growth and Development Agenda 2010–13 (GSGDA I) as a medium-term development policy framework sets out a programme of action to accelerate employment creation and income generation. There is a shift of emphasis from direct spending on poverty reduction strategies to employment and income generation as a form of working towards poverty alleviation. The predominant economic development policy goal of the GSGDA emphases on attaining and sustaining economic stability and higher growth rates in order to reach $3,000 per capita income by 2020. “This overall goal is set around seven thematic areas: ensuring and sustaining macroeconomic stability; enhanced competitiveness of Ghana’s private sector; accelerated agricultural and natural-resource modernisation; oil and gas development; infrastructure, energy and human settlement development; human development, employment and productivity; and transparent and accountable governance” (Adu-ampong, 2018; p.3). 30 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Amplifying this ladder of tourism development, furthermore, the next level was the Ghana Shared Growth and Development Agenda (2014–17) (Akyeampong, 2009; Adu-ampong, 2018). The “Ghana Shared Growth and Development Agenda 2014–17 (GSGDA II) is the most recent national economic development plan. Following a significant expansion and amplification of the national economy, particularly in terms of increased foreign direct investment in the oil and gas sector, the country attained a lower-middle-income status over the course of the GSGDA I. However, the GSGDA II notes that this expansion of the economy did not as yet result in adequate job creation and decent work. This, coupled with reduced donor inflows because of the newly attained lower-middle-income country status, led to significant fiscal and balance-of-payment deficits and challenges. Despite the noteworthy progress made, the GSGDA II identifies the remaining development trials in Ghana as including large fiscal deficits, inefficient management and use of public resources, weak linkages between agriculture and industry, the non-competitiveness of the private sector and growing socio- economic and spatial inequalities, among others. The thematic focus of the GSGDA II remains the same as the seven areas outlined in the GSGDA I. The overall policy goal of the GSGDA II is to change the national economy and transform employment patterns in favour of industry and services. This objective is to be achieved through increase public investments and the promotion of tourism, among other things. “Tourism is once again given importance and identified as a major platform upon which to anchor the socio-economic transformation of the country over the medium term” (Akyeampong, 2009, p.4; Adu-ampong, 2018). Currently, the 2020 Tourism of Ghana development is an enterprise to revamp and equip all these wheels of Tourism that Ghana has experienced over the decades. Viewing tourism through these lenses leaves this subject in a state of further exploration and review. Notwithstanding these developments, the country has seen tremendous progress too in the area 31 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh of tourism marketing which cannot be downplayed but is of essence to be discussed in this review. 2.6 Marketing of Tourism in Ghana Tourism destinations play an indispensable role in the quality of life of all people on earth. The rivalry among places over resources is a historic occurrence that has existed for hundreds of years (Adu-Ampong, 2018). Nevertheless, the globalisation progression and the progress of mass tourism in the 1990s moved this process one giant leap forward (Tasci, 2011; Uysal, Harrill, & Woo, 2011). “Because of this improved competition, a growing number of cities, countries and tourist destinations have become proactive in improving their place’s attractiveness and making their place idiosyncratic and more positive than the competition. To do so, one key factor that has to be cultivated is the destination image. It is now widely agreed among tourism stakeholders that a weak, unattractive or negative image is fatal for tourism development, and destinations should act proactively to alter negative images and to manage their public image” (Akyeampong, 2009, p.4; Adu-Ampong, 2018; Agayi, 2020). In Ghana, 2019 held a major booster for the tourism of Ghana when ‘the Year of Return’ was organised under the auspices of the Government of Ghana and Africans in the diaspora. This had and attracted numerous foreign investments and investors into the nation of Ghana. The Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture developed with the Ghana Tourism Authority and the Private Sector programmes that had these international tourists entertained with pure Ghanaian crafts, talents, products and services. 32 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh In addition to this icon of tourism marketing, many tertiary institutions have adopted the study of Tourism Marketing as a strategic way of developing skills and resources who will be well educated and trained in this field for prospective venturing steps by these skilled persons after their tertiary education. Destination branding practices as well other marketing principles are heavily being adopted and implemented in modern Ghana. The diversification arm of Tourism in Ghana holds great potentials for the economy if well embraced and nurtured unto fruition in this part of the world that holds tonnes and loads of opportunities and tourism development merits which could positively affect the economy of Ghana (Adu-Ampong, 2018). These gains chalked were quickly dissipated with the onset of Corona Virus (Covid-19)- which has brought the whole world on its knees. The virus has affected international and internal travels and this means that movement to tourism destinations and hotels have been curtailed. The Covid-19 has brought a lot of damage to the hospitality, tourism and transport sectors. It is the hope of the world that the virus will be managed and eradicated to give the once booming sector life again. 33 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh CHAPTER THREE LITERATURE REVIEW 3.0 Overview This chapter reviews literature in relation to stakeholder market orientation and sustainability performance. The key areas reviewed include market orientation, sustainability marketing, sustainability performance indicators, market orientation and sustainability performance, regulations and sustainability performance, stakeholder marketing, destination marketing, key themes in the StMO-SP review, methodological issues, geographical categorisation and theoretical review 3.1 Market orientation Market orientation (MO) refers to how organizations implement and practice marketing concept. Since marketing concept has been in the system for a very long time, it was considered over the last couples of years in terms of its operational construct (Narver & Slater, 1990; Kirea, Jaychandran, & Bearden, 2005; Liao, Chang, Wu, & Katrichis, 2011). Marketing functions were recognised by marketing concept as a form to increasing profit by attaining the satisfaction of customers. As it was defined, the marketing concept create value with regards to only the customer with little focus on what the firm has done in the creation of the value with other stakeholders (Lusch & Webster Jr, 2011). From the foregoing explanation, the view of moving marketing to social and economic processes from production and sales based managerial function resulted in the idea that marketing should be seen as a value proposing activity (Vargo & Lusch, 2004). From the historical perspective, it is of no surprise that Kohli and Jaworski (1990) and Narver and Slater (1990) brought a major difference of comprehension and debate with regards to the marketing concept definition within the period 34 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh of their MO collective conceptualization. Notwithstanding the divergences, Kohli and Jaworski (1990), stated that the scholarly studies that exist on the concept of marketing can be grouped into three diverse parts of the concept of the marketing as, customer focus, coordinated marketing, and profitability (Narver & Slater, 1990b; Hunt, Morgan, Hunt, & Morgan, 1995). In spite of the numerous views involving the conceptualization of the concept of the marketing, practitioners and scholars agree that market orientation predate the concept of marketing and had a direct effect on firm performance (Mitchell et al., 2010). In recent times, marketing scholars have called for the reconceptualization of MO from the macro marketing perspective and expanding the actors underpinning the MO. This has brought the incorporation of sustainability into the MO discourse by stating that businesses should gather and disseminate marketing information beyond the customer and competitors to include other stakeholders such as like community groups, regulatory authorities, industry players among others (Mitchell et al., 2010; Crittenden et al., 2011a; Line & Wang, 2017b). Furthermore, the MO has further expanded to incorporate economic, social and environmental dimensions (Mitchell et al., 2010; Boons, Baumann, & Hall, 2012; Line & Wang, 2017b). This has brought to bear the reason for firms, while satisfying their customers, must take into account the satisfaction of societal and environmental concerns of the ecosystem. Mitchell et al., (2010) and Line and Wang (2017) developed frameworks that incorporate economic, social and environmental constructs in the MO. However, integrating the two frameworks can bring synergy and improve the new framework which would be more robust and introduce new dimensions that did not exist in sustainable market orientation (SMO) and multi stakeholder 35 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh market orientation (MSMO) frameworks. The authors therefore propose sustainability stakeholder market orientation (SStMO) and sustainability performance (SP) 3.2 Sustainability marketing Since the introduction of the term ‘sustainability’ some three decades ago by World Commission on Economic Development (WCED) into business and academic discourse, many terminologies have been used to describe it. Terms such as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), sustainable development, environmental responsibility, green marketing, corporate citizenship and triple bottom line were used to connote it (Crittenden et al., 2011a; Nkamnebe, 2011). Despite the different terms, sustainability is about how businesses behave responsibly towards the society and the environment. Sustainability from the marketing management perspective can be explained as the planning, organising, implementing, monitoring and evaluating of marketing programmes and resources to gratify the wants and needs of consumers as well as regarding environmental and social concerns and employ sustainable resources, to develop and produce sustainable products, use sustainable means to communicate and distribute these products, so as not to jeopardise the future of the unborn generations (Nkamnebe, 2011). Sustainability is a multifaceted construct and a function of many persuasions and disciplines in which marketing serves mainly as a key determinant. There is contracting debates regarding how marketing interfaces with sustainability. Even though some scholars argue that marketing contradicts the sustainability concept, some other scholars believe that a lot of intersections 36 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh between the two constructs (Jones, Clarke‐Hill, Comfort, & Hillier, 2008; Nkamnebe, 2011). American Marketing Association defines marketing as “the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large” (cited in Nkamnebe, 2011). This definition interfaces with sustainability, as businesses practicing sustainability marketing have to satisfy customers and other stakeholders in the society at large. These marketing objectives of businesses can only be achieved when businesses assume network approach or the stakeholder approach so as to create value for all stakeholders. This is what sustainability preaches hence the call for sustainability marketing into the marketing research discourse which will assist businesses take a holistic view to strategic marketing decisions that will give value to its stakeholders without destroying the environment and society in which they operate. Key role of marketing in the sustainability issue is the role of consumers engaging in sustainable purchase and consumptions of ecological and green products which might go a long way to motivate short-term profit driven firms to engage in sustainable marketing strategies that will promote green marketing and ethical productions (Line & Wang, 2017a). These conflicting views are aggravated by different perspectives from which sustainability is viewed. Some scholars believe employing sustainability concept in business strategy will increase cost which will be shifted to customers and other firms. This is because, businesses in emerging market are perceived to be resource constrained and as a result, it will not be prudent to add more cost by adopting sustainability marketing. This therefore means that governments, especially, those in the emerging markets should put in place laws and regulatory frameworks that will force businesses to fashion sustainability marketing strategies into their corporate management strategies (Nkamnebe, 2011). 37 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh On the contrary, extant literature has supported the positive impact of sustainability marketing concepts in marketing strategies of businesses. Improved accessibility to resources, increased access to markets, improved corporate image, less regulatory pressure, long term profit and business growth are just a few of the merits of adopting sustainability marketing strategies (Mitchell et al., 2010; Nkamnebe, 2011; Mahmoud, Blankson, & Hinson, 2017). It is, therefore, imperative that adopting and promoting sustainability strategy in corporate marketing strategic decisions is the best choice global market systems has made available for businesses and governments in the current turbulent business environment (Belz & Peattie,2012; Line & Wang, 2017a) Regardless of the numerous conceptualizations, the “Brundtland Commission’s description of sustainable development as development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of the future generations to meet their own needs” (Nkamnebe, 2011 p.218) seem to have received much attention in extant literature and been well cited too. The above definition still lends itself to different understanding as it has not been defined under strict condition. The concept of sustainability has multiple discipline dimensions. The concept has economic, environmental, social and ethical perspectives. From the foregoing explanations, it is therefore clear that sustainability is about effective and efficient use of resources such that the future generations will not be short changed (Belz & Peattie, 2012). Extant literature has established theoretical basis for sustainability marketing. The literature identifies seven sustainability marketing models such as socio-ecological model, an ecological life cycle model, macro marketing, corporate context, ethical context, socio-political context, 38 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh and the global context. The macro marketing model is very crucial in the crafting of a better and clearer sustainability marketing model for Sustainability Stakeholder Market Orientation (SStMO) and sustainability performance (Mitchell et al., 2010). Socio-ecological model is the first conceptualization of sustainability marketing model which claimed that social and ecological problems that came as a result of capitalism could be solved by organizational framework that tries to control the market. This allows the society and corporation to agree with a combination of economic, political, ecological, and social values to control the market founded economy (Sheth & Parvatiyar, 1995; Mitchell et al., 2010). The claim that marketing provide societal needs by communicating to potential and current consumers about availability of products to improve quality of life, can only be true if such communications are made towards changing their behaviours towards sustainable and environmentally conscious products and activities (Sheth & Parvatiyar, 1995; Belz & Peattie, 2012). The use of environmentally prone production and marketing system is a potential for sustainable development practices in the area of marketing. Sheth and Parvatiyar (1995), however, did not adopt the integrated triple component management. Rather they centred on corporate environmental marketing management instead of sustainable marketing management focus as stipulated earlier. They rather focused on more governmental regulations to moderate the free marketing factors. Even though the authors agreed with Mitchell et al. (2010) that this fall short of sustainable market orientation (SMO), this is still not enough in producing sustainable results for business. Instead, many more stakeholders rather than triple bottom line component management needed to be adopted especially in managing tourism destinations hence the proposed SStMO (Mitchell et al., 2010; Line & Wang, 2017b, 2017a). 39 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh The second sustainable marketing approach and collaborated by other scholars is that the benefits of environmentally green corporate marketing must incorporate lifecycle ecological management of goods and services (Bhaskaran, Polonsky, Cary, & Fernandez, 2006; Mitchell et al., 2010). Corporate marketing might require more than customers and competitors’ intelligence and coordination as proposed by Market Orientation (MO), even though, SMO added managerial components like corporate anticipation, understanding and adoption of societal and governmental regulations. Responses to changes in market regulation and responses to emerging norms that regulate environmental management; there must be other stakeholders like industry players, local residents, interest groups who must constantly communicate among themselves to effectively formulate, implement and control policies so as to bring sustainability competitive advantage and destination performance. More so, these multi stakeholders should communicate and learn from their mistakes in order to improve on their future performances. This, therefore, calls for a new sustainability development paradigm called SStMO. Macro marketing model is the third approach to sustainability marketing. In this context, sustainability marketing is conceptualized through the macro marketing lens (Layton, 2007). This approach criticizes the conventional method to corporate marketing whose aim is short- term economic gain without considering the long term ecological, societal, and the cost of destroying the environment. The solution to this conventional marketing approach is the adoption of green and ecological marketing approaches which seeks to defer short term gains to long term profit by practicing environmentally sustainability business principles that take into consideration societal, environmental as well as the needs of the future generation (Humphreys, 2014; Campón-Cerro, Hernández-Mogollón, & Alves, 2017). This approach resonates with the need to use the sustainability stakeholder marketing orientation to studying 40 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh sustainability marketing by employing different markets in both macro and industry environments in regulating the activities of destinations in order to achieve Sustainability Destination Performance (SDP). Sustainability marketing issues can further be conceptualized from corporate context, ethical context, socio-political context, and the global context (Belz & Peattie, 2012). Applying sustainable marketing from the corporate context raises the issue of whether marketing activities should be practiced by a few directly connected to marketing or it should be an organizational wide issue. This brought to the fore the proposition of full time and part-time marketer. Full time marketers are those employees whose primary job is marketing, such as marketing managers, customer service officers and so on. On the other hand, part-time marketers are all other employees such administrators, accountants, engineers, whose everyday job is not marketing but are also part of the marketing thinking where they understand to make decisions that satisfy customers and other stakeholders of the business (Belz & Peattie, 2012). In order for the whole organization to adopt pro sustainability ethos, then the organization must integrate sustainability marketing strategy with the corporate strategy in the strategy development process of the organization (Belz & Peattie, 2012). This means that developing and delivering sustainability marketing strategy should involve all aspects of the business to give the organization more competitive advantage over those businesses that do not practice sustainability marketing strategy across the organization (Campón-Cerro et al., 2017). The most appropriate framework that businesses can use to apply this sustainability marketing goal is through corporate social responsibility (CSR) (Belz & Peattie, 2012). CSR is when companies or businesses integrate environmental and social concerns in their business 41 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh operation and their relationship with their stakeholders on voluntary basis (Commission of European Communities, 2002). CSR has three distinct components namely, corporate social responsibility, corporate environmental responsibility and corporate financial responsibility. Ethical context applies to situations where businesses go beyond their legal mandate to practise moral and ethical principles to business activities. This means, practising marketing activities in order to meet consumer satisfaction, the relevant laws and moral as well as ethical standards must be adhered to. Ethical issues include product safety, fair pricing, distribution issues, and promotional issues such as, the use of children and nudity, and also cross-cultural ethics such as the unethical behaviour of multinational corporations among others (Belz & Peattie, 2012). These ethical issues pose a lot of challenge for sustainability marketers thriving to achieve sustainability practices in their various companies so that they would not be sited for unethical behaviours in making marketing decisions and practices (Belz & Peattie, 2012). . Socio-political context is another lens through which sustainability marketing practices can be viewed. The effects of the wider macro environment on the sustainability marketing as discipline as well as the strategies of many companies cannot be underestimated (Belz & Peattie, 2012). One of the challenges that sustainability marketing marketers face in promoting sustainability as an approach is that the sustainability paradigm does not fit well with the current dominant social paradigm (DSP) that is prevailing the developed consumer societies (Belz & Peattie, 2012). The current DSP see value in terms of economic growth and put their beliefs in scientific and technological solutions as well as trust in institutions and commercial markets and marketing that satisfy the needs, rights and freedoms of individual consumers at the expense of the welfare of societal interest. This DSP also place the interest of individual 42 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh rights and freedoms of citizens high above the interest of other species and the needs of future generations. A new paradigm must be created that is sustainability in nature and will take the interest of individual citizens as well the interest of other species and the future generation into consideration (Belz & Peattie, 2012). This new paradigm can only be achieved when businesses formulate policies in conjunction with other stakeholders, build sustained relationships with the goal of deferring short term profit and spending more on production systems that produce sustainable products for consumption that would satisfy individual consumers as well as other species and leave enough resources for the future generation (Belz & Peattie, 2012).. This thinking questions the current unsustainable production systems that over produce goods and services. This is the source for the many societal and environmental problems the earth is grappling with. This can be seen in huge emission of huge greenhouse gases (GHG) which is causing serious climatic changes such as erratic rainfalls, floods, distractive winds, droughts, diseases, land degradation, high atmospheric temperatures and many more (Belz & Peattie, 2012).. The global context is the final context; that must be considered by sustainability marketing. Sustainability marketing is a global phenomenon; however, it is also practiced locally. Sustainability agenda will normally include issues like climate change, cultural issues and poverty (Belz & Peattie, 2012). The emergence of sustainable goods and services in the global markets raises the issues of similarities and differences between continents, regions and countries (Belz & Peattie, 2012). Review of literature shows that the practice of sustainability practices is more dominant in developed continents and countries such as Europe, North America and Asia as compared to Africa. Countries like United States of America (USA) and United Kingdom (UK), Australia, Japan have been rated high in investing in sustainable products and fashioning policies and institutions to implements sustainable programmes for 43 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh their respective countries (Belz & Peattie, 2012).. Most of the sustainability marketing activities in the developed countries are in the area of development, production and consumption of eco-efficient energy, reduction in carbon emissions, improving quality life expectancy among others. In developing countries in Africa however, issues of poverty, over exploitation of natural resources, unaccountable governance and democracy, water pollution, land degradation, climatic change, food shortages and others, form the core of sustainability agenda (Belz & Peattie, 2012).. 3.2.1 Sustainability performance indicators Robert and Tribe (2008), proposed sustainability indicators for Small Tourism Enterprise (STE), in the area of socio- cultural, environment, institutional and economic; and this study adapts environmental, socio-cultural and economic sustainability indicators. The scholars proposed that economic sustainability is the ability of the firm to make profit in order to survive and benefit from the economic systems at the local and national levels (Robert & Tribe 2008). Indicators such as business profitability/internal financial stability, domestic sectoral linkages and employment were regarded as useful sustainability standards. Environmental sustainability represented the “activities of businesses that lends themselves to conservation and preservation of the natural and built environment in a way that its health and integrity is maintained for the future well-being of the destination (Silva, Nuzum, & Schaltegger, 2019). More so, environmental management issues in terms of water, solid waste, energy and pollution were included as criteria to assess STE’s level of environmental sustainability. Socio-cultural sustainability has been agreed on by these scholars as being one of the most difficult dimensions to define as one of the key issues relevant to this dimension, particularly in terms of sustainable business practice. Cultures continuously keep evolving over time and as result the meanings attributed to some traditional activities should be ready to evolve”. Cultural 44 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh activities like the community’s relationship with tourists, the community’s ability to use its local products and market them with confidence to the tourists as well as the businesses’ relationship with the local community. Tables 3.1, 3.2 and 3.3 outline the sustainability construct indicators as adapted from Robert & Tribe (2008). Table 3.1: Economic sustainability indicators Sustainability Tourism Performance Indicators Indicator Issues Business profitability / • Increment in customer visitation numbers performance • Increment in average customer expenditure • Employee remuneration • Average cost of production Exchange rate indicators • Level of spending in local economy • Policy on patronising local goods • the rate of imported goods • the rate of locally-made goods in business employment Employment • Rate of employment • Rate of locals engaged • the level of wages compared to other businesses in the industry • benefits given to employees • the level of non-exploitation of staff • the level of businesses complying to national labour laws & policies Business Incentives • Higher possibility of lifestyle motivation • Higher possibility of economic motivation • Long term profitability and commitment to the community 45 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Table 3.2: Environmental Sustainability Indicators Sustainability Tourism Performance Indicators Indicator Issues Education on environmental • Business policies that capture environmental issues management • Business conducts environmental assessment • Business belonging to environmental member associations • Evidence of environmental problems control Energy Efficiency • Presence of energy conservation strategy • Availability of energy efficient devices • Systems for monitoring energy use at the business • Availability of alternative strategies for energy management • Presence of blueprint to educate Staff and customers on the essence of energy efficiency Water conservation monitoring • Develop aquatic management strategy systems • Availability of maintenance systems for assessing and repairing water wastage • Availability of systems to control the quality of water • Put in systems to inculcate water conservation among employees and visitors Systems for Recycling and • Develop solid waste management strategy reuse • Compliance to waste management laws • Get involve in clean-up activities in the community Management of waste water • Strategies for Waste water management • Develop positive attitude towards waste water management • Put in place an efficient waste water disposal system • Put in place systems to manage unexpected discharge of sewage Management of Pollution • Hazardous waste management plan effects • Deliberate action taken to reduce pollution levels Visual pollution (conformity to • Acquiring building permit and permission before local vernacular) construction • Conforming to laid-down local settlement patterns • Designing and conforming to town and country planning guidelines 46 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Table 3.3: Socio-cultural sustainability indicators Sustainability tourism Performance indicators indicators Community participation • Involvement in NGOs or CBOs activities • Initiate support for community activities Openness of residence to • Behaviour of residents when visiting business premises visitors • Preventing dangerous residents from visiting businesses Crime and harassment • Educate visitors about potential crime areas • Put in place security intelligence • Business collaboration with local/national security agencies Host reaction to visitors • The level of complaints by locals towards visitors • Systems put in place to manage complaints • Provision of information booklets on local customs for visitors • Systems for training workers Cultural promotion • The ability of the business to create awareness on local customs and norms • business attitude towards cultural promotion • the business response to promoting the culture of the community Ownership patterns • Making locals part of the business • Collaborating with the local people through cooperation and information sharing. Adapted from Robert & Tribe (2008) 3.2.2 Market Orientation (MO) and Sustainability Performance (SP) Extant literature in marketing and management have recognised largely positive and significant relationship between market orientation (MO) and firm or business performance in advanced countries (Narver & Slater, 1990a; Jaworski & Kohli, 1993; Pulendran, Speed, & Widing, 2000; Pekovic & Rolland, 2016) and developing countries (Mahmoud, 2011; Mahmoud, Blankson, Owusu-frimpong, Nwankwo, & Tran, 2016; Oluwatoyin et al., 2018). In a study in 47 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh the USA manufacturing firms to determine the impact of market orientation on environmental performance, a positive relationship was established between market orientation and green supply chain management practices and environmental performance (Green, Toms, & Clarke, 2015). Further study on the impact of price competition on environmental performance in twelve European countries revealed that there is a negative relationship between intensive price competition and environmental performance in the short-term but significant relationship in the long-term (Graafland, 2016). This is because in the short-term, firms do not have the luxury of profit to spend on environmental sustainability initiatives but in the long–term it is possible for firms to marshal more resources especially, financial resources to invest in sustainability initiatives. Further study on product competition’s effect on corporate social performance, the results have been inconclusive. As there was positive association between product competition and social performance and other results show negative relationship between product competition and environmental and community performance (Declerck & M’Zali, 2012). However, there is no known study that has established the relationship between StMO and sustainability performance dimensions. 3.2.3 Regulations and Sustainability Performance Inferring from extant literature, regulations can be categorised into two main categories, namely: the mandatory and voluntary regulations (Li, Tang, & Zhang, 2020). These two segregations were used in relation to environmental issues by these scholars. The mandatory regulations usually include state related regulations as well as private organisations like pressure groups like the mass media and other non for profit organisations like Friends of the Earth, among others that command entities to comply with regulations (Li et al., 2020). On the other hand, the voluntary regulations are connected to self-impositions and private associations that come out with rules that are documented with quantifiable outcomes to measure its 48 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh performance (Li et al., 2020). These self-imposed regulatory standards are used to obtain sustainability legitimacy, for instance, environmental and social legitimacy from its stakeholders. State regulation can be sub-divided into two: political and ecological regulations. The political state regulations are directly forged and influenced by governmental statutes, for example, GTA, and private organisation like Ghana Hotels Association (GHA) whereas the ecological focuses on the state institutions set up by an act of parliament that regulate environmental issues include but not limited EPA, WRC and FC. There are also state institutions that monitor social sustainability performance in Ghana such CHRAJ, Labour Commission, to make sure workers and community right are not infringed upon. Economic sustainability compliance falls under the auspices of Fair Wages and Salary Commission and the Labour Commission. Their job is to see to it that, workers are paid approved and acceptable wages and remuneration. This will give job satisfaction to workers and make them to put in more to increase customer satisfaction at the destinations and build sustained competitive advantage resulting in increased visitor attractions and revenue generation for the tourism businesses and the destination at large. In advanced economies, the institutional systems are well established and structured, backed by adequate resources, therefore these regulatory institutions are able to a large extent, obtain high compliance. Their systems and mechanisms have technology heavily adopted and also ensure these compliances such as the use of satellite cameras, among others. These help to capture environmental pitfalls and expose negative sustainability practices. The individual citizens and the communities as a whole unit are well-informed of the negative impacts of a breach and non-compliance of these environmental management practices aimed at protecting 49 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh their interests and assets. For instance, breaching these regulations may arouse health-related issues, avoidable accidents, the loss of key resources for life and peace like forest, water- bodies, and ultimately, the adversity of the environment resulting from the emission of greenhouse gases causing the depletion of the ozone layer and hence, arousing negative implications on the climate (climate change). The institutions in the developing economies on the other hand, are first of all inadequate in their structural operations as well as having an environment of resource-constraints surrounding them. Some of these are human resources and logistics limitations, which make it difficult for these institutions to enforce regulations and attain compliance in the country, deepening down to the tourism sector specifically. In cases where some of these institutions have the manpower and the logistics to enforce the law, some of the workers due to greed and selfish desires compromise their position in enforcing the law and as a result, allow institutions or organisations to breach these environmental regulations with impunity. This corrupt attitude has caused serious resource depletion in these economies in the areas such as deforestation through timber logging, land degradation through sand winning, gold mining and bad farming practices and emission of greenhouse gases such carbon dioxide (CO2) (Wang, Danish, Zhang, & Wang, 2018). Furthermore, due to financial constraints, these institutions are unable to employ these resources for efficient work. The absence of quality and accessible transport systems forms another pitfall for these institutions as they are unable to effectively monitor and evaluate well these activities in their jurisdictions to ensure the maximum results. The population of most of these developing countries are not well educated and informed of the negative implications of the breach of these regulations on the environment and the general wellbeing of the citizenry and other consequences thereof. 50 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh However, most developing economies like Ghana, have not left environmental, economic and social regulations as a matter of unconcern, but some efforts have been and are still being made to improve the regulation and protection of our environment, social and economic protection. For example, through an Act of Parliament, various state institutions have been set up such the EPA, minerals commission, water resource commission, fire service, and many more institutions to enforce and attain compliance of regulations of environmental management practices (Darko-Mensah & Okereke, 2013). Various taskforces have been set up under various government regimes. These taskforces are normally made up of representatives from the EPA, the Military, Police, Fire Service, GJA, and other key related bodies such as NGOs like A Rocha Ghana, Forest Watch Ghana, Save the Frogs Ghana, Friends of the Earth Ghana, among others, which act as pressure groups to demand compliance from government and businesses that breach these practices. The Minister of Environment, Science and Technology (MOEST) is usually the chairman. These are to enforce the compliance of environmental management practices especially in mining communities to prevent unlicensed individuals and groups (galamseyers) from mining from unapproved concessions and water bodies. Through stakeholder consultation, the EPA with support from foreign donors has developed an assessment document called the AKOBEN to assess the performance of mining companies in Ghana (Sekyi, 2011). This is one of the first assessment policies in Sub-Saharan Africa (Darko- Mensah & Okereke, 2013). In this AKOBEN ingenuity, the mining and manufacturing operations of firms have their environmental performance assessed by means of a five-colour rating scheme developed in the scheme. These are Gold, Blue, Green, Orange and Red (Sekyi, 51 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 2011). These colours indicate the environmental performance status ranging from Excellent to Poor respectively. These ratings are yearly unveiled to the general public and the media, and its purpose is to support public awareness and participation (Sekyi, 2011). Extant literature has documented scholarly works on regulations and their impact on environmental performance ( Ribeiro & Kruglianskas, 2013; Tang & Luo, 2016; Javeed, Latief, & Lefen, 2020). However, there seem to be lack of work on moderating stakeholder market orientation performance relationship with state regulations. Extant literature has documented the relationship between regulations and sustainability performance especially regarding environmental and economic performance (Wang & Shen, 2016; Guo, Qu, & Tseng, 2017; Ramanathan, He, Black, Ghobadian, & Gallear, 2017; Elmagrhi, Ntim, Elamer, & Zhang, 2018; Li & Ramanathan, 2018). However, the findings were inconclusive. In some cases, relationship between regulations and performance produced positive results (Tang & Luo, 2016; Wang & Shen, 2016; Ramanathan et al., 2017). Others found that, there was a significant negative relationship between regulation and performance (Guo et al., 2017; Ramanathan et al., 2017). The study by Tang and Luo, (2016) examined the impact of environmental regulation on firm performance in Pakistan and the result revealed that, there is positive and significant relationship between environmental regulations and firm performance. In a study to investigate the relationships among environmental regulations (ER), technological innovation (TI) and regional green growth performance (RGGR) in China, the results did not support the first hypothesis indicating that RGGP has significant negative effect on ER. The moderating role of state (mandatory) regulation on corporate governance and corporate environmental responsibility (CER) on environmental performance nexus have indicated 52 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh positive relationships between CER and environmental performance (EP) as well as a positive moderating effects of the state regulations on the relationships (Zhu & Sarkis, 2007; Ortiz-de- Mandojana, Aguilera-Caracuel, & Morales-Raya, 2016; Graafland & Smid, 2017; Li et al., 2017; Akram, Abrar-ul-Haq, & Raza, 2019). In a study to explore the role of corporate governance on environmental performance and the moderating role of institutional regulations, it was established that corporate governance has a positive and significant relationship with green performance; and in addition, was found to be positive and significant on the moderating role of institutional regulation for corporate governance and firm performance relationship. 3.3 Stakeholder marketing It is argued by stakeholder theory that, managers must be concerned with the players that have legitimate interest in the activities of the firms and not only customers and competitors ( Donaldson & Toole, 2006; Donaldson & Preston, 2017; Line & Wang, 2017a). Ferrell et al. (2010) noted that, an actor will be deemed as a stakeholder of a firm where one of the underlined circumstances is attained: “(1) the actor can potentially be affected (either positively or negatively) by the organization’s activities and/or the actor has an interest in the organization’s potential to affect its own or others’ well-being, (2) when the actor has the power to give or take away resources necessary for the continuation of the organization’s activities, and/or (3) the overall culture within the organization values the activities of the actor”. Stakeholder theory suggests that even though competitors and customers suit the conceptualization of stakeholder, there are many other stakeholders within the firm’s business activities. It is also noted that there are groups such as community groups, shareholders, regulators, independent industry players as well as investors ( Ferrell, Gonzalez-Padron, Hult, & Maignan, 2010; Fatma & Rahman, 2015a; Line & Wang, 2017b) in the entire business literature which can be established and appropriately fit more broadly into the concept of 53 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh stakeholder. With regards to destinations, stakeholders are even more crucial as services provided at the destinations are provided by diverse stakeholders such as hotels, tour operators, wine joints, eateries, community, government agencies such as EPA, Ghana Tourism Authority, Fire Service, Forestry Commission, security services, and many more. There is the potential of these groups of stakeholders to change and influence management decisions at the destinations (Donaldson & Toole, 2006) such that, scholars and researchers in marketing currently acknowledge the relevance of these groups of stakeholders within the market orientation conceptualization (Lusch & Webster Jr, 2011; Zehrer & Hallmann, 2015). 54 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 3.4 Destination Marketing In conceptualising MO in relation to destinations, the consensus is that MO must be reconceptualised to expand beyond customer and competitor conceptualisation .This is because destinations lend themselves to a network of stakeholder markets that are crucial for their performance ( Zehrer & Hallmann, 2015; Werner, Dickson, & Hyde, 2016). These stakeholders have unique roles that they perform to the sustenance of the destinations. The stakeholder activities in the destinations assist in providing the multiple offering that the destinations are able to offer. From literature and a pilot study on a destination in the capital city of Ghana, Accra, findings demonstrate that, apart from customers/visitors and competitors, there are industry partners, social partners such as local residents and traditional authorities, political or state regulators who play various roles in the success of the destination marketing organisations (DMOs). The industry players like hotels and guest houses provide accommodation for visitors, while the local residents and traditional authorities provide unique cultural practices and symbols like music, drama, artefacts and so on for the visitors. The political agents such as EPA, Minerals Commission, Water Resources Commission protect the ecological aspects of the destinations while, Security Services like the police and military provide safety at the destinations. Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) who is the umbrella body for the tourism industry provide management functions by setting standards and regulating fees that are charged by the various DMOs. 3.5 Key Themes in the StMO-SP Review The segment of themes captured in the StMO-SP research from the scheme of classification, explores the directional purpose of StMO on SP in TDs and the key themes communicated and 55 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh highlighted in the body of this study. Inferring from extant literature, the key thematic areas span in relation to sustainability performance, as follows: 1. Market orientation and sustainability performance 2. Customer orientation and sustainability 3. Stakeholder pressure and sustainability performance 4. Community engagement and sustainable tourism 5. Competition and sustainability performance These have been outlined in the succeeding discussion of this study. 3.5.1 Market/Customer orientation and sustainability performance Market orientation is the process where organizations gather, disseminate and respond to intelligence from their stakeholders. The early conceptualisations of MO have been put into two main categories: Behavioural and Cultural. The behavioural conceptualisation of MO comprises of customer orientation, competitor orientation and inter-functional coordination (Narver & Slater, 1990a; Slater & Narver, 2014; Mahmoud et al., 2017). The cultural conceptualisation of Kohli and Jaworski, (1993) detail our MO into intelligence generation, intelligence dissemination and dissemination in order to superior value for customers (Mitchell, Agle, Chrisman, & Spence, 2011; Mahmoud, Blankson, Owusu-frimpong, Nwankwo, & Tran, 2016; Pekovic & Rolland, 2016; Line & Wang, 2017b). 3.5.2 Stakeholder pressure and sustainability performance Stakeholder pressure involves the demand from various stakeholders on the organisation to meet their specific needs such as environmental needs (Kassinis & Vafeas, 2006; Mensah, 56 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 2014; Agyei & Yankey, 2019). For example, the stakeholders can force the organisation to develop eco-friendly products or eco-friendly waste management systems. 3.5.3 Community engagement and sustainable tourism Community engagement entails the ability of the firm to engage its local communities and environs on issues that are mutually beneficial to them. This is essential because, the community eventually becomes a key stakeholder for the business as they provide key resources for the businesses such as land, labour, customers/visitors etc. for the organisation (Ramirez, Helen, Galin, & Donald, 2005; Nicely & Sydnor, 2015; Cha, Abebe, & Dadanlar, 2019). In relation to sustainable tourism, the community is responsible for preserving water bodies, forest, beaches and other natural resources thus becomes a key stakeholder in the tourism business. The community plays a key role in the consultation efforts of tourism businesses before the implementation of major corporate social responsibility activities. 3.5.4 Competition and sustainability performance Competition and business are inevitable. Competitive advantage is built when a firm uses its skills and resources to implement value creating strategies for its customers and other stakeholders than its rival firms. Competitive firms are able to sense the market demand by innovating through adopting new strategic orientations that will assist in reducing cost of production and differentiate the firm from its rival firms (Dobbs, 2014; Dorson, 2015; Della & Aria, 2016; Campón-Cerro et al., 2017). During competition, firms are forced to undertake environmental initiatives in order to build reputation and differentiate themselves from the competition, hence, helping them to gain good market positioning as well as gain competitive advantage. 57 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 3.6 Methodological Issues This has to do with the various methods that were employed in the study of StMO-SP from the depth of extant literature that have been reviewed. With regards to research methods, there have been conceptual studies (Zink, 2005; Perrini & Tencati, 2006; Sloan, 2009; Mitchell et al., 2010; O. C. Ferrell et al., 2010; Nkamnebe, 2011; Chabowski, 2011; Crittenden et al., 2011a; Schaltegger, 2011; Stone, 2011; Heikkurinen & Bonnedahl, 2013; Hörisch, Freeman, & Schaltegger, 2014; Hörisch, Freeman, & Schaltegger, 2014; Ashwin & Hirst, 2015; Kumar, Rahman, & Kazmi, 2016; Font & McCabe, 2017; Line & Wang, 2017a; Pushpakumara, Atan, Khatib, Azam, 2019; Silva et al., 2019), as well as some empirical scholarly works (for instance, (Andersson & Getz, 2008; Cha, Abebe, & Dadanlar, 2019). Owing to the empirical studies, this study adopted the qualitative, quantitative and mixed methodological approaches. Amazingly, most of the studies were conducted as quantitative with few employing qualitative and mixed methods. Clearly in the study, there were a number of reviewed works that had no defined methodological approaches adopted for their research. Quantitative empirical scholarship in the research area involves the following scholars (Hillman, Zardkoohi, & Bierman, 1999; Ginn & Lee, 2006; Kassinis & Vafeas, 2006; Andersson & Getz, 2008; Murillo-Luna, Garcés-Ayerbe, & Rivera-Torres, 2008; Erdogan & Tosun, 2009; Padovano & Ricciuti, 2009; Fernández-Kranz & Santaló, 2010; Ghosh, 2010; Reuter, Goebel, & Foerstl, 2012; Tang & Tang, 2012, 2018; Mensah & Blankson, 2013; Mensah, 2014; Camarero, Garrido, & Vicente, 2015; Green, Toms, & Clarke, 2015; Díaz & Espino-Rodríguez, 2016; Graafland, 2016; Panwar, Nybakk, Hansen, & Pinkse, 2016; Pekovic & Rolland, 2016; Awan, Kraslawski, & Huiskonen, 2017; Dabija, Postelnicu, Dinu, & Mihăilă, 2017; Jansson, Nilsson, Modig, & Hed Vall, 2017; Line & Wang, 2017b; Duanmu, Bu, & Pittman, 2018; Danso, Adomako, Amankwah-Amoah, Owusu-Agyei, & Konadu, 2019; De Mendonca & Zhou, 2019; Cha et al., 2019; Tseng, Chang, & Chen, 2019; Lee, Che-Ha, & Syed 58 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Alwi, 2020). Quantitative methods out number qualitative and mixed methods from the body of literature reviewed. However, few studies employed modern multivariate methods of analysis in the area of partial least square structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) (Reuter et al., 2012; Camarero, Garrido, & Vicente, 2015; Green, Toms, & Clarke, 2015; Line & Wang, 2017b; De Mendonca & Zhou, 2019). More work in the area of quantitative methods also demonstrate that, there is high interest of scholars in researching the area as it seems to be an emerging area for businesses, hence the interest of scholars in researching into the area of StMO-SP. More so, there is paucity of work moderating the relationship with state regulations. In the area of qualitative studies under review (De Madariaga & Valor, 2007; Roberts & Tribe, 2008; Bal, Bryde, Fearon, & Ochieng, 2013; Schlange, 2014; Bruku, 2015; Cobbinah, Amenuvor, Black, & Peprah, 2017; Goodman, Korsunova, & Halme, 2017; Komarac, Ozretic- Dosen, & Skare, 2017). Mixed method also featured in the review of extant literature (Gabzdylova, Raffensperger, & Castka, 2009; Timur & Getz, 2009; Peloza, Loock, Cerruti, & Muyot, 2012; Tang & Tang, 2012; Rawhouser, Cummings, & Marcus, 2018; Wang, Xu, & Li, 2018). The table below represents the categorisation of some research themes as well as some of the methodological approaches underpinning these studies. 59 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Table 3.4: Mapping of Articles: Themes and Methodological approaches* Descriptive: No Qualitative Quantitative Mixed defined Method Method Method methodological approach Market/Customer 6, 13, 25, 32, 33, 2, 10, 26, 36 orientation and 39, 42, 45 sustainability performance Stakeholder 4, 23, 54 1, 3, 11, 12, 13, 20, 43, 47, 60 8, 18, 31, 52, 55, pressure and 14, 29, 35, 48, 56, 63 sustainability 59, 60 performance Community and 5, 9, 49 7, 16, 22, 32, 34, 44, 46, 57 Social 37, 41, 62 engagements and sustainable tourism (Environmental inclusive) Competition and 30 15, 17, 21, 24, 19, 51 sustainability 28, 42, 50, 61 performance State Regulation 21, 27, 40 & Political impact and sustainability performance NB: The numbers represent articles focusing on StMO and SP (See Table A5 at appendix) 3.7 Geographical Focus This embodies the topographical focus of current studies in StMO-SP. The dissemination of literature in the current studies reveals strongly that, most extant literature reviewed is concentrated in Europe, America and Asia & Middle East. The less represented regions are Africa and Australia & Oceania. Within these regions, variations occur with respect to the number of articles per country. A careful scrutiny of the distribution pattern of the empirical 60 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh and conceptual works on StMO – SP in the tourism contexts reveals a more focused study on developed economies especially in Europe. On the other hand, there is paucity evidence from developing economy contexts like Africa. 3.8 Theoretical Focus Additionally, an appraisal of the theoretical approaches used in the study of StMO and SP within the tourism contexts helped in the provision of valuable insights and mapping of the varied theoretical perspectives acknowledged from the review. Owing to this, there was an indication of a significant distribution across all various classifications of the approaches. A more comprehensive detail of these conceptual approaches used in the study of StMO-SP in tourism destinations have been provided with regards to the outline adapted from Odoom (2016) and Heeks and Bailur (2007) as follows: i. Thematic/Framework Approaches: These are studies which make use of a framework or theme for analysis that is deduced from a body of theoretical work ii. Theory-based Approaches: These are studies that make explicit use of identifiable theories which can be tested or applied. iii. Category-based Approaches: These are studies that employ the use of prescribed or laid-down set of factors for the analysis iv. Model-based Approaches: These studies adopt the use of various models, but without reference to a deeper body of knowledge. v. Concept-based Approaches: These are studies that make use of defined concepts but are not theoretically grounded. Inferring from the above outline, each of the reviewed works in this study of StMO-SP in tourism destinations had a bearing in there. Below, is a representation of the reviewed articles 61 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh according to the contextual and approaches has been provided along with their geographical contexts. Table 3.5: Mapping of Articles: Context and Conceptual Approaches Thematic/ Theory- Category- Model- Concept- Framework based based based based Approach Approach Approach Approach Approach Africa 5, 34, 35, 39 9, 12 Europe 16, 23, 40, 4, 6, 37, 47, 28, 45 24, 30, 42, 1, 8, 10, 18, 50, 53 46, 48 19, 55, 56, 57 Asia & 3, 21, 61, 11, 32, 58 15 33, 59 Middle East America 1, 7, 13, 22, 41, 43 25, 36 14, 62 2, 31, 33, 44, 27, 29 51, 63 Australia 26, 17 54 20, 60 and Oceania NB: The numbers represent articles focusing on StMO and SP (See Appendix 5) A clearer representation of these studies used in the review has been provided in Table A4 in the appendix which summarises the dissemination of some key empirical and conceptual studies on StMO-SP in the tourism context, thereby providing evidence of the various specific geographical areas (countries) within which this research was conducted. The focal issues, underpinning theories, models, and frameworks discovered, have also been demonstrated accordingly in the same table. Inferring from the Table A4 in the appendix, it is observed that, there have been few scholarly works that used the stakeholder and institutional theory to explain the area under investigation. 62 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh CHAPTER FOUR THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS 4.0 Overview The chapter discuss the various theories that underpin the study and how they are used in explaining the key concepts. The stakeholder and the institutional theories have been discussed in this chapter. The stakeholder theory is used to explain the salient stakeholders of the tourism businesses and their relationships and the institutional theory is used to explain how the state use coercive forces to regulate tourism businesses for sustainability performance compliance. 4.1 Stakeholder Theory This study is guided by the stakeholder theory which explains the relationship between the business and its stakeholders (Donaldson & Preston, 1995; Mitchell et al., 1997; Freeman, 1999; Mitchell et al., 2010; Hult et al., 2011; Line & Wang 2017a) in studying the impact of StMO on sustainability performance. Freeman (1999) explains stakeholders as individuals or groups who can affect and can be affected by the attainment of the organisational goals. It is assumed that if firms manage their stakeholders efficiently, it would result in improved sustainability practice and performance of the tourism destination. Stakeholder has been explained by (Freeman, 1999) as how a group or individual who can affect or is affected by the achievement of organizations objectives. This explanation gives a very broad perspective of a stakeholder to mean that anybody or institution that the business interacts with directly or indirectly can be termed as a stakeholder and have some level of interest in the business. 63 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh In a narrow view, stakeholders of a business can mean those who provide resources, time and attention to that business and in return, the business tends to prioritize those stakeholders that give more resources as being most important in its relationship. Stakeholders also possess at least three of the following attributes, “power, legitimacy and urgency”. According to Mitchell et al. (1997), business managers or corporation managers give low priorities to those stakeholders that possess one of these attributes, moderate priorities to those who possess two of these attributes and high priorities to those who possess all three attributes. The power of a stakeholder refers to the degree to which that stakeholder can command the direction of the relationship by using coercive utilitarian or normative means. Legitimacy refers to an acceptable position or an assumption that an action or actions of an entity are presumed desirable, proper or appropriate within some socially accepted system that is regulated by norms, values and beliefs. Urgency refers to the extent to which an actor or a stakeholder demands urgent attention. This is defined by how far management of an entity can delay a response to an important demand of a stakeholder. Businesses that give prompt response to stakeholders have the urgency, power and legitimacy attributes. Therefore, the attention or time that managers of an entity give to a stakeholder in a relationship depends on the combinations of power, legitimacy and urgency. Based on the above attributes, Mitchell et al. (1997) categorized stakeholder into primary and secondary. Primary stakeholders connote those stakeholders that the firm depends on for its survival and continued success. These stakeholders comprise of customers, employees, shareholder, suppliers as well as state regulators and communities that provide resources and have the ability to regulate and certify the firm’s activities. For instance, customers provide revenue for the business through patronizing its product whilst an employee provide labour which is very critical in the operations of the firm. Shareholders 64 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh provide capital for the business whilst suppliers provide input such as raw materials, lubricants, machines, among others. Government or state institutions provide regulatory frameworks for the business and require them to pay taxes and as well as to meet standards for certification and the communities within which the firm or business is located give land and labour. The firm is dependent on these actors in one way or the other and this gives them power over the firm. As a result, primary stakeholders are the most important stakeholders to the business and any disregard for them can trigger serious consequences for the business. Normally, the primary stakeholder has a contractual relationship with the business thus has a direct influence in the decisions of the business. Secondary stakeholders are actors that do not have direct interest in the business but whose actions are quite critical to the business. These stakeholders do not have contractual agreement with the business or any legal authority over the firm. This stakeholder includes but not limited to, social media, mass media, advocacy groups, trade association. However, the actions of secondary stakeholders can influence or affect the firm negatively or positively. Secondary stakeholders can have different relationships ranging from collaborative to confrontational situations. For instance, the mass media can promote positive word of mouth about a firm or and this would result in increased customer base or high reputation. However, if the firm indulges in any bad practices such as polluting the community water, or destroying the community forest, the mass media or interest groups would expose that business and that would result in bad publicity. 65 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh The stakeholder theory gives a comprehensive understanding of the stakeholder concept. In his seminal work, Freeman (1999) proposed that firms must actively relate with a multitude of actors or goods other than the shareholders. This means that management responsibility goes beyond maximizing profit for shareholders to include satisfying other actors such as the community, state regulators, industry players and the environment. This means that the firm must take into consideration the concerns of all stakeholders when developing processes, structures and outcomes for the firm. The firm therefore is in a network. As a result, the unit of analysis is the long-term network relation that the firm has with its stakeholders (Donaldson & Preston, 1995) The stakeholder theory sees the firm as a business entity through which different stakeholders have multiple and diverse objectives to be met. Given the divers expectations and interest of these stakeholders, businesses are not likely to fulfill all their demands at the same time and therefore businesses must determine which stakeholders attract management attention or not at a particular time (stakeholder classification). Managerial decision making is therefore of this central to stakeholder theory (Donaldson & Preston, 1995) 4.2 Assumptions of the Stakeholder Theory The stakeholder theory is underlined by four assumptions which describes the relationship between the business and its environment. The first assumption is that, firms have relationship with multiple stakeholders who have different rights, objectives, expectations and responsibilities (Clarkson 1995, Hult et al. 2011). All these stakeholders have the power to influence the corporate objectives or the operations of the firm. This depicts the social exchanges that occurred between the firm and 66 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh stakeholders. Secondly, the assumption underlying the stakeholder theory is that, organizations are managed by corporate managers that make majority of the corporate decision because of the strategic role managers’ play in making decisions and allocating resources to meet the needs of other stakeholders. They are seen as agents of other stakeholders (fiduciary roles). Top corporate managers are viewed as agents. The third assumption is that, the differences in interests and expectations of the firm and its stakeholder’s create conflict due to these divergent expectations of its stakeholders. Due to this diverse expectations and interests of the firm and its stakeholders, the stakeholders would have to compete for their needs. The fourth assumption is that, firms exist in markets that operate in equilibrium. This market can have competitive pressures that affect the behaviour, therefore, inefficient is not necessary. Donaldson and Preston (1995) propose three methods to the stakeholder theory. These are normative, descriptive/empirical and instrumental stakeholder theories. These approaches are different but mutually supportive. The normative approach represent the moral guidelines that dictate how firms or businesses should threat stakeholders. The main logic of this method is that firms should attend to all their stakeholders but not only their shareholders. This approach also measures how organizations should be responsible to processes, institutions and the society at large. This approach to the stakeholder theory preaches fairness and community notion of common good. The descriptive or empirical approach defines how firms actually interact with stakeholders. 67 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Literature in this area has shown that businesses address the needs of those stakeholders that are perceived to be very important to the well-being of these. Under the descriptive/empirical approach, firms consider some stakeholders as more important than others and therefore firms would threat those stakeholders that create more value to the firm better. The instrumental approach defines what would happen if firms behave in a particular way. This approach tries to examine or predict relationships. This approach to stakeholder theory proposes that, businesses are able to relate to their stakeholders on the bases of mutual trust and corporations are likely to gain competitive advantage. As a result, the goal of business decision to manage stakeholders is a means to achieving an end result which is superior performance. According to Clarkson (1995), firm’s survival and performance depend on the ability of managers to create wealth, value and satisfaction for all primary stakeholders without favouring one group over the other. Using the stakeholder theory, the researcher theorises that, destination organizations should relate with their stakeholders by gathering intelligence and resources that would be used to fashion business strategies that would improve sustainability performance of the destination. The destination’s ability to improve on its sustainability performance would be dependent on the kind of intelligence that is gathered from its stakeholders. This position agrees with the instrumental approach to the stakeholder theory which explains how businesses should behave in relating with their stakeholders in order to achieve their corporate objective. It, therefore, means that, tourism destinations that want to improve their sustainability performance in terms of environmental, 68 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh economic and social must gather intelligence from their stakeholders like visitors, industry players, ecology, competitors, community and the state agencies which would then be used to fashion out a strategy that can produce an outcome in relation to sustainability performance. In this study, the information gathers from the stakeholders of the destination would become a key resource or capability in helping the organization in achieving its sustainability performance. 4.3 Institutional Theory The upsurge of institutional theory started in 1970’s with an investigation into the effect of institutional context of the structures of organizations (Lawrence & Shadnam, 2008). The development of institutional theory takes shape from the 19th century to early 20th century (Najeeb, 2014). The theory was propounded by Meyer & Rowan in 1977. Lawrence et al., (2008) argued that institutional theory is a theory used in examining organizational situations which views the social world as significantly comprising of institutions. Institutional theory is very important in analyzing organizational behaviour and was developed to understand the behaviour of organizations (Najeeb et al., 2014). Institutional theory highlights the contextual, historical and processual facets in which organizational activities occur. Najeeb et al., (2014) noted that, institutional theory was developed as an antidote to the overly rationalist and technocratic perspective. In the early years of its development, institutional theory was closely associated with neo-classical economics theory, resource dependence theory and ecology theory. Institutional theory has also been recently associated with structuration. 69 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 4.3.1 Dimensions of the institutional theory Isomorphic is an outcome of both institutional and competitive pressures. Isomorphic stands on three pillars such as coercive, mimetic and normative (Najeeb, 2014).  Coercive is the situation where institutions or organizations take certain actions or implement an activity as a result of pressure by regulatory stakeholders. This is where institutions and/or organization’s activities are guided by regulations.  Mimetic describes situations as a result of uncertainties or trends. This is when an organization imitates the practices of another organization (competitor) due to uncertainty in the field of management. Since some organizations are in competition within the same market, they do copy practices of their competitors that are successful (Najeeb et al., 2014)  Normative isomorphic relates to the existence of a relationship between management policies of organizations and employees’ background. The employee background relates to their educational levels, experiences on the job, norms and values as well as professional associations. Members of the professional association put efforts together to control production of organizations by defining conditions, methods and ethics of their work. These professional bodies set standards that regulate their conducts and behaviours that set them apart from other professions. Normative isomorphism adopts both the coercive and mimetic dimensions in the normative isomorphism, The study adopts the institutional theory to explain how state institutions or regulators control by coercing tourism businesses to be compliance to environmental, social and economic sustainability performance. In sustaining environmental performance at the tourism destinations, ecological 70 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh regulators like Environmental Protection Authority (EPA), Water Resources Commission (WRC), and Forestry Commission (FC) make sure players in the tourism destination put up behaviours that are environmental compliance by undertaking afforestation, preventing sand winning at the beaches and water bodies, cleaning their environment and putting in place systems to manage efficient use of water, energy and solid and liquid waste. Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) and State institutions like Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (MOTAC) make sure that tourism enterprises at destinations charge the right fees and put all the necessary safety standards in place. The Labour Commission (LC) and Fair Wages also make sure the right wages are paid to worker of these businesses. These institutions make sure there is sustainability economic performance at the tourism destinations. State institutions like the Commission on Human Right and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Social Welfare and Ministry of Gender and Social Protection (MGSP) as well as the Police Service make sure that the rights of employees are not abused by owners and management of tourism enterprises. This study uses state regulations (ecological and political) to moderate the StMO and SP relationship to determine whether the moderator will make it stronger or weaker. 4.3.2 Assumptions underlying institutional theory Literature posits as revealed above three distinct dimensions of institutional theory as originally postulated by DiMaggio and Powell, (1983). The study highlights assumptions that underlie the 71 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh components of this theory; the normative, coercive and mimetic. Under the normative, below are the assumptions: i. “The greater the reliance on academic credentials in choosing managerial and staff personnel, the greater the extent to which an organization will become like other organizations in its field.” ii. “The greater the participation of organizational managers in trade and professional associations, the more likely the organization will be, or will become, like other organizations in its field.” The coercive isomorphic also holds the assumptions: iii. “The greater the dependence of an organization on another organization, the more similar it will become to that organization in structure, climate, and behavioural focus.” iv. “The greater the centralization of organization A's resource supply, the greater the extent to which organization A will change isomorphically to resemble the organizations on which it depends for resources.” Furthermore, underlying the mimetic component of the institutional theory are the following assumptions: v. “The more uncertain the relationship between means and ends, the greater the extent to which an organization will model itself after organizations it perceives to be successful.” 72 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh vi. “The more ambiguous the goals of an organization, the greater the extent to which the organization will model itself after organizations that it perceives to be successful.” A second look at these assumptions reveal that, the effect of resource centralization and dependency, goal ambiguity and technical uncertainty, as well as professionalization and structuration on isomorphic change form the key pillars of the effective implementation and review of the institutional theory to modern business practices (DiMaggio & Powell, 1983). The integration of the stakeholder and the institutional theories in explaining the StMO–SP relationship is that the state regulators; the political and ecological regulators, who use coercive force to compel tourism businesses to comply with sustainability practices are also the key stakeholders (primary stakeholders) of the tourism businesses. In other words, the state institutions have a direct interest in the tourism businesses. This is because, if the tourism businesses do well, the state will eventually benefit from them through the payment of taxes, employment of its citizens, among others. 73 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh CHAPTER FIVE CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK 5.0 Overview This chapter conceptualises the relationships between the stakeholder market orientation (StMO) dimensions and sustainability performance (SP) dimensions as well as introduces state regulations as the moderator between StMO and SP relationship. 5.1 Conceptualising Stakeholder Market Orientation (StMO) and Sustainability Performance (SP) Stakeholder Market Orientation (StMO) is conceptualized as a business strategy in which a firm creates a broad network of relationships with multiple stakeholders with the aim of gathering market information and other resources to produce a strategy that is shared among its internal and external stakeholders for strategic decision making geared towards providing superior services for its customers and other stakeholders. These stakeholders undertake both cooperative and competitive relationships that create shared value for the actors (Freeman, 1999; Donaldson & Toole, 2006; Freeman et al., 2010; Zehrer & Hallmann, 2015). These stakeholders are called ‘salient actors’ in the business environment (Freeman, 1999). The relationships among these salient actors need to be sustainable, devoid of selfish interest. This would allow for open discussions that allow the free flow of information and resources among stakeholders. More so, the organization is able to come back to its stakeholders for feedbacks when any of the decisions do not achieve its goals. This is what Line and Wang 74 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh (2017) call organizational learning which helps firms to correct mistakes and make remedial decisions to improve their performance. Adapting from Mitchel et al., (2010) and Line and Wang (2017), StMO dimensions are made up of stakeholder competitor orientation (StCO), stakeholder industry orientation (StIO), stakeholder visitor orientation (StVO), stakeholder ecological orientation (StEO), stakeholder community orientation (StCuO), and stakeholder political orientation (StPO). StCO is made up of all destination marketing organisations whose activities affect the destinations directly and indirectly in terms market share, StIO is made up all organisations and institutions as well agencies that participate and benefit from the existence of the destination such as hotels, restaurants, drinking bars, travel and tour organisations, and transport unions, among others; Stakeholder Visitor Orientation (StVO) is made up of all independent and group visitors ( i.e. visiting friends/relatives, associations and so on), StEO is made up of all regulatory institutions like Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Forestry Commission, Water Resources Commission, Fire Service, Minerals Commission, and so on that protect the depletion of living and non-living- resources like water bodies, animal species, minerals etc., StCuO is made up of all local residents, interest groups, traditional authorities that partner the destinations to provide land, human capital and cultural values and practices; and StPO is made of, Tourism Authority and other agencies whose mandate is to regulate fees and general safety of the destinations. 75 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Sustainability practices in the tourism sector require various policy making agencies, implementation bodies and businesses in both public and private sectors of the economy. This needs the concerted efforts of all tourism destination stakeholders to be ready to create sustainable relationships that can result in multi creation of value offerings through leveraging on their resources. Line and Wang (2017) in their model of Multi Stakeholder Market Orientation (MSMO) did not incorporate all the stakeholder constituents while stressing the stakeholder collaboration at the destination. Stakeholder collaborations are necessary but if there are no sustainability relationships among the stakeholders, the issues of building intelligence and managing information among the stakeholders will be curtailed. More so, sustainability marketing practices need to be put in place by stakeholders at the destinations to sustain the destinations viability and attractiveness. The key areas addressed in the above study were void of vital constituents of stakeholders such as community and ecological orientations. Mitchell et al. (2010) in developing their Sustainable Market Orientation (SMO) model also did not include stakeholder relationships which are very critical in building competitive advantage at the destinations. It is argued that stakeholder relationships reduce regulatory pressures (Crittenden et al., 2011). For a destination to have sustainability competitive advantage and sustainability performance the destination must adopt StMO strategy. Sustainability competitive advantage is conceptualised as superior benefits that the TDs can sustain for a long time. 76 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Also, sustainability performance is coined as the performance of the TD as a result of sustainability competitive advantage. Sustainability performance is measured as environmental, social and economic sustainability (Roberts & Tribe, 2008; Silva et al., 2019). Environmental sustainability is measured to include all environmental management practices that are put in place to conserve and protect the physical environment. These practices include water conservation and efficient water use, afforestation, efficient management of solid and liquid waste, production of eco-friendly products, and reduction of pollution levels and so on. Social sustainability is measured to involve all social initiatives undertaken by the business in the area of respect of employee human rights, protection of worker and visitors, patronage of indigenous food and music (culture). Economic sustainability performance is measured in terms of increase in visitor numbers, increase in customer spending, employee and customer satisfaction, growth and profitability of the business among others. 5.2 StMO Dimensions and Sustainability Performance 5.2.1 Competitor Orientation (CompO) and Environmental Sustainability Performance (EnvSP) Competition and competitive advantage is at the heart of the marketing literature and the firm’s ability to build sustainable competitive advantage will determine its success in the market place (Easton, 1988). Competitive advantage is built when a firm uses its skills and resources to implement value creating strategies for its customers and other stakeholders than its rival firms. Competitive firms are able to sense the market demand by innovating through adopting new strategic orientations that will assist in reducing cost of production and differentiate the firm from its rival firms. One strategic option is for the business to engage in environmental management 77 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh systems such as eco design, eco–friendly products development, water conservation, emission reduction, efficient waste management among others. Extant literature had established the relationship between competition and firm performance and for that matter environmental performance (Teeratansirikool et al., 2013; Graafland, 2016) Graafland (2016), in an empirical study of price competition on time horizon and environmental performance in 12 European countries established that price competition has significantly shortens the time horizon that firms have to make strategic decisions and significantly increases firm environmental performance in the long-term. This implies businesses are constrained with resources to invest in environmental performance in the short-term but are able to offer improved environmental performance in the long-term. Declerck & M-Zali (2012) studied the relationship between product competition and corporate social responsibility dimensions and revealed a mix result. The result revealed a positive and significant association between market competition and for shareholders and employee related social actions such as human rights and employee relations but this result does not hold for the other stakeholders like community and the environment. The studies further showed that there was a negative relationship between competition and product quality and safety (Declerck & M’Zali, 2012). However, scholars studying the impact of competition among Chinese manufacturing firms on corporate environmental performance established a negative relationship between market competition and corporate environmental performance (Duanmu et al., 2018). 78 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh CompO is made up of all destination marketing organisations whose activities affect the destinations directly and indirectly in terms of market share (Line & Wang, 2017b, 2017a). Destinations gathering and dissemination of competitors’ information is very key to sustainability performance. Competition refers to the sharing of customers among various destinations (Jaworski & Kohli, 1993; Das, 2009; Dawes et al., 2009; Campón-Cerro, Hernández-Mogollón, & Alves, 2015). According to a longitudinal study by Teeratansirikool et al., (2013) in a study in Thailand on competitive strategies and firm performance revealed that competitive strategies positively and significantly predict firm performance through performance measurement This means that a destination is competitive when it has more market share than its rival destinations and hence is able to outperform them in terms of visitor numbers, service quality, visitor satisfaction and growth in general. Destinations provide a bundle of services to improve service quality. This means that actors or businesses at the destination must add value in order to improve the competitiveness of the destination. There is therefore the need for stakeholders of a particular destination to cooperate with one another to improve total value of the destination (Zehrer & Hallmann, 2015). The thesis therefore hypothesises that: H1a: The level of Competitor orientation (CompO) of tourism business positively predicts environmental sustainability performance (EnvSP) 5.2.2 Competitor Orientation (CompO) and Social Sustainability Performance (SocSP) Competitor analysis is very crucial in gathering and disseminating information about rival firms in order to know their strategies and use this information to build a more competitive strategy to 79 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh outperform the rival businesses. Operational effectiveness as coined by Porter (2008) means creating, producing, selling and delivering goods and services better in terms of being faster or with fewer inputs and without defects than the competing businesses. These activities by the business produce sustained competitive advantage that is difficult for other competing firms to erode (Porter, 1996, 2008; Dobbs, 2014; Indiatsy et al., 2014). Scholarly works have established the significant relationship between competition and firm performance (Maher, M & Shaffer, 2004; Teeratansirikool, Siengthai, Badir, & Charoenngam, 2013; Indiatsy et al., 2014), and the relationship between competition and other strategic orientations like CSR, social and environmental sustainability is evident in existing literature (Fernández-Kranz & Santaló, 2010; Declerck & M’Zali, 2012; Kemper, Schilke, Reimann, Wang, & Brettel, 2013; Duanmu et al., 2018; Herath, 2018). Empirical study by Fernández-Kranz & Santaló, (2010) indicated that more competitive environment is associated with less negative social impact and to greater positive social impact initiatives. This shows that a more competitive firms indicate a better social rating that a less competitive firms. The reason for this phenomenon might be that the firms engage their communities by giving back part of their profit by building schools and hospitals, providing pipe born water or awarding scholarships to needy but brilliant students might gain sustained competitive advantage and attract more customers which will in turn help them make more profit. Further study on product competition’s effect on corporate social performance, the results are inconclusive for other measures of sustainability performance. As a result, the study hypothesises that, H1b: The level of competition between the tourism businesses and its competitors positively predict the level of social sustainability performance (SocSP) 80 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 5.2.3 Competitor Orientation (CompO) and Economic Sustainability Performance (EcoSP) Competitor orientation is a strategy which involves a set of decisions and actions that businesses employ to attain superior business performance in relation to rival businesses. Porter is known for its generic strategies as cost leadership and differentiation strategies (Porter, 2008; Baroto, Abdullah, & Wan, 2012; De Marchi, Di Maria, & Micelli, 2013; Teeratansirikool et al., 2013; Duanmu et al., 2018). Extant literature has established the positive and significant relationship between competitive strategies and firm performance and other performance measurement options (Baroto et al., 2012; Teeratansirikool et al., 2013; Duanmu et al., 2018; Danso, Adomako, Amankwah-Amoah, et al., 2019). According to a longitudinal study by Teeratansirikool et al., (2013) in a study in Thailand on competitive strategies and firm performance revealed that competitive strategies positively and significantly predict firm performance through performance measurement. More so, differentiation strategy not only has a direct and significant impact on firm performance but it also has indirect and significant impact on firm performance through financial measures. Cost leadership strategy that firms pursue does not directly affect firm performance but indirectly and significantly through financial performance measures. A study of 269 firms in Ghana, finds that firms pursuing the differentiation strategy can positively boost performance outcomes with environmental sustainability orientation (ESO) than without differentiation strategy. It was found that firms can use the low‐cost strategy to get higher impact on performance with ESO. Based on the results, firms in Ghana do not need differentiation strategy in order to boost the effect of ESO on financial performance (Danso, et al., 2019). 81 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Another study of political competition and economic performance in Italy, established that higher political competition significantly improves economic performance, through the choice of more efficiency-oriented policies (Padovano & Ricciuti, 2009). Another study in China on manufacturing in intensified market competition revealed that, it has an overall negative impact on firms’ environmental performance. The negative impact is more significant in firms adopting a cost-leadership strategy, but is reduced in those firms adopting a differentiation strategy (Duanmu et al., 2018). The study, therefore, hypothesises that: H1c: The level of competitor orientation (CompO) of tourism business at the tourism destination positively predicts level of economic performance (EcoSP) 5.2.4 Stakeholder Industry Orientation (IndO) and Environmental Sustainability performance (EnvSP) Stakeholder industry orientation ability of the tourism business to relate with all organisations and institutions as well as agencies that benefit from the existence of the destination such as hotels, restaurants, drinking bars, travel and tour organisations, and transport unions, among others (Line & Wang, 2017b). The tourism destination is a network of complementary organisations that provide resources to produce diverse goods and services in order to build sustained competitive advantage for the destination as compared to similar destinations in the region (Díaz & Espino- Rodríguez, 2016; Famiyeh, Adaku, Amoako-Gyampah, Asante-Darko, & Amoatey, 2018). The competitiveness of tourism destination is dependent on the sound management and sustainability of its economic and environmental resources (Green, Toms, & Clarke, 2015; Famiyeh et al., 2018). All things being equal tourism destinations that manage their resources sustainably would improve their environmental performance and vice versa. The tourism destination business must marshal 82 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh all resources and capabilities to gauge all the environmental needs of the visitors of the destination and provide them to meet their requirement. The destination business must relate with other stakeholders of the destination for example, keep the destination clean by putting in place waste management system in order to manage both liquid and solid waste, water saving practices, energy saving practices of the destination (Koo, Chung, & Ryoo, 2014; Mensah, 2014; Theodoulidis, Diaz, Crotto, & Rancati, 2017). The destination and its stakeholders will plan to put in place an afforestation strategy in order to keep the vegetation and its habitants in touch. This will keep attracting tourists to forest reserves where they are able meet their expectation of viewing wild animals and various tree species. This then borders on sound ecological governance for the destination and build sustained competitive advantage for the destination which results in environmental performance. On the other hand, businesses that do not implement these environmental strategies would be rated low in environmental performance. An empirical study of factors in Ghana that predict environmental performance, result identified environmental education and training for staff, measures to support for the host community, conservation project support, compliance with environmental regulations, waste management, and voluntary programmes as the major factors that predicted environmental hotel performance (Mensah & Blankson, 2013). This suggests that businesses that implement the above-mentioned factors are likely to improve environmental performance. The thesis therefore hypothesises that: H2a: The level of industry orientation (IndO) with stakeholders at the tourism destination positively predicts the level of EnvSP. 83 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 5.2.5 Stakeholder Industry Orientation (IndO) and Social Sustainability performance (SocSP) Tourism destination enterprises that are able to relate with other complementary business stakeholders that benefit from their existence will go a long way to improve intelligence gathering from destination visitors and other stakeholders and dissemination within and outside the organisation (Kohli & Jaworski, 1990; Jaworski & Kohli, 1993; Mitchell et al., 2010; Mahmoud, 2011; Mitchell, Wooliscroft, & Higham, 2013; Mahmoud, Blankson, Owusu-Frimpong, Nwankwo, & Tran, 2016; Mahmoud et al., 2017; Line & Wang, 2017a). This would assist the business to meet the social responsibility concerns of the visitors and other stakeholders of the destination and build sustainable competitive advantage for the business and the destination in general and meet the social sustainability performance of the business. Empirical study therefore established a positive and significant relationship between industry stakeholder engagements and sustainability performance (Awan et al., 2017; Lee et al., 2020). An empirical study of Malaysian firms to determine the relationship between service customer orientation and social sustainability, showed that, there was a significant direct and indirect relationship between service customer orientation and sustainability performance, hence social performance (Lee et al., 2020). To further establish empirical evidence between stakeholder orientation in adopting sustainable supply chain management practices (SSCP) in Pakistan, the result revealed that SSCP predicts social and environmental performance (Awan et al., 2017). This means that businesses that engage their industry stakeholders would improve the level of SocSP. The thesis therefore predicts that: H2b: The level of industry orientation (IndO) positively predicts the level of social sustainability performance (SocSP) at the tourism destination. 84 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 5.2.6 Stakeholder Industry Orientation (IndO) and Economic Sustainability performance (EcoSP) The success of the tourism destination is based on continuous gathering and sharing of information on visitor needs by a network of industry players such as hotels, restaurants, drinking bars, travel and tour organisations, and transport unions among others (Díaz & Espino-Rodríguez, 2016; Line & Wang, 2017b, 2017a). Continuous interaction among the industry players in the tourism destination as regard information gathering and dissemination on visitor demand and expectations are very key to the provision of superior service to its visitors and other stakeholders (Kohli & Jaworski, 1990; Kohli et al., 1993; Lado, Maydeu‐Olivares, & Rivera, 1998; Mitchell et al., 2010). The destination’s ability to meet the needs and expectations of tourists is to build sustained competitive advantage and improve the destinations economic viability (Díaz & Espino- Rodríguez, 2016). The tourist destination’s competitive advantage can be built if the total and superior attraction of a tourism destination is unmatched to rival destinations with comparable target market segments. Sustainability information gathering and sharing between the destination and its industry players will go a long way to improve the destination’s competitiveness and attraction of visitors. Information on visitor complaints and dissatisfaction can be gathered, analysed and shared with industry players to reduce service failure and improve recovery (Aguilar- rojas, Fandos-herrera, & Flavián-blanco, 2015). If visitors visit a destination and its industry players provide excellent services in terms of eco-friendly lodging, good tasty food, well brewed and assorted drinks, good and affordable transport services; it is likely that the visitors will revisit this destination or even spent longer days at that destinations. This would go a long way to improve service quality and satisfaction at the destination and hence improve economic performance. 85 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh The competitiveness of the destination must therefore be created by the destination marketing organisation (DMO) and its salient stakeholders to co-create superior value as a result of efficiently managing assets and processes (Díaz & Espino-Rodríguez, 2016; Line & Wang, 2017b). This competitive advantage can only be sustained by integrating the relationships of stakeholders within a tourism planning strategy that takes into account preservation of the destination’s natural, social, and economic resources for current and future generations (Mitchell et al., 2010; Díaz & Espino- Rodríguez, 2016). The tourism destination must be seen to put in place strategies in order to put up a fair competition, charge fair prices for its offerings as well as respecting the rights of its workers and visitors. Extant literature has established positive and significant relationship between stakeholder engagement of industry players at tourism destinations and destination’s performance (Line & Wang, 2017b; Danso, Adomako, Lartey, Amankwah-Amoah, & Owusu-Yirenkyi, 2019). Line and Wang (2017b) conducted an empirical validation of their multi stakeholder market orientation (MSMO) construct of DMO in the USA. The results revealed a positive relationship between MSMO constructs the DMO’s performance which included economic performance. Another empirical study of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Ghana, found empirical support for the contention that the link between stakeholder integration and financial performance is mediated by a firm’s ESO (Danso, Adomako, Lartey, et al., 2019). The thesis therefore hypothesises that: H2c: the level of industry stakeholder engagement (IndO) of the tourism destination business positively predicts the level of economic sustainability performance (EcoSP). 86 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 5.2.7 Stakeholder Visitor Orientation (VTO) and Environmental Sustainability Performance (EnvSP) Stakeholder VTO is made up of all independent and group visitors, that is, visiting friends/relatives, associations and so on (Line & Wang, 2017b). The visitors who patronize the destination include both local and international visitors. These visitors come from different countries with different perceptions about the kind of expectations and standards. This makes it difficult for DMOs to come out with offerings that meet the diverse needs and expectations of these visitors (Fyall & Leask, 2007; Grönroos, 2007; Kang, & James, 2007; Fatma & Rahman, 2015). For DMOs to meet these demands, a lot of marketing strategies have to be put in place to gather information, analyse and use this information to deliver excellent sustainability services for the visitors at the destinations. When the right information about visitors’ needs are gathered, it will go a long way to assist destinations provide superior value to their visitors. Visitors can also demand from destinations to incorporate sustainability issues into their services (Nkamnebe, 2011; Tosun, Dedeoğlu, & Fyall, 2015). Customer or visitor orientation is the first stakeholder of market orientation as proposed by scholars and is deemed to be the cornerstone of every marketing strategy and its relationship with firm outcomes has been positive in the marketing and management literature (Kohli & Jaworski, 1990; Narver & Slater, 1990b; Jaworski & Kohli, 1993; Appiah-Adu, 1998; Sin, Tse, Yau, Chow, & Lee, 2003; Kirea, 2005; Mahmoud, 2011; Pekovic & Rolland, 2016; Hinson, Abdul-Hamid, Osabutey, & Hinson, 2017; Line & Wang, 2017b; Oluwatoyin et al., 2018). Past scholarship has also documented positive relationship between customer or market orientation and environmental 87 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh performance (Dabija et al., 2017; Mihalič, 2013; Tseng et al., 2019). An empirical study by Dabija et al., (2017) on stakeholders’ perception of sustainability orientation of a major Romanian university reveal that all stakeholders perceive the university’s positive orientation towards sustainability. All stakeholders reveal highly positive opinions of the university’s dealings with diverse sustainability aspects, such as its attitude towards its employees, its performance within the higher education market and its establishment of an attractive and innovative educational programme, in compliance with sustainability principles, environmental protection and positive and lasting interest in the society. Mihalič (2013) conducted a study of the performance of environmental resources and tourists’ satisfaction at a destination in Slovenia and the results reveal that the destination exploits its environmental resources to a large extent but tourists’ expectations are not met with regards to their experiences of Slovenian environmental tourism. This meant that, environmental resources at the destination are not used sustainably to produce tourist experiences that give the destination competitive advantage. Tseng et al., (2019) undertook an empirical study of strategic orientation on environmental sustainability performance of Taiwanese Information Technology firms. Results reveal that customer orientation and technology orientation have a positive relationship with environmental innovation capability (EIC) and that inter-functional coordination predict positive strategic orientation (SO) as well as EIC mediates the relationship between SO and environmental sustainability performance. Accordingly, firms that practice high customer orientation through environmental innovation would improve environmental sustainability performance. The thesis therefore, hypothesises that: H3a: The level of visitor orientation (VTO) positively predicts the level of environmental sustainability performance (EnvSP). 88 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 5.2.8 Stakeholder Visitor Orientation (VTO) and Social Sustainability Performance (SocSP) Customer (visitor) orientation is the process of an organization’s constant interaction with customers and other stakeholder to gather information on their demands and use it to fashion a strategy to produce superior offerings that meet their needs. The ability of the firm to identify, understand and respond to its target customers is key to providing superior value to its customers and other stakeholders (Narver & Slater, 1990b; Mahmoud, 2011; Mahmoud, Blankson, Owusu- frimpong, Nwankwo, & Tran, 2016; Pekovic & Rolland, 2016; Line & Wang, 2017b). The interaction with customers is a critical source of knowledge of various social identities that give the organisation sustained competitive advantage (Lee et al., 2020). Hence, investment in customer orientation to improve social sustainability performance is of the best strategic decisions to be taken in a very competitive environment. A study by Lee et al. (2020) in exploring the impact of a firm’s customer orientation on social sustainability in the area of employee outcomes, customer satisfaction and customer retention in small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia, established that customer orientation has significant relationship with all the three indicators of social sustainability. Another study to examine the perception of different stakeholder groups at one of the largest and most important Romanian university on its sustainability orientation reveal that different stakeholders of the university have positive orientation towards sustainability and its measures on employee satisfaction, its performance within the higher education market and establishment of an attractive and innovative educational programme in relation to compliance with sustainability principles, environmental protection and modern attitudes towards society (Dabija et al., 2017). In a study to examine the direct effects of shareholder, public, and customer orientation on the evaluation of the outlined-trade off; and investigates the indirect effects by introducing the formalization of ethical culture as a mediating variable to assess the impact of the 89 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh three kinds of shareholder orientation on the propensity to select suppliers based on their performance in terms of social and environmental criteria as well as cost performance, findings reveal a significant negative impact of shareholder and customer orientation on sustainability prevalence in terms of social and environmental criteria (Reuter et al., 2012). In examining the relationship between stakeholder pressure and adoption of sustainable supply chain practices and their impact on sustainability performance among manufacturing firms in Pakistan, results indicate the important role that sustainable supply chain practices can play in achieving the social and environmental performance of the manufacturing firms. Thus supply chain managers perceive benefits to significantly involve buyers in collaborative social and environmental practices (Awan et al., 2017). The study therefore hypothesises that: H3b: The level of stakeholder visitor orientation (VTO) positively predicts social sustainability performance (SocSP) 5.2.9 Stakeholder Visitor Orientation (VTO) and Economic Sustainability Performance (EcoSP) Firms that practise visitor orientation must constantly engage in innovations to find exciting offerings that meet the needs and requirement of customers. This purpose can only be achieved when businesses gather, analyse and disseminate timely information to its internal and external stakeholders. Existing literature has documented positive and significant relationship between customer orientation and business performance (Narver & Slater, 1990b; Kohli et al., 1993; Peña et al., 2013; Pekovic & Rolland, 2016; Feng, Wang, Lawton, & Luo, 2019; Jiang, Rosati, Chai, & 90 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Feng, 2020). Visitors can also demand from destinations to incorporate sustainability issues in their services (Nkamnebe, 2011; Tosun et al., 2015). Related to the above is linkage between visitor orientation and economic sustainability performance. Existing literature has also unearthed the relationship between visitor orientation and economic sustainability performance (Maydeu- Olivares & Lado, 2003; Camarero, Garrido, & Vicente, 2015; Pekovic & Rolland, 2016; Mahmoud et al., 2017; Oluwatoyin et al., 2018; Jiang et al., 2020). Empirical study to explore the relation between visitor orientation and performance in museums through technological innovation and tradition has the result - supporting a positive relationship between visitor orientation and economic sustainability and market performance. Even though technological innovation has a positive impact on revenue and economic performance, the impact of custodial orientation is negative (Camarero, Garrido, & Vicente, 2015). Another quantitative study that examined customer orientation, competitor orientation, and technology orientation influences the environmental innovation capability (EIC) and environmental sustainability performance in the context of buyer-supplier relationships. The result of this reveals that customer orientation and technology orientation have a positive impact on the EIC, in that buyers value added has a synergistic effect on the impact of competitor orientation on EIC (Tseng et al., 2019). The study therefore hypotheses that: H3b: The level of stakeholder visitor orientation (VTO) positively predicts economic sustainability performance (EcoSP). 5.2.10 Stakeholder Community orientation (ComO) and Environmental performance (EnvSP) 91 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Community orientation is a type of market orientation that focuses on information generation from the community that assists in identifying and satisfying community wants and needs in relation to forest conservation, waste management, water conservation, efficient use of energy and sustainable sources of energy generation, among others (Ginn & Lee, 2006; Line & Wang, 2017b). The business needs to liaise with the opinion leaders of the community and identify how the business can support the community’s afforestation, water conservation, efficient energy use and other environmental practices. The tourism enterprises asset is the environmental resources and their support for the community would go a long way to improve the environmental resources which is the key for sustainable tourism development. Existing literature has documented the positive and significant relationship between a firm’s environmental management practices and its competitive advantage. These environmental management practices adopted by the firm has a direct positive impact on environmental performance (Cha, Abebe, & Dadanlar, 2019). An empirical study by Cha et al., (2019) to examine the relationship between a chief executive officer (CEO)’s personal engagement in broader societal causes (CEO civic engagement) and the firm’s social and environmental performance established that, firms led by CEOs with proactive civic engagement are more likely to support various philanthropic efforts. Additionally, the findings suggest that firms led by civic-minded CEOs are more likely to support an active corporate environmental engagement by investing significant resources in various environmental causes. With the help of the stakeholder theory argument, in relation to the firm’s relationship with its external stakeholders, the firm’s reputation and approval from these stakeholders are built in terms of providing resources and market for the tourism industry (Freeman et al., 2010; Gibson, 2012; Hörisch et al., 2014; Donaldson & Preston, 2017; Schaltegger, Hörisch, & Freeman, 2019). The study proposes that with higher level of community engagement and participation, there is a more 92 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh likelihood of building a higher reputation and goodwill among external stakeholders due to their higher environmental performance. The study therefore hypothesises that: H4a: The level of stakeholder community orientation (ComO) positively predicts the environmental sustainability performance (EnvSP). 5.2.11 Stakeholder Community orientation (ComO) and Social performance (SocSP) Community orientation is the firm’s ability to engage or participate in public voluntary initiatives in various social and community causes that benefit both the firm and the community at large. The firm’s participation in these social initiatives is primarily driven by firm’s conviction and passion in making contributions to broader societal objectives. Common examples of firm’s community engagements that improves social sustainability performance include participation in community organizations such as religious institutions, service in not-for- profit boards, financial support for festivals, supporting community projects such as schools, hospitals, scholarship provision, encouraging the use of local products improves social bond between the company and the community (Andersson & Getz, 2008). Businesses and their representatives’ engagement in community initiatives and social performance exist in marketing, management and sustainability literature (Stone, 2011; Bruku, 2015; Khazaei, Elliot, & Joppe, 2015; Cobbinah et al., 2017; Wang, Xu, et al., 2018; Cha et al., 2019). A qualitative study on how the community engagement is used as a strategic tool to preserve the heritage sites in Elmina castle reveal that stakeholder involvement is key to the protection and 93 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh conservation of heritage sites. Again, a quantitative study by. Cha et al. (2019) to explore the relationship between a chief executive officer (CEO)’s personal participation in broader societal causes (CEO civic engagement) and firm’s social and environmental performance establish that CEOs with active civic engagement are more likely to support various philanthropic efforts. More so, it is evident that firms managed by civic-minded CEOs are more likely to support active corporate social and environmental engagement by investing significant resources in community support. The study hence proposes that firms that engage in community orientation are likely to improve in social performance. The study therefore, hypothesises that: H4b: The level of stakeholder community orientation (ComO) positively predicts the social sustainability performance (SocSP). 94 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 5.2.12 Stakeholder Community orientation (ComO) and Economic performance (EcoSP) The firm’s community orientation assists in coexistence between the business and the community. Destinations whose local community engage in civil wars, unstable political systems, terrorism and kidnaps are not likely to attract visitors to their destinations and these are called push factors. However, local communities that have stable political systems, devoid of terrorism and kidnaps are considered friendly, thus would attract high visitor numbers to their destinations, these on the other hand are called pull factors (Baker & Cameron, 2008; Pesonen, Komppula, Kronenberg, & Peters, 2011; Valls, Gibert, Orellana, & Antón-Clavé, 2015). Using community orientation as strategic tool to establish economic performance has received scholarly attention in the marketing and management literature (Ginn & Lee, 2006; Díaz & Espino-Rodríguez, 2016; Campbell & Park, 2017; Line & Wang, 2017b; Theodoulidis et al., 2017). In a study, they examined the key factors in achieving the sustainability performance at tourism destination and reported that the key sustainability factors have positive influence on long-term outcomes (Rodríguez Díaz & Espino Rodríguez, 2016). The results showed that the key factors that have a direct and significant relationship with performance are the key resources and supply chain, security, alternative leisure, and governance. This means that community orientation can achieve economic performance in the long-run. Destination’s culture and its effect on destination’s competitiveness are well documented in the literature (Lin, Pearson, & Cai, 2010; Lin, Pearson, & Cai, 2017; Tanford, & Jung, 2017). Visitors are attracted to special cuisines, drinks and festivals of destinations. Some destinations have special products, animals, and dances that attract visitors to them. For example, some important festivals 95 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh in Ghana have attracted both local and international tourists to these destinations. The Yam Festivals of the Asogli State, the Lukusi Festival of the Ve traditional area, the Akwesidae of the Akans, Damba Festival of the Northern and Upper West regions, Hogbetsotso of the Anlos, Homowo of the Ga, Ghana and so on attract different visitors throughout the year. The study therefore proposes that firms that engage in community orientation would build sustainability competitive advantage and improves their economic performance through high visitor attraction and other stakeholder support. The study, hence hypothesises that: H4c: The level of stakeholder community orientation (ComO) positively predicts the economic sustainability performance (EcoSP). 5.3 The Moderating Role of State Regulation on StMO and Sustainability Performance Nexus Leaning on the institutional theory, state regulation is the kind of regulation that uses coercive force to command tourism businesses to comply with sustainability management practices (Zhu & Sarkis, 2007; Li et al., 2020). According of this study, state regulation has been classified into political and ecological regulations. Political regulation involves the use of state institutions such as GTA, to control management of tourism businesses to charge appropriate fees and provide safe business environments for tourists. Ecological regulation on the other hand is explained by this research as state institutions such as the EPA, Minerals Commission, Water Resource Commission and all other state institutions that are empowered by an Act of Parliament to regulate environmental management practices and obtain compliance from tourism and other businesses that use the natural environment as their basic resource for production. Extant literature has observed that, sustainability practices add to the cost of production of businesses and as a result, 96 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh most businesses on their own might not put in place sustainability management practices hence, calls for regulatory frameworks to regulate businesses to comply with environmental sustainability practices (Crittenden et al., 2011b; Nkamnebe, 2011; Akram et al., 2019). In order to meet this call, this study moderates StMO-SP relationship with state regulation to determine whether the impact will strengthen sustainability performance or vice versa. Extant literature has demonstrated a positive impact when corporate environmental responsibility and sustainability performance are moderated by government or state regulations (Zhu & Sarkis, 2007; Ortiz-de-Mandojana et al., 2016; Li et al., 2017; Akram et al., 2019). According to a study by Akram et al., (2019) on the role of corporate governance and firm’s environmental performance: a moderating role of institutional regulations, it was established that, corporate governance has a positive and significant impact on green performance. The results have indicated positive and significant of the moderating role of institutional regulation for corporate governance and firm performance. Prior studies by Li et al., (2017) on the effects of corporate environmental responsibility (CEP) on corporate financial performance (CFP): the moderating role of government regulation established that, the moderating effect of government regulation is significantly positive, i.e., stringent government regulation significantly reinforces the positive influence of CER on CFP. Another study by Ortiz-de-Mandojana et al., (2016) on corporate governance and environmental sustainability: the moderating role of the national institutional context established that, there is a positive moderating effect in the relationship between corporate governance mechanisms and environmental sustainability. 97 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh However, there is no known study yet that has moderated state regulation on StMO-SP nexus. In order to close this gap, the study therefore moderates state regulation on StMO-SP to determine whether the moderator will strengthen or weaken the relationship. The study therefore hypothesises that: H5a: Political regulation positively predicts StMO-SP relationship. H5b: Ecological regulation positively predicts StMO-SP relationship. 98 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 5.4 Conceptual Framework Stakeholder Market Orientation (StMO) Figure 4.1: Conceptual Framework Macro Level Control Variables -Energy policy -Infrastructure policy -Tourism policy STAKEHOLDER MARKET Sustainability ORIENTATION (StMO) Performance -Comp etitor Orientation H1-H4 a,b,c,d -Environmental -Social -Industry Orientation -Economic -Visitor/Group Travel Orientation -Community Orientation H2a, b Market Level Control Variables State -Competitive Intensity Regulations -Technology Turbulence -Political regulations -Buyer Power -Ecological regulations Source: Author’s Conceptualisation (2020) Since the scholars have called for the expansion of the constituents of the market orientation (Mitchell et al., 2010; Crittenden et al., 2011a; Line & Wang, 2017b, 2017a), there have been no known studies that have investigated the relationship between stakeholder market orientation (StMO) and sustainability performance (SP). This study interrogates the key dimensions of StMO in the area of competitor orientation (CompO), visitor orientation (VTO), community orientation 99 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh (ComO), industry orientation (IndO) on sustainability performance dimensions of environmental sustainability performance (EnvSP), social sustainability performance (SocSP) and economic sustainability performance (EcoSP). The study also moderates the StMO-SP relationship with state regulation (SR) in terms of political regulation (PR) and ecological regulation (ER). The outcome variables are controlled macro level factors such as energy and infrastructure policy which are beyond the control of the tourism businesses. On the other hand, there are market level control variables such as technology turbulence, competitive intensity and buyer power; which are within the control of these tourism businesses. 100 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 101 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh CHAPTER SIX RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY 6.0 Overview As established in the previous chapters, this research employs the stakeholder theory as the underpinning theoretical foundation which helped to establish a conceptual framework aimed at aiding in understanding the interrelationships among stakeholder market orientation (StMO) dimensions and sustainability performance (SP). The synthesis of literature provided us with the theoretical direction to tackling the current research problem thus there is the need for an empirical approach. This chapter therefore, delves into the methodology and design that used in undertaking the empirical section of the study. The chapter is a crucial aspect as it basically lays out the blueprint and overview of the approach that were used in undertaking the research. The chapter begins by discussing research paradigms or philosophical assumptions, research purpose, research strategy and research approach. It further provides descriptions of the research design for the study, as well as data collection and analysis methods. The data analysis technique and the justification in selecting PLS-SEM were also discussed. This chapter ends with the discussion of the measurement and structural models. 102 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 6.1 Introduction Research methodology has a critical role in any kind of social and management research so far as the research claims to establish a high level of credibility. Clark and Creswell (2014 p.4) defines “research as a process or steps used to collect and analyse information in order to increase our knowledge about a topic or issue”. As a result, the aim of business research as a scientific and systematic process is to establish credible information alternatives to management to solve managerial problems or management thony issues: to provide solution to the problem or take advantage of opportunity that requires a management decision. For several researchers, the core issue as far as methodologies are concerned is that the selection of a methodology is anchored on the research problem, research objectives and questions proposed (Aberdeen, 2013; Saunders et al., 2016). Thus, a particular methodology is neither true nor false; it can only be more or less useful (Silverman, 2019) on the basis of the research being carried out. More so, Franfort- Nachamias & Nachamias, (2007) argue for instance that, methodologies are considered to be a framework of explicit rules on which research is anchored, and against which claims for knowledge are evaluated. Therefore, conducting any type of research should be governed by a well-defined blueprint and framworks based on scientific rules and laws. Muhaise et al. (2020) and Saunders et al., (2016) have proposed methodology segments that have to be followed when conducting a research. They include philosophical assumptions (paradigms), research purpose, strategy, approach, design, collection data and analysis. These have been discussed procedurally in the subsequent sub-sections. The figure below gives the schematic presentation of the current research methodology. (Source: Adapted from Odoom, 2015) 103 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Figure 6.1: Diagrammatic representation of research methodology Research Research Research Research Data Research Paradigm Purpose Strategy Approach Collection Analysis Validity and Reliability 6.2 Paradigms and Philosophical Perspectives Muhaise et al. (2020, p.201) define “research methodology as the general regulations and principles for organising research activity”. The methodology therefore, entails all rules, regulations and frameworks that underpin how the research is conducted in relation to a philosophical assumption. Scholars have noted that an academic research must be organised on a research paradigm (Bagasheva & Clares, 2020; Hickey, 2020; Muhaise et al., 2020). Research paradigm is defined as the researcher’s worldview which encapsulates the philosophical, theoretical, instrumental and methodological perspectives. In sum, it involves a set of beliefs, values and principles which is shared a group of researcher and which acts as a guide as well as dictate the kinds of problems scientists should address and the types of explanations that are legitimate and acceptable to them and how it can be transferred to other users ( Clark & Creswell, 2015; Muhaise et al., 2020 ). Essentially, a philosophical perspective enables the researcher to state clearly, the reasons for selecting a particular paradigm for the research other than just choosing the methodology. Several paradigms can be identified with varied distinctions among them with regard to their epistemological, ontological as well as methodological assumptions. 104 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh These assumptions propose the philosophies that underpin the foundations which explain how they differ from one another (Creswell, 2014; Muhaise et al., 2020). Epistemological assumptions represent what constitute acceptable and legitimate knowledge how it can be identified and which underlying rules assist measuring the knowledge for it to be regards as adequate and legitimate. Ontological assumptions describe the nature of social reality. These assumptions make claims about what kinds of social phenomena can exist, the circumstances that underpin their existence, and the relationships between and among these social phenomena (Saunders, Lewis, & Thornhill, 2019). Even though many philosophical positions and school of thoughts exist, the major paradigms that reflect the key theoretical directions in social and management research are positivism, interpretivism, realism, relativism and critical realism (Muhaise et al., 2020; Saunders et al., 2019). In an ideal world, a researcher will make philosophical assumptions and inferences as to what constitutes reality, how this reality can be known and the process of acquiring knowledge. Therefore, distinguishing logical relationship between the ontology, epistemology, and subsequently the methodology of researchers selected research paradigm can be obtained. Saunders et al., (2019) provides a summary of the differences between these paradigms (illustrated in the table 6.1 below) to help understand their dichotomies. 105 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Table 6.1: Paradigms in Management and Social Science Research Ontology Epistemology Axiology Methodology (nature of being) (constituents of (value roles) (how knowledge is generated knowledge) fashioned) Positivism Value-free. “Researcher is “Researchers formulate “There is usually a solitary, “Knowledge created is separated, neutral and research questions and objective and tangible reality.” objective, free of time independent of what is hypotheses and then test them influences, and is context- being researched. empirically under carefully independent” Also maintains controlled circumstances. objective stance” Deductive reasoning.” Interpretivism Value-laden. Value-bound research “Knowledge is created “Multiple realities exist, “Knowledge generated is “Researchers are part through researchers subject to human experiences subjective, time-bound and of what is researched, identifying the various and interpretation. Reality is context dependent” subjective. interpretations and socially constructed” Interpretations constructions of reality that Are key to exist and attempting to contribution establish patterns. Inductive Researcher reflexive” logic and emergent design” Realism Value-cognizant/Value-aware. Value-driven research “Social phenomenon is “Reality is “real” but only “Findings are probably true. “Research is understood through imperfectly and Researcher needs to triangulate commenced and hypotheses which are tested to probabilistically apprehensible, any perception collected.” sustained by establish patterns of so triangulation from many researcher’s doubts associations and hence the foundations is required to try to and beliefs. most possible explanation. know it.” Researcher is Hypothetico-Deduction” reflexive” Relativism “Researcher and “Multiple realities exist. “The interpretation of the world research are “The construction of Reality as a truth is not requires some form of human embedded in power- Knowledge is influenced by “absolute”, it is relative; processing.” relations. the worldview and research dependent on ‘something’ and Some research paradigm of a researcher. it does exist.” narratives are Researchers should focus repressed and silenced more on creating and at the expense of developing new ‘useful’ others. theories – useful solutions to Researcher is radical specific problems.” and reflexive.” Critical Realism “Researcher “Two worlds – transitive and “Transitive world is value-laden acknowledges “Researchers seek to intransitive. Transitive is what and changing continually. prejudice by world deconstruct and understand we observe and learn with our Intransitive world has views, cultural the structures and mechanism mind – the perception of underlying structures and experience and underlying the subjective reality. Intransitive embodies mechanisms that are ‘relatively upbringing. realities and exist. the reality which is enduring’ – that is what we Researcher tries to Triangulation from many independent of what the mind want to study” minimise sources is required to try to thinks.” bias and errors know it. Retroductive Researcher is as reasoning.” objective as possible” Source: Saunders et al., (2019, p. 144-145) 106 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 6.2.1 Positivism as a Research Paradigm The positivist (sometimes labelled objectivist) approach is predominantly a quantitative based research approach, whereas its opposites (relativist/interpretivist/subjectivist) often examine situations from a qualitative perspective (Park, Konge, & Artino, 2020). According to Sunders et al. (2019, positivism is “philosophical stance of natural scientist and entails working with observable social reality to produce law-like generalisation”. It seeks to apply the natural science model of research to investigations of social phenomena and explanations of the social world. It has been acknowledged that Auguste Comte (French philosopher and social scientist) was the founder of positivism or ‘positive philosophy’ when he outlined it in his work ‘Course of Positive Philosophy (Saunders et al., 2019) . This philosophical school of thought believes that a positivist researcher is a completely objective, impartial observer of a tangible social reality. The positivist paradigm is based on few key suppositions: (1) the world is external and objective where the observer is independent; (2) researchers should base assumptions on fact and seek causality from variables to generalize fundamental laws; and (3) positivist research should be specific and hypothetically tested using quantitative methods on large samples in order to increase objectivity (Muhaise et al., 2020) . These assumptions tend to posit that Positivists generally believe that the reality is objectively given and can be described by measurable properties which are independent of the observer (researcher) and his/her instruments. Generally speaking, Positivist studies attempt to test theory, in an effort to increase the predictive understanding of the phenomena” (Yeomans, 2017). According to Saunders et al., (2019) the basic principle of positivist research is the supposition that the researcher is detached and neither affects nor is affected by the subject of the research. In 107 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh addition, Muhaise et al., (2020) also argue that positivism is “typically deductive, highly structured, large samples, measurement, typically, quantitative methods of analysis, but a range of data can be analysed through survey, experiment, quasi-experiment data collection”. 6.3 Research Purpose Business and management research can have a number of purposes, ranging from relatively simple to very complex, and cover both basic and applied research (Saunders et al., 2019). These may emerge from the kind of research questions (what, how and why questions) which are intended to be answered (Clark & Creswell, 2015). A research purpose provides the basic direction for carrying out the research. Fundamentally, in social research, there are three categories of research purpose: exploration, description, and explanation (Saunders et al. 2016). These categories differ in various perspectives including the way research questions or hypotheses are formulated, and the way data are collected (Saunders et al., 2019). According to some social research scholars, research can aim to explore, describe, explain, understand, predict, change, evaluate and assess impacts. There could be one purpose in a study or multiple purposes in a sequence. Particularly for applied research, they might set out with basic research purposes (such as explore, describe, explain, understand, predict) and then end up to change or assess impact (Clark & Creswell, 2015; Saunders et al., 2019). 108 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 6.3.1 Descriptive Studies Descriptive research generally seeks to present an up to date description of some phenomenon, the features in some demographic category, group or population, the trends of relationships in some social contexts, at a particular time, or the changes in those features over time (Clark & Creswell, 2015) . These descriptive features can be expressed in words or numbers and may include the development of set of categories or types (Saunders et al., 2019). Descriptive research is used to provide key information about some aspect of the observed persons, events, situations, and environments. Descriptive research is conducted to describe situations, events and occasions The researcher observes and then describes what was observed (Clark & Creswell, 2015) . This type of research purpose is frequently used when a problem is well defined. 6.3.2 Explanatory Studies Clark and Creswell (2015), hints that explanatory research often seeks to describe patterns in observed social phenomena, attitudes, behaviours, social relationships, social processes or social structures. Its aim is to determine cause-and-effect relationships and aims to develop precise theory that can be used to definitively explain the phenomena, which leads to the generalization from a study (Saunders & Bezzina, 2015; Tobi & Kampen, 2018). This is true of both semantic explanations (concerned with the meanings of the words and phrases) as well as scientific explanation (seeks the causes for the occurrence of a particular event or regularity). This research focuses on perusing a situation or a problem in order to describe the relationships among variables (Saunders et al., 2019). 109 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 6.3.3 Exploratory Studies Exploratory research is essential used when very little is known about a phenomenon being studied, or about the context in which the study is to be conducted (Blaikie, 2010). This type of research is typically used when a researcher examines a new interest or when the area of study itself is fairly new and unexploited. The major emphasis of exploratory research is on the discovery of new ideas and insights that would give way for further study (Saunders et al., 2016). The research questions or assumptions might be difficult to understand because the phenomenon of interest is significantly new and unfamiliar to the researcher. More information might thus be needed to make clear the concept and scope of the study and to make the researcher understand the problem better. A number of techniques, including literature review, interviews, focus group and case study, could help conduct exploratory research (Yeomans, 2017). While exploratory research is usually conducted at the early stages of a research project, it may also be necessary at other stages to provide information for further critical decisions, to overcome unexpected problem, to better understand an unanticipated finding, or to establish which avenues of explanation would be worthwhile pursuing (Yeomans, 2017). 6.4 Research Strategy Fundamentally, two central versions on research strategy exist – deductive and inductive. For testing theories, it is useful to use a deductive approach; on the other hand, the inductive approach is helpful when aiming to build a new theory (Saunders et al., 2016). The deductive approach commences with analysing a theory and then testing that theory by collecting empirical data; the order is to move from generalized information into the specific example. By using a sufficient size of sample in the empirical study, it would be possible to generalize the answers to the specific 110 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh study (Saunders et al., 2019). Thus, the deductive research approach is when researchers use what is known from a certain area, the theories connected to the specific phenomenon, and later reject or strengthen the theory (Saunders et al., 2019; Muhaise et al., 2020). It is the most common approach and view about the relationship between theory and empirical in social science. The approach is made in linear steps to test the current theory which later is confirmed or rejected (Saunders et al., 2019). With the inductive approach, a close understanding of the research context is emphasized. The researcher looks into the specific statement first, and then moves to a generalization; the researcher finds a theory, and then finds a pattern to prove it. This is the opposite of the deductive approach, in which researchers find patterns first, and then create a new theory (Aliyu, Bello, Kasim, 2014). Thus, primarily, Induction has its starting point in the empirical data while deduction starts in theory. In addition to these two fundamental research strategies, some scholars have also espoused two additional perspectives – abductive and retroductive approaches (see Balikie, 2010). According Saunders et al., (2019) an abductive approach is also common in case study-based research and further claims that inductive and deductive approaches appear to be one-sided and unrealistic. The abductive approach has characteristics of both induction and deduction; it starts in the empirical data, similarly to induction, but does not reject theoretical preconceptions. It is a process of reinterpreting empirical data and theory as the research progresses. This combination of induction and deduction is a way of discovering new patterns and deepening the understanding of a phenomenon. Clark & Creswell (2015), argue that case studies in particular should take a systematic combination approach. The authors contend that by going back and forth between research activities, and between empirical data and the theory, the process enables the researcher 111 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh to expand the understanding of theory and empirical phenomenon. Regarding retroductive approach, the logic demonstrate how the process of building hypothetical models of structures and mechanisms that are assumed to produce empirical phenomena (Saunders et al., 2019). It entails working back from data to a possible explanation. Blaikie (2010) explains that the aim of the retroductive research strategy is to ascertain the root causes of mechanism that, in particular contexts, explain observed regularities. Thus, a researcher employing a retroductive strategy will document and model a specific regularity, describe the context and possible mechanisms, and end by establishing the mechanisms which provide the best explanations (Blaikie, 2010). 6.5 Research Approach Research approaches are the plans and procedures for research that span the steps from broad assumptions to detailed methods of data collection, analysis, and interpretation (Creswell, 2014). Generally, traditional research in social sciences has two major research approaches available – quantitative research and qualitative research. When conducting research, these two approaches may be considered when deciding how to carry out the research in the most efficient and effective manner. However, mixed method approach (i.e. the suitable combination of both quantitative and qualitative research approaches) is treated as a third research approach that is accepted and used by several researchers in their works (Saunders et al., 2019) According to Saunders et al., ( 2019), the key difference between the two types of research approaches is commonly the number of participants and how to analyse the answers from the research. 112 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 6.5.1 Qualitative Research Saunders et al., (2019) explains that the qualitative research approach is a distinguishing way to describe an alternative to the ‘quantitative research’ and was coined in relation to critique of the latter and especially the development it had taken in the nineteen sixties to the nineteen seventies. However, qualitative research has an outstanding journey in many disciplines, where social science research in general began with approaches that would now be summarized under qualitative research. Today, the label ‘qualitative research’ is used as a broad term for a series of approaches to research in the social sciences. According to Myers (2015, p.8), “the qualitative research approach was developed in the social sciences to enable researchers’ study social and cultural phenomena into details and uncover new insights. Some of the known qualitative approaches include action research, case study research, grounded theory, and ethnography. Qualitative data sources comprise observation and participant observation (where the researcher is part of the study), interviews and questionnaires, documents and texts, and the researcher’s perceptions and reactions. Generally, the qualitative research methodology is designed to assist researchers to have in depth understanding of people and the social and cultural contexts within which they live (Blaikie, 2010). The data from qualitative research is most of the recordings of peoples’ thoughts and impressions about issues in their environment. In qualitative research, methods of in-depth interviews or focus groups are usually used and strive to explore the attitudes, behaviour and experiences of customers. Often the number of participants are few but the contacts with the participants normally tend to last for a longer time period (Creswell, 2014). Qualitative research normally emphasizes on the relationship between contextualized elements in relation to a relatively few cases. Qualitative research method means 113 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh that emphasize is laid on words to create in depth understanding of the studies than what a quantitative research approach provides. Emphasis is on the understanding the social reality from the basis of how the participants interprets reality in a particular environment. The ordinary flow of the steps in the qualitative research approach is more of a theory generating than testing of theory that is specified before the data gathering starts. It is confirmed that theories that are specified from the onset can be tested with qualitative data. 6.5.2 Quantitative Research According to Creswell and Clark (2007, p.4), “a quantitative research is a means for testing objective theories by examining the relationship among variables. These variables, in turn, can be measured typically on instruments, so that numbered data can be analysed using statistical procedures.” Saunders et al., (2019) and Myers (2015) explained that the quantitative research approach was originally developed in the area of natural sciences to study natural phenomena. Generally, quantitative researchers emphasize on the use of numbers. These numbers often represent values and levels of theoretical constructs and concepts, and the interpretation of the numbers is viewed as a strong scientific evidence of how a phenomenon exists or works. Some common quantitative approaches include survey methods, laboratory experiments, formal methods (for instance, econometrics), and numerical methods such as mathematical modelling (Myers, 2015). 114 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Quantitative research method is a step by step linear process from theory to conclusions. It is about collecting an amount of data which transforms and presents in the form of numbers and statistics. The number of variables studied is often few but they are studied on many number of units. Here, the participants usually undertake large-scale survey in the form of either a questionnaire or a structured interview. This method studies a larger sample of the population which makes it possible to draw general conclusions, but the contact with those people is shorter than what pertains in the qualitative method. Quantitative research typically focuses on the relationship between several defined elements concerning many cases. The emphasis on quantification during gathering and analysing of data depends most of the time on a certain group of the population (Bryman and Bell, 2015). Results from such groups are deemed to be very relevant in providing generalized assumptions on the entire population. 6.5.3 Mixed Methods Research The use of mixed methods involves the collection, analysis and mixing of both quantitative and qualitative data in a single study or a series of studies (Creswell & Clark, 2007). Thus, it is more than simply collecting and analysing both kinds of data; it also “involves the use of both approaches in tandem so that the overall strength of a study is greater than either quantitative or qualitative research” (Creswell, 2014). Mixed methods research has been classified in various ways such as; triangulation (concurrent use of both quantitative and qualitative methods); embedded (one type of method is supplementary to the other); explanatory (sequential use with quantitative preceding qualitative); and exploratory (sequential use in the reverse order). To this end, scholars have even contended that mixed methods research constitute a third methodological movement (with quantitative and qualitative research being the other two) should be seen as a 115 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh normal, and perhaps, necessary part of knowledge generation rather than as a special type. (Blaikie, 2010; Clark & Creswell, 2015). 6.6 Research Method – Survey The survey method has been described as a means to accumulate data from one or more persons on constructs which are often organizationally-relevant (Saunders et al., 2019). It is key to point out that surveys are not only limited to questionnaires but also include a variety of approaches such as interviews, and focus groups. From a research perspective, surveys are normally employed as approaches in positivist paradigm in order to attain methodical observation, interviewing and questioning thorough predetermined, structured research questions with the intention of providing standardization and uniformity (Bryman & Bell, 2015). Surveys are deemed to be the suitable approaches when the researcher has a high control over situation and high participation in situation through the pre-determined questions. This method is fitting to use while answering “what” type of research questions (Yin, 2017). Surveys can be: Descriptive surveys – give only insights to current status of situation, historical, and evaluation. They however tell little for deeper understanding so should be triangulated with other methods in order to build an argument. Analytical surveys – articulate relationships and look at correlation to determine if a relationship exists between two variables in an exploratory way; or causal comparative to establish cause-effect relationships through group comparisons and experimental which involves manipulating one or more variables for increased control. 116 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh According to Malhotra and Birks (2007), some activities within the survey research comprise:  Stating the purpose and scope of survey according to research questions/ hypotheses (descriptive/ analytical; cross-sectional/ longitudinal).  Developing survey instrument which operationalizes important constructs  Planning a sampling strategy (that is defining population, deciding census or sample, defining sample frame).  Survey administration and data collection (such as printing, distribution, getting access, persuasion, tracking response rates etc.).  Data analysis (includes data linking, non-responses bias, hypotheses testing)  Interpreting and presenting findings to stakeholders (thesis examiner, management, employees). Regarding their research design, Saunders et al., (2019) assert that as a common method used in positivist research paradigm, surveys often encompass some multivariate tasks such as choosing appropriate sampling method, choosing appropriate measurement instrument, and choosing appropriate data analysis technique. In terms of sampling techniques, researchers within a positivist paradigm can make use of sampling techniques such as random sampling, systematic sampling, stratified sampling, convenience sampling, judgment sampling, quota sampling and snowball sampling. Measurement instruments can be chosen from self-administered questionnaires vs. interview; existing scales vs. one’s own scales; single vs. multi-item scales; short vs. long questionnaire and interview guide vs. standard questionnaires (Creswell, 2014). 117 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Analytically, researchers using the survey method can employ multivariate data analysis such as correlation analysis, regression analysis, cluster analysis, analysis of variance, and factor analysis (exploratory and confirmatory). Firstly, correlation analysis deals with measuring how well the predicted values from a forecast model fit with the real-life data collected. Regression analysis is a method for studying the relationship between a dependent variable and two or more independent variables in order to provide prediction, explanation and theory building. Factor analysis aims to model correlation patterns in a useful way so as to suggest new, uncorrelated variables that explain the original correlation structure as well as allowing for contextual interpretation of the new variables (Hair et al., 2014; Pallant, 2011). 6.7 Research Design for the Study Research design is the systematic pattern within which the research is carried out. It depicts an arrangement that directs the analyst in data assortment, and investigative periods of the research work. The research design consists of a framework of what the researcher seeks to carry out from the inscription of the hypotheses, research questions, operationalization of variables, to the final analysis of data. According to Abutabenjeh (2018), research strategy is a blueprint to guide the research process by laying out how a study will move from the research purpose/questions to the outcomes. It is a comprehensive planning process used to collect and analyse data in order to increase the understanding of a given topic (Abutabenjeh, 2018). The study’s definition of research design also emphasizes on the approaches and systems for collating and analysing data. Therefore, a research design is largely about determining the best research approach or methodology to attain the data. It is therefore a blueprint of a detailed plan on how the research was finalised. In this research study, the research design will focus on such issues particularly with locus to research 118 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh paradigm, research purpose, research strategy, research approach, and data collection methods (including sample size determination, sampling techniques adopted in this work, sources of data, and survey instrument). Considering the discussions in the preceding chapters including the supporting research question, the philosophical assumptions for this research surveys the positivist perspective. This is because the researcher scrutinises this study from an objective angle where the answers to the research questions are expected from the collated and objective responses of sampled respondents. The research questions and hypothesis have been formulated from literature and have been tested empirically under carefully controlled circumstances. Concerning a research purpose, an explanatory structure is adopted; the researcher purports to study a phenomenon by elucidating the relationships among some constructs (Saunders et al. 2019). However, following from Corbin and Strauss (2008), some portions required explorations to better establish the best avenues of explanations. Additionally, the existing research is quantitative in nature and implemented a survey research approach involving the use of structured questionnaires, which were designed to obtained information from respondents (Saunders et al., 2019). The research problem was formulated based on existing theory, and the intention is to create more knowledge about specific factors and their relationships among one another, hence the choice of an analytical survey (Creswell, 2014; Yin, 2017). 119 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh To draw general conclusions within the tourism sector and gather adequate and valid results, a significant sample was needed from the enterprises available. This study employs the positivism philosophy with deductive and quantitative methods in order to fully understand that relationships do exist among stakeholder market orientation (StMO) dimensions and sustainability performance (SP) dimensions. Therefore, based on positivism and the deductive approach, the quantitative method is appropriate for data collection and analysis in this study. For this reason, a deductive approach has been adopted in this thesis; the theory examined, needed some empirical test to make appropriate analysis (Creswell, 2014). The first step was through an examination and collection of existing theories so as to gain a deeper knowledge of the subject. The second part then provided empirical results for understanding the subject to confirm or reject a theory. The study is also cross- sectional in nature and previous cross-sectional studies have mainly employed the survey strategy (Green, Toms, & Clarke, 2015; Mahmoud, Blankson, Owusu-frimpong, Nwankwo, & Tran, 2016; Odoom, 2016). The choice for this research design therefore became necessary not only due to the explanatory nature of the study but also because it has been suggested to be suitable for analysing such phenomena, situations, and problems by assessing a cross-section of the population at one point in time (Green, Toms, & Clarke, 2015). Again, the appropriateness of using the survey strategy in this research is to aid the researcher identify and explain statistically, the relationships that exists among stakeholder market orientation (StMO) dimensions and sustainability performance (SP) dimensions as well as test the moderating role of state regulations between StMO and SP to determine whether the moderator strengthens or weakens the relationship. A detailed breakdown of the data collection methods and mode of analysis are outlined in the subsequent sections. 120 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh The researcher has the option to collect data from primary sources or secondary sources. Primary sources are data collected for the first time for a specific study, whereas secondary sources are data already collected by others to be used in a specific purpose (Saunders et al., 2017). The latter may include data from secondary sources such as government publications, personal records, and censuses while primary data can be collected through observation, interviews and/or questionnaires (Hair et al., 2014). In this study, a quantitative survey was used as the data collection method. Since the aim of the study is to examine the relationship between (StMO) dimensions and sustainability performance (SP) dimensions as well as test the moderating role of state regulations between StMO and SP, there is the need to collect data from tourism enterprises and tourism destinations who might be crucial for sustainability performance. 6.8.1 Research Instrument The research instrument was developed based on the objectives and the research questions of the study following the procedures outlined by Malhotra and Birks (2007) for designing questionnaires. The first step in developing the survey questionnaire consisted of a thorough synthesis of the literature, particularly in the areas of stakeholder theory, market orientation and sustainability measurement for tourism enterprises. From these, a number of concepts in the current research model were drawn. The second stage of the questionnaire build-up involved the development of new construct variables and their measurement items based on the literature that underpins and supports these concepts and variables. An initial draft of the questionnaire was then constructed. The researcher was however mindful of the challenges associated with written questionnaires. As in any social research, there is the possibility that written questionnaires will be misunderstood and interpreted differently by different people. To overcome this problem, the 121 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh researcher carried out the third stage with an initial pre-testing of questionnaires following the recommendation of DeVellis, (2003). Thus, the appropriateness of the wording of both modified and newly created scales were evaluated using panel of academic experts (PhD candidates and Lecturers/Professors) as well as some representatives of selected tourism enterprises with knowledge on the subject being studied. The purpose of such systematic revisions of the questionnaire drafts was to ensure that the measurement items are relevant for the established constructs and also the modified measurement items are reflective of the concepts they are designed to measure. To further minimize the errors associated with written questionnaires, respondents were given the opportunity to request for any further explanations regarding the questionnaire. This was helpful in achieving content validity; a self-evident measure which relies on the assurance that the researcher demonstrates an adequate coverage of the known field, after critically reviewing the literature and constructing questions or instruments to cover the known content represented in the literature (Malhotra & Birks, 2007). Once the relevance of the measurement items and concepts were determined, the questionnaire was progressively expanded and revised with respect to the wording and clarity of measurement items. The questionnaire, for the most part, relied on the use of a 5-point Likert scale. The first section of the questionnaire required respondents to provide general information about the tourism business in the area of the duration of operation, the type of tourism business being operated the region it is located, the number of employees and so on. The second section examined issues pertaining to items measuring StMO dimensions. The third part consists of items measuring state regulation effects on sustainability performance. The final section comprises of items measuring 122 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh dimensions of sustainability performance. These were all informed by the conceptual framework for the study. Regarding the various content in the questionnaire, the StMO dimensions were adapted from Line and Wang (2017). These dimensions include Competitor Orientation (CompO), Industry Orientation (IndO), Visitor/ Group Orientation (VTO) and Community Orientation (ComO). The SP constructs were adapted from (Roberts & Tribe, 2008) and the moderating constructs, Political regulation and Ecological regulations were also adapted from Line and Wang (2017). In developing the content for the questionnaire, the CompO construct under the StMO was measured by 7 scales that were adapted from Line and Wang (2017), Sherma and Tribe (2008) and Kohli et al., (1993). IndO was measured with 9 items that were largely adapted from Line and Wang (2017). VTO was measured by 7 scales that were adapted from Line and Wang (2017). Community orientation was assessed with 6 scales that were also adapted from Line and Wang (2017). State regulation which was the moderator was made up of political and ecological regulations. Political regulation construct was examined with 7 scales that were adapted from Line and Wang (2017) and ecological regulation was assessed with 11 items that were adapted from Green, Toms, & Clark, (2015) and Sherma and Tribe (2008). Sustainability performance comprised of three constructs, that is, environmental sustainability performance (EnvSP), social sustainability performance (SocSP) and economic sustainability performance (EcoSP). All the items measuring the three constructs under sustainability performance were adapted from Sherma 123 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh and Tribe (2008). EnvSP was measured with 8 items while SocSP and EcoSP were evaluated with 6 items respectively. 6.8.2 Population and Sampling Frame The target population is defined as “a group of individuals (or group of organizations) with some common defining characteristics that researcher can identify in a study” (Clark & Creswell, 2015). He argues that the study should identify what group to study, which is termed as the target population. The study will then choose a subset (sample) of the target population representative of the whole population. Sample frame is referred to as “a listing of the members of the target population that can be used to create and draw the sample” (Plano Clark & Creswell, 2015). Typically, a census is required for collecting and analysing data from every potential case or group member included in a research population. However, for many research situations, it is not possible to study the total population due to time, money and inability to reach all respondents for the study. Majority of studies in marketing and management science have adopted sample survey for their studies so far as the sample size is representative of the population and generalisations can be made to predict results for the research. Sample of the population is taken for data collection. A sample of 400 was selected for the study and this is within the sample recommendation of 300 and above for quantitative studies (Hair, Babin, & Krey, 2017). 124 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 6.8.3 Sampling Techniques Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) was contacted to get the sampling frame for the various tourism destinations and tourism businesses. However, the GTA could not provide an exhaustive list of the tourism destinations for the study with the excuse that GTA does not manage all known destinations in Ghana. However, some guidelines were given which aided in selecting the destinations and the tourism businesses for this research. GTA provided destinations which receive an average of 70% and above tourists, those that receive 50% to 70% tourists and those that receive below 50%. For this study, tourism destinations that receive over 70% of tourists were chosen as this will help determine the rate of sustainability performance. Armed with this information, the researcher purposively selected three regions namely: Volta, Greater-Accra and Central regions, out of the sixteen regions of Ghana. The reason for selecting these regions was that they form the hub of tourism destinations in the country. Also, 18 tourism destinations for Greater-Accra region, 8 tourism destinations for Volta region and 20 tourism destinations for Central region were purposively selected. The study then conveniently selected tourism businesses from the three regions as follows: Greater-Accra (130), Volta (90) and Central (180). Out of these, the following questionnaires were retrieved from the businesses from the three regions: Greater Accra (116), Volta (72) and Central (125). 6.8.4 Sources of Data Data for the study was gathered from tourism businesses from three regions of southern Ghana. These regions include Volta, Greater-Accra and Central regions. These regions were chosen for this study because most of the tourism businesses and destinations are found in these regions. More so, the study area is integral to the economic development of the country in the area of 125 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh employment, revenue generation and infrastructure development. The sector also dependent on natural resources for its functioning and sustainability of the resources are very important to the continuous existence of the tourism sector. The Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) was contacted for the destinations in the regions. Even though the GTA could not provide information on all destinations, the few contacts provided helped in locating other destinations and businesses. An introduction letter was written by my department to introduce me to the destinations for assistance as well as a consent letter for the participant to freely participate or refuse to participate. The letter also promised the confidentiality of the businesses and participants who were involved in responding to the questionnaires. The designed questionnaire was sent for ethical clearance at the Ethics committee under the college of humanities and was duly vetted and approved. The researcher also sent out consent forms respondents to sign to agree to participate and respondents are free to opt out of the data collection process anytime. The data was collected by self-administered questionnaire with the help of six research assistants. In all 400 questionnaires were sent out and data collection was between December, 2019 and March, 2020. In all, 313 usable questionnaires were retrieved that were used to carry out the analysis, hence with a response rate of 78%. 6.9 Analysis Procedures of Survey Questionnaire 6.9.1 Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modelling 126 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) has gained popularity as a tool of analysis among management researchers in recent times. This is as a result of the method’s ability to estimate complex path models between and among latent variables (Wong, 2016; Hair, Hult, Ringle, Sarstedt, & Thiele, 2017; Sarstedt & Ringle, 2017). The main preference for PLS-SEM compared to the covariance SEM is its potency in estimating complex models having many constructs and indicator variables as well as its excellent prediction capacity. Also, the PLS-SEM allows for a flexible data requirement because it is a non-parametric while the factor-based SEM calls for multivariate normality. More so, PLS-SEM accommodate small to moderate sample size to produce robust parameter estimates, the factor-based SEM requires more large sample sizes to produce robust parameter estimates. Furthermore, the PLS–SEM in terms of model specification requirement, is able to handle both reflective and formative constructs with ease while the factor- based SEM is able to handle only the reflective constructs. As noted earlier, PLS-SEM has the ability to achieve both explanatory and predicting modelling of constructs however, the factor based SEM can only achieve explanatory modelling but has limitation in predictive modelling of construct relationships (Shmueli, 2010; Shmueli, Ray, Velasquez Estrada, & Chatla, 2016; J. F. Hair et al., 2017). PLS-SEM defines convergence as an exact point which no substantial variance occurs in the model estimations from one iteration to the next, on the other hand factor-based SEM propose convergence as the increase or decrease in the function value beyond a certain threshold. This made PLS-SEM popular even though this can be debated on methodology grounds by some scholars (Hair et al., 2017) 127 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh In terms of model estimation, PLS-SEM estimate model parameters so that they explained variance of the endogenous or inner construct is being maximised while regarding factor based SEM, estimation of model parameters is done for the discrepancy between the estimated and the sample covariance matrices is being minimised (Hair et al., 2017) Path model is a diagram that shows hypotheses and variables relationships to the estimated matrices in a SEM analysis. Constructs also called latent variables (LV) are concepts in the statistical models that are theoretical models that are defined by researchers in their conceptual framework. Constructs are shown by ovals in the path model joined by single headed arrows that represent predictive relationships. The items that measure the constructs also called indicators are observed variables that represent respondents’ response from the field (raw data). The items are represented by rectangles and joined with headed arrows to their respective constructs in the path model. The path model consists of two sections namely, measurement and structural models. The measurement model represents the link between the items or indicators and the constructs. This section is also called the outer model. The structural model also called the inner model is the link between the constructs 6.9.2 Measurement Theory 128 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Measurement theory also referred to as outer model, is used to measure latent variables (LV) or unobserved variables. There are normally two types of measurement models called reflective and formative models (Hair, Hult, & Ringle, 2014; Hair et al., 2017; Sarstedt & Ringle, 2017). The measurement model establishes the relationship between the constructs and their respective indictor variables. The relationship between the constructs and indicator variables is called outer model in PLS-SEM (Hair, Hult, & Ringle, 2014). When a good measurement theory exits, it improves hypotheses testing in the structural model. Reflective measurement models establish direct link between the construct and its indicator variables. The reflective measurement models also named as Mode A are normally treated as error prone because there could be other variables that can measure the constructs ( Hair el al., 2014; Hair et al., 2017). The reflective measurement model represents the underlying items that measure the construct. The items can be interchangeable as a result omitting one indicator will not change the remaining indictors in explaining or predicting the construct. The reflective indictors include a sample of all items that are associated with the construct and termed as scales. On the other hand, formative measurement model or Mode B is based on the assumption that indictor variables cause the constructs and as a result not interchangeable. Formative indicators try to measure the exact domain of the constructs and this means that the formative indicator gives a meaning that correspond to the construct. This means that formative indicator must be broad in coverage in order to measure the construct and as a result it becomes difficult omit an indictors as it might change the construct domain (Hair et al., 2017; Sarstedt et al., 2017). Formative indicators 129 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh need not be correlated and are therefore independent of each other. Consequently, collinearity among formative indicators is always a problem because the estimates linking the indictors with the constructs are sometimes unstable and nonsignificant. As a result, formative indicators have no error term and are assumed to be error free in the conventional sense (Sarstedt et al., 2017). According to Sarstedt et al., (2017), measuring constructs as reflective or formative is not really the issue but this is dependent on the construct conceptualisation and the objective of the research. Reflective measurement is more appropriate if the study is about testing theories. There is a lot of debate as to whether to measure constructs reflectively or formatively in a variety of disciplines and lot of scholars are yet to build a consensus of this decision. Gudergan, Ringle, Wende, and Will (2008) cited in Sarstedt et al., (2017) proposed a confirmatory tetrade analysis (CTA), when using PLS-SEM to determine whether to use reflective or formative measurement for constructs in a path model. When a researcher proposes testing a null hypothesis then reflective indicators should be used to measure the constructs. If the researcher proposes rejecting the null hypothesis the CTA implies, formative measures should be used in construct measurement. 6.9.3 Measurement Model Assessment Assessment of measurement model (also referred to us outer model) includes composite reliability (CR) to evaluate internal consistency, individual indicator reliability and average variance extracted (AVE) to assess convergent validity as well as discriminant validity (Hair et al., 2017; Sarstedt el al., 2017). 130 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 6.9.3.1 Internal Consistency Reliability This is a type of reliability that is used to measure the consistency of results across the items in the same variable. This determines whether the items measuring a variable are similar in their scores. Internal consistency reliability is measured with CR values 0.7 and 0.9 is considered as acceptable. CR values below 0.6 show that items lack internal consistency reliability (Hair, et al., 2014). 6.9.3.2 Convergent Validity This refers to the extent to which indicators correlates positively with alternative indicators of the same construct. Outer loadings of indicators and average variance extracted (AVE) are used to establish convergent validity. As a rule of thumb, outer loadings of the indicators should be 0.5 or above (Hair el al., 2014). 6.9.3.3 Discriminant Validity This refers to the extent to which a variable is truly distinct from other variables in terms of how much it correlates with other variables and how much its indicators represent only one variable. The criterion and cross loading scores of Fornell &Larcker (1981) were used to determine the discriminant validity. To establish discriminant validity of the LVs, the square roots of the AVE for all LVs should be higher than the inter-construct correlations (Fornell & Larcker, 1981). Additionally, all indicators’ individual loadings should be higher than their respective cross- loadings (Hair el al., 2014; Hair, Risher, Sarstedt, & Ringle, 2019). Current research suggest that the above measure of discriminant validity is no more suitable hence a proposal of heterotrait- monotrait (HTMT) ratio of the correlations. HTMT is measured as the mean value of the item correlations across constructs relative to the mean average correlations for the items measuring the 131 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh same construct. HTMT threshold value of 0.9 has been proposed. (Henseler, Ringle, & Sarstedt, 2015; Hair et al., 2019). 6.9.3.4 Formative measurement models assessment In assessing formative constructs in PLS-SEM, content validity of the construct must be established. This must be a prelude to establishing the empirical measurement of the formative measurement. The content validity is assessed by making sure that formative indictor captures the main domain of the construct it is measuring as this indicator does not co-vary. This is possible when the researcher is conceptualising the formative construct through extensive literature review and expert evaluation of the indictors (Hair et al., 2014; Hair et al., 2019). In assessing the PLS-SEM empirical results of the formative measurement models, convergent validity, individual indicator validity and the significance and relevance of the indicator must be considered. Convergent validity is the extent to which an indicator correlates positively with other indicators of the same constructs. If the measures are highly correlated then the researcher has to use formatively measured construct as an exogenous latent variable to predict an endogenous latent variable. When the formative indicators’ correlate highly the issue of multi collinearity occurs and this means that two or more indicators are measuring the constructs in the same way (Hair et al., 2014; Sarstedt et al., 2017). This need to be checked as two indicators correlates perfectly and the value should be 0.7 or higher. 132 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh The variance inflation factor (VIF) is normally used to measure the collinearity of the indicator. VIF value of 5 and above indicates high collinearity among the formatively measured constructs. The ideal VIF value should be 3 or lower (Shmueli et al., 2016; Hair et al., 2019). Statistical significance or relevance is the third measure of formatively measured constructs which evaluate the outer weights respondents of the constructs. The outer weights is measured by running a multiple regression with the LV score as the dependent variable and the formative indicators as the independent variables (Hair, Hult, & Ringle, 2014). As PLS-SEM is a nonparametric, bootstrapping is used to determine the statistical significance. When confident internal of the indicator weight include zero, then the weight is not statistically significant so the indicator can be removed from the measurement model. Significant loading of 0.50 and below indicates that they should be removed unless there is strong justification for its continuous existence (Hair et al., 2019). 6.9.4 Structural Theory The structural theory explains the relationship between latent variable (LV) and its related constructs in path model. The path model has left and right sections and the sequence is based on the researcher’s knowledge or theory underpinning the study. Independent 22variables constitute the left section of the model while the right side constitute the dependent variable (DV) (Hair et al., 2014; Sarstedt et al., 2017). 133 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh When LV serves as only independent variables (IV), it is termed exogenous latent variable. On the other hand, when LV serve ID and DV variables, they are called endogenous latent variable. To be able to assess the structural model, there is a need to prepare a diagram and establish the research hypotheses displaying the path models. The structural model is also referred to as the inner model (Hair et al., 2014) 6.9.4.1 Structural Model Assessment The measurement model assesses the reliability and the validity of the LV, the next is to assess the structural model or the inner model to test the relationship between the exogenous and endogenous variables. The estimates to measure in PLS-SEM under the structural model includes path coefficient which is used to evaluate significant and relevance of the model relationship; R 2 value which estimate the model predictive accuracy; Q 2 which evaluate the model’s predictive relevance and f 2 that evaluate the substantial impact of the exogenous variable on an endogenous variable. 6.9.4.2 Assessing R 2 estimates R 2 also referred to as Coefficient of determination is used to evaluate structural model. The coefficient of determination measures the predictive accuracy of the model and is estimated as the square correlation between the actual and predictive values of a specified endogenous constructs. The R 2 value displays the exogenous variables’ combined effect on the endogenous latent variables and it also represents the amount of variance in the endogenous latent constructs 134 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh explained by all the exogenous constructs linked to it (Hair, Hult, & Ringle, 2014). Another name for R 2 is in sample predictive power and its values ranging from 0 to 1. Higher values of the R 2 indicate higher explanatory power. As a rule of thumb, R 2 values of 0.75, 0.50 and 0.25 indicate substantial, moderate and weak. The R 2 value is a function of the number of predictor constructs and as a result the higher the number of predictor constructs, the higher the R 2 ( Hair et al., 2019). 6.9.4.3 Assessing ƒ 2 values The predictive accuracy of the model can also be assessed using the ƒ2 effect size. The ƒ 2 effect size is the measurement used to evaluate the change in R2 value when a specified exogenous variable is omitted from the model. This is estimated by the removal of certain predictor constructs to see its effect on the endogenous construct’s R2. The rank order of the predictor constructs’ relevance is explained by a dependent construct in the structural model is most of the time the same when comparing the size of the path coefficient and the f 2 effect size. When the rank order of the constructs’ relevance in explaining an endogenous construct in the structural model differs in comparing the size of the path coefficient and the f 2 effect size, the researcher may report the f 2 effect size to explain the presence of partial or full mediation. As a guide line, values higher than 0.02, 0.15 and 0.35 are used to estimate small, medium and large f 2 effect sizes (Shmueli et al., 2016; Hair et al., 2019). 6.9.4.4 Assessing Q 2 Values The Q 2 value calculation is based on Stone–Geisser Q 2 value (Geisser, 1974; Stone, 1974). This metric is based on blindfolding technique which removes single points in the data matrix, assigns 135 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh the removed points with the mean and estimate the model parameters. By performing the blindfolding procedure with an omission distance of 7 yielded cross-validated redundancy Q 2 of all the endogenous variables (Hair, Hult, Ringle, 2014; Hair et al., 2019). Small differences between the predicted and the original values gives a higher Q 2 value and as a result, give a higher predictive accuracy. As rule of thumb, Q 2 values should be larger than zero for a specific endogenous construct to indicate predictive accuracy of the structural model for that construct. As a guide line, Q 2 values higher than 0, 0.25 and 0.50 indicate small, medium and large predictive relevance of the PLS path model ( Hair et al., 2019). 6.10 Mediation and Moderation Analysis Mediation refers to a situation when a third variable intervenes between two other related constructs. Mediation analysis is carried to evaluate the causal relationship between the exogenous and endogenous variables with the inclusion of a third explanatory mediator variable (Hair, Hult, & Ringle, 2014). To assess the mediation effect, there is the need to determine the direct and the indirect effect. Direct effects are the relationship between the two constructs (independent and dependent variables), with a single arrow joining them. Indirect effects are the relationships that involve a number of relationships with at least one intervening construct and represented visually with multiple arrows. However, this study has not included mediation analysis but rather moderation analysis. Moderation is a situation when the moderator (independent variable or construct) changes the strength or the direction of the relationship between two constructs in the model. In this study, the 136 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh moderator is the state regulation (political and ecological), moderating the StMO and sustainability performance relationship (Hair et al., 2014; Wong, 2016; Xuhua, Ocloo, Tsetse, Spio-kwofie, & Musah, 2019). Moderation is conducted in order to determine if the relationship between stakeholder market orientation (StMO) and sustainability performance (SP) depends on state regulations (SR). More so, the moderation model is estimated using PLS-SEM Software (SmartPLS 3.2.8) because of its robust ability to determine moderating effects (Ringle et al., 2015). Scholars have proposed two types of moderation as continuous and categorical. Moderating continuous effect is when the moderating variable is measured metrically and categorical effect is when the moderating variable is categorical as such gender. This study would estimate the continuous moderating effect on the StMO and SP relationship. 6.11 Summary The methodology is very important in every research because it gives the clear rules upon which the research is conducted. This section covered the research paradigm, purpose, strategy, approach, data collection method and analysis. The research paradigm can be explained as a set of beliefs, values and techniques that are held by a scientific community. There are several paradigms which are distinct by their epistemological, ontological, methodological and axiological stance (Creswell, 2017). Epistemology is the kind of knowledge that exist and what is the criterion for determining which knowledge is adequate and legitimate. Ontological assumptions describe the nature of reality. Methodology is the process used in conducting the research in the context of a particular 137 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh assumption or paradigm (Wahyuni, 2012). The axiology is the ethical standards displayed during the research. Does the researcher influence the process of research or is independent of the processes? This depends on the method of research, regarding sampling technique and the data collection techniques adopted by the researcher. This research has adopted a positivist paradigm and deductive approach. Epistemologically, the researcher believes that StMO knowledge exist objectively and the researcher is using theory and concepts with a developed conceptual framework and hypotheses that is tested using statistical methods. This also implies that the researcher has adopted a quantitative research. Ontologically, the researcher believes there is a single objective reality that is out there for everybody to see. Methodologically, the researcher has set objectives, formulated research questions and hypotheses and test them using statistical processes. The ethical stand of the researcher is that consent was sought from the respondents and the University of Ghana Ethical Committee before data was collected. The researcher has selected tourism destinations including protected area (forest reserve), coastal beaches, waterfalls, tourism farms from the southern Ghana. Respondents mainly covered TDs CEOs and managers (operations, marketing or environmental officers). Survey method was adopted to collect data. Structured questionnaires were designed using a 5-points Likert scale to cover environmental, economic and social sustainability performance of the destinations. 138 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh The structural equation modelling is used to analyse the data for discussion. An estimated sample of 400 respondents was selected. This is because a sample of above 300 is acceptable in quantitative studies (Hair et al., 2015). 139 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh CHAPTER SEVEN PRESENTATION OF EMPIRICAL DATA AND ANALYSIS 7.0 Overview This chapter presents the results of the statistical analyses. This chapter is organised as follows: Section 7.2 provides the descriptive statistics of the respondents and constructs. Section 7.3 examines statistics on the exploratory factor analysis. Sections 7.4 and 7.5 give explanation of the measurement model and structural model, respectively, using the Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM). Section 7.6 provides analysis of the moderation effects of political regulations and ecological regulations. 7.1 Descriptive Statistical Analysis Data on the firm characteristics as well as the construct descriptive are reported. 7.1.1 Firm Characteristics This section presents the descriptive information on the profile of the sample of 313 respondents who completed the questionnaires. The results are depicted in Table 7.1 below. 140 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Table 7.1: Firm characteristics Characteristic Frequency Percent Region Central Region 125 39.9 Greater Accra Region 116 37.1 Volta Region 72 23.0 Total 313 100.0 Ownership State 33 10.5 Private 277 88.5 Community 3 1.0 Total 313 100.0 Business operation Beach Resort 182 58.1 Forest Reserve 27 8.6 Castle and Forts 8 2.6 Waterfall 8 2.6 Mountain Hiking 2 0.6 Others 86 27.5 Total 313 100.0 Years of operation as a tourism destination 1-5 years (Very short run) 72 23.0 6-10 years (Short run) 94 30.0 11-40 years (Long run) 137 43.8 >40 years (Very long run) 10 3.2 Total 313 100.0 Number of Employees (Business Category) 1-9 Employees (Micro Enterprises) 145 46.3 10-49 Employees (Small Scale Enterprises) 144 46.0 50-249 Employees (Medium Scale Enterprises) 22 7.0 250 and above (Large Scale Enterprises) 2 0.6 Total 313 100.0 Gender Composition of Employees Males 2913 48.9 Females 3043 51.1 Total 5956 100.0 From Table 7.1, it is evident that 38.3% of the sample were from the Central Region (39.9%), 37.1% were from Greater Accra Region, while 23% were from Volta Region. In terms of 141 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ownership, majority of the tourism destinations were privately owned (88.5%), 10.5% were state owned and only 1% were community owned. Further 58.1% of the sample were beach resorts, 8.6% were forest reserves, castle and forts as well as waterfalls were 2.6% of the sample, only 0.6% were mountain hiking. For years of operation, most (43.8%) indicated 11 to 40 years signalling long run status, 30.0% were in the 6 to 10 years category (i.e. short run status) and 23% were operating in the range of 1 to 5 years (very short run status) and only 3.2% operated more than 40 years indicating very long run status. Based on business category, 46.3 were micro enterprises, 46.1% were small scale, 7% were medium scale and 0.6% were large scale. Lastly, for gender composition of employees, 51.1% were females while 48.9% were males. 7.1.2 Construct Descriptive Analysis This section reports the mean scores, standard deviations, skewness, and kurtosis for the overall sample and the subscales of the stakeholder market orientation, state regulations and sustainability performance scales. The normality of data will be interpreted in terms of skewness and kurtosis guidelines. For normality, skewness should be around zero, that is, between -1 and +1; and kurtosis should be between -2 and +2 (George & Mallery, 2010). According to Castro and Martins (2010), a mean of 3.2 is a good guideline to distinguish between positive and potential negative perceptions. This implies that a mean score above 3.2 indicates a positive perception, while a mean score below 3.2 indicates a negative perception of the scales and their dimensions. Tables 7.2, 7.3 and 7.4 show the sample characteristics in terms of the descriptive statistics for the variables and their dimensions. 142 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Table 7.2: Descriptive statistics for Stakeholder Market Orientation (StMO) Code Statements Competitor Orientation (CompO) 3.57 0.690 - 0.047 0.219 Comp Our destination obtains information from other destinations in order to implement strategy on environmental 3.64 0.897 - - O1 sustainability performance 0.412 0.077 Comp Our destination searches for information from other destinations to set prices for our products/services 3.73 0.951 - 0.576 O2 0.752 Comp In supporting the communities surrounding our destination, we examine activities that other destinations are doing for 3.65 0.935 - 0.184 O3 their communities 0.483 Comp Our destination searches for information from other destinations to determine appropriate remuneration and working 3.50 1.049 - - O4 conditions for our workers. 0.530 0.153 Comp Our destination closely monitors wise use of water of other destinations 3.46 1.004 - 0.013 O5 0.489 Comp Our destinations gather information on waste management strategy of other destinations 3.62 0.940 - 0.539 O6 0.715 Comp Our destination searches for information on how other destinations are implementing afforestation projects 3.40 1.061 - - O7 0.383 0.224 Industry Orientation (IndO) 3.41 0.770 - - 0.432 0.018 IndO1 We get information from our partners like hotels, tour operators or restaurants as to how to use water wisely 3.32 1.055 - - 0.529 0.020 IndO2 We give information to our partners such as hotels and restaurants to keep destination clean 3.50 1.001 - - 0.477 0.026 IndO3 We collect information from our partners like hotels, tour operators and restaurants/food joints to influence how we 3.45 0.991 - - set prices of products. 0.456 0.236 IndO4 Our partners like the restaurants, hotels and tour operators/transport owners support us or give us information as to 3.39 0.981 - 0.268 how to support the communities around us. 0.641 IndO5 We regularly meet with our industry partners to deliberate on how best to serve our visitors. 3.45 1.029 - - 0.387 0.164 IndO6 We constantly meet with our industry partners to deliberate on how to minimise pollution of the air at the destination 3.37 1.037 - - 0.350 0.242 143 Mean Std. Deviation Skewness Kurtosis University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh IndO7 We mostly meet with our industry partners like hotels and tour operators with regards to how to protect the forest, 3.41 1.007 - - animals and water bodies at the destination 0.388 0.016 IndO8 We mostly consult our industry partners any time we want to support our local community 3.35 1.050 - - 0.377 0.329 IndO9 We mostly advise our industry partners to use local products in serving our visitors 3.46 1.056 - - 0.464 0.263 Visitor/Group Travel Orientation (VTO) 3.92 0.621 - 2.780 1.085 VTO1 Our managers seek information about visitor needs in order to set our strategic objectives 3.87 0.900 - 0.859 0.859 VTO2 Visitors’ complaints are taken seriously and responded to swiftly. 3.92 0.865 - 0.535 0.736 VTO3 Visitors are advised to keep the destination clean and not do things that will endanger the environment. 4.01 0.840 - 1.442 0.927 VTO4 Visitors are normally asked to appreciate the culture of the local community 3.75 0.857 - 0.684 0.567 VTO5 Our destination offers prices that are affordable to visitors 3.97 0.869 - 0.738 0.789 VTO6 We encourage our visitors to enjoy the music/drama of our local community. 3.97 0.871 - 0.405 0.644 VTO7 We encourage our visitors to patronise locally produced food 3.98 0.853 - 0.975 0.843 Community Orientation (ComO) 3.54 0.709 - 0.568 0.458 ComO Our business supports the local community in various social initiatives e.g. Education, sanitation 3.43 1.045 - - 1 0.447 0.180 ComO Our business engages the local community to promote its cultural heritage through music, drama etc. 3.49 0.983 - 0.485 2 0.573 ComO The business uses the local produce to prepare its food and other services 3.59 0.963 - 0.321 3 0.508 ComO The business train its staff to have cordial relationship with members of the local community 3.72 0.927 - - 4 0.397 0.209 ComO Our destination liaises with the local people to stop burning the destination’s land 3.72 0.987 - 0.512 5 0.788 ComO Our business appoints key members of the community on boards 3.26 1.058 - - 6 0.299 0.278 Overall StMO 3.61 0.561 - 0.442 0.362 Source: Fieldwork, 2020. 144 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Scores for all variables were recorded on a Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). From the results in Table 4.2, the visitor/group travel orientation subscale had the highest mean (M = 3.92; SD = .621) and the industry orientation subscale had the lowest mean (M = 3.41; SD = .770). The mean for the overall StMO was 3.61(SD = .561), with a highest and lowest score of 5 and 1, respectively. The results show that the scores for the StMO were generally above average and that the data was spread close to the mean. The skewness and kurtosis values for the StMO were -0.362 and 0.442, respectively, indicating that the scores were normally distributed around the mean. However, the scores for the visitor/group travel orientation subscale of the StMO were non-normal and negatively skewed and therefore not normally distributed around the mean, emanating from the skewness value of -1.085. 145 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Table 7.3: Descriptive statistics for Sustainability Performance (SP) Code Statements Environmental Sustainability Performance (EnvSP) 3.84 0.687 -0.540 0.127 EnvSP1 We implement deliberate action to reduce pollution levels 3.86 0.950 -1.009 1.015 EnvSP2 Our business environment is consistently clean 4.02 0.881 -0.954 1.125 EnvSP3 We collect waste in designated waste bins for recycle 3.87 0.935 -0.865 0.726 EnvSP4 There is proper management of liquid waste 3.85 0.920 -0.791 0.601 EnvSP5 There are safety precautions to prevent environmental accidents 3.89 1.002 -0.847 0.495 EnvSP6 Preservation of biodiversity (trees, water and animals) is a priority 3.69 1.044 -0.621 -0.109 EnvSP7 We are subject to environmental assessment agencies 3.80 0.959 -0.548 -0.019 EnvSP8 There is water and energy conservation plan for our destination 3.77 0.977 -0.676 0.369 Social Sustainability Performance (SocSP) 3.72 0.656 -0.274 0.480 SocSP1 We support community-based activities 3.51 0.899 -0.070 -0.262 SocSP2 We allow free access to locals who do not pose threats to the business 3.72 0.806 -0.501 0.484 SocSP3 We partner with local and national security forces to protect tourists 3.79 0.906 -0.728 0.911 SocSP4 We engage cultural troupes to entertain tourists occasionally 3.70 0.956 -0.571 0.070 SocSP5 We promote the patronage of indigenous foods 3.77 0.857 -0.447 0.120 SocSP6 We encourage locals to sell locally-made products 3.91 0.883 -0.678 0.303 Economic Sustainability Performance (EcoSP) 3.83 0.621 -0.585 1.571 EcoSP1 There is an increase in visitor numbers 3.96 0.880 -0.879 0.849 EcoSP2 Visitor spending is progressive 3.91 0.946 -1.116 1.506 EcoSP3 Employees are satisfied with conditions of service 3.84 0.931 -0.827 0.871 EcoSP4 Majority of our workers are locals 3.92 0.867 -0.612 0.410 EcoSP5 Our destination supports the growth of local businesses 3.75 0.860 -0.229 -0.160 EcoSP6 The livelihood of the local people depends on our destination 3.62 0.988 -0.374 -0.070 Overall Sustainability Performance (SP) 3.80 0.564 -0.412 0.367 Source: Fieldwork, 2020. 146 Mean Std. Devia tion Skew ness Kurt osis University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh For sustainability performance (Table 4.3), the environmental sustainability performance subscale had the highest mean (M = 3.84; SD = .687) and the social sustainability performance subscale had the lowest mean (M = 3.72; SD = .656). The mean for the overall SP was 3.80(SD = .564), with a highest and lowest score of 5 and 1, respectively. The results show that the scores for the SP were generally above average and that the data was spread close to the mean. Both skewness and kurtosis values indicate that the scores were normally distributed around the mean. 147 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Table 7.4: Descriptive statistics for State Regulations (SR) Code Statements Political Regulations (PR) 3.66 0.768 -0.422 0.371 PR1 The state regulates our business in terms of the fees charged 3.59 1.078 -0.681 0.007 PR2 The state provides standards within which our business operates 3.80 0.994 -0.743 0.377 PR3 There are state institutions that provide training for our staff regarding tourism issues 3.45 1.163 -0.450 -0.502 PR4 Our business inputs concern from tourism regulators in making business decisions. 3.58 1.029 -0.545 -0.005 PR5 There are laws regarding compliance with the minimum wage payments for employees 3.65 1.023 -0.518 0.048 PR6 There are laws regulating the provision of certain services at destinations 3.71 0.956 -0.491 0.101 PR7 There are laws regarding safety and security standards at the destination 3.85 0.948 -0.638 0.374 Ecological Regulations (ER) 3.57 0.722 -0.344 0.074 ER1 Our business engages the services of the Fire Service to educate the local community about causes and effects of bush fires 3.31 1.156 -0.296 -0.654 ER2 Our destination engages the services of the Forestry Commission to improve and protect the vegetation 3.18 1.111 -0.254 -0.623 ER3 There are laws regarding the protection of water bodies at the destination 3.63 0.966 -0.468 0.047 ER4 There are laws regarding forest preservation at the destination 3.37 1.056 -0.495 -0.099 ER5 There are laws regarding the protection of animals at destinations 3.44 1.060 -0.418 -0.187 ER6 There are laws regulating the disposal of litter at destinations 3.81 1.020 -0.978 0.919 ER7 There are laws governing the disposal of liquid & solid waste at destinations in Ghana 3.85 0.929 -0.833 0.804 ER8 There are regulations governing the separation of waste at destinations in Ghana 3.66 0.923 -0.628 0.507 ER9 There are laws regarding air pollution at destinations in Ghana 3.77 0.928 -0.737 0.724 ER10 There are laws regulating noise pollution at destinations in Ghana 3.72 0.994 -0.558 0.022 ER11 There are laws preventing mining and sand winning from the destination 3.54 1.141 -0.565 -0.302 State Regulations (SR) 3.62 0.678 -0.337 -0.021 Source: Fieldwork, 2020. 148 Mean Std. Deviation Skewness Kurtosis University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Regarding state regulations (Table 7.4), the political regulations subscale had the highest mean (M = 3.66; SD = .768) and the ecological regulations subscale had the lowest mean (M = 3.57; SD = .722). The mean for the overall SR was 3.62(SD = .678), with a highest and lowest score of 5 and 1, respectively. The results show that the scores for the SR were generally above average and that the data was spread close to the mean. Both skewness and kurtosis values indicate that the scores were normally distributed around the mean. In summary, using the overall mean scores of the three main constructs where all variables and their dimensions had mean scores above the cut-off point of 3.2, it is evident that the sample had positive perception about stakeholder market orientation, state regulations and sustainability performance. However, the levels of stakeholder market orientation, state regulations and sustainability performance cannot be described as high but as average. 7.2 Exploratory Factor Analysis Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was conducted to ensure that items that had high correlation with their respective variables were retained. The Kaiser-Meyer- Olkin (KMO) Sampling Adequacy test, Bartlett’s test of Sphericity (p-value) and Cumulative Variance Explained (CVE) were used. The acceptable thresholds for KMO value must be greater than five (> 0.5), CVE should also be greater than fifty percent (> 50%) and Bartlett’s test value should significant at 5% confidence level (Amankwah, 2018). The results of the EFA are represented in Table 7.5. 149 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Table 7.5: Summary of Results Showing Factor Analysis of the Study Variables Variables CVE (%) KMO Bartlett’s Chi- No. of No. of test Square items dimension StMo 63.091 0.921 0.000 4060.594 29 4 SR 66.918 0.901 0.000 2904.325 18 2 SP 58.148 0.889 0.000 2308.080 20 3 Source: Fieldwork, 2020. Note: StMO = Stakeholder Market Orientation; SR = State Regulations; SP = Sustainability Performance From Table 7.5, the Bartlett’s Test of Sphericity gave chi-square values of 4060.594, 2904.325 and 2308.080 with a p-value of 0.000 for StMO, SR and SP respectively indicating sufficient correlations. The KMO measure of sampling adequacy was 0.921, 0.901 and 0.889 for StMO, SR and SP respectively, exceeding the recommended value of 0.5. The CVE for StMO, SR and SP was 63%, 66.9% and 58.1% respectively which were >50% threshold. Thus, the results of the EFA show that the data was sufficient or adequate for factor analysis. 7.3 Levels of Sustainability Performance This section of the analyses covers the level of sustainability performance at tourism destinations. This includes the levels of environmental, social and economic sustainability performance as well as the overall sustainability performance of the tourism destinations. This is in line with the first specific objective of the study. The results are presented in Figure 7.1 and Table 7.6. 150 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 100.00 76.60 80.00 60.00 40.00 30.96 22.58 23.05 20.00 0.00 EnvSP SocSP EcoSP SP EnvSP SocSP EcoSP SP Figure 7.1: Level of sustainability performance Table 7.6: Level of sustainability performance Performance Observed Performance Expected One Way Chi-Square (p-value) Indicator (Overall Mean) Performance EnvSP 30.96 40.00 309.699 (0.000) SocSP 22.58 30.00 278.309 (0.000) EcoSP 23.05 30.00 357.333 (0.000) SP 76.60 100.00 152.058 (0.904) NB: EnvSP = Environmental Sustainability Performance; SocSP = Social Sustainability Performance; EcoSP = Economic Sustainability Performance; SP = Sustainability Performance As depicted in Figure 7.1 and Table 7.6, the observed overall mean for environmental, social and economic sustainability performance are 30.96, 22.58 and 23.05 respectively. This implies that the tourism destinations performed best in environmental sustainability performance, then in economic sustainability performance and lastly in social sustainability performance. Further analysis shows that the observed three dimensions of sustainability performance significantly differ from the expected performance. However, the observed overall sustainability performance (𝝌2 (1, N = 313) = 152.058, p = 0.904) did not significantly differ from the expected 151 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh performance of the tourism destinations. Additionally, the overall sustainability performance mean score is 76.6 which seems to be slightly at a high level of sustainability performance. 7.4 Measurement Model Assessment (Confirmatory Factor Analysis) This section of the analyses reports on the reliability and validity of the latent variables. The analysis begins with an assessment of the measurement models (J. Hair et al., 2019; Shmueli et al., 2019). Thus, the SmartPLS 3.2.8 (Ringle, Wende, & Becker, 2015) was run to generate the pictorial and calculation results of reliability, convergent and discriminant validity. Considering suggestions from Henseler et al. (2009), Fornell and Larcker (1981), Nunnally and Bernstein (1994) and Hair et al. (2010), an iterative process is adopted for elimination of the indicators. Thus, through an iterative process, weak items were discarded from the developed model. Hence, three iterations were involved in the study where each of the iterations was examined. The results of this process are reported in Tables 7.7, 7.8, 7.9, 7.10, 7.11, 7.12 and Figure 7.2. 7.4.1 Reliability and Convergent Validity Tests Individual item reliability was assessed by evaluating the individual item loadings. Manifest variables with outer loading above 0.708 are considered satisfactory (J. Hair et al., 2019). In terms of construct reliability, all the three measures (i.e. Cronbach’s alpha, the coefficients rho_A, and the composite reliability) were applied. The item loadings, construct reliability and convergent validity tests are reported in Tables 7.7, 7.8 and 7.9 152 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Table 7.7: Results on Reliability and Convergent Validity – First Iteration Variable Indicator Loading CA rho_A CR AVE ComO ComO1 0.711 0.805 0.815 0.860 0.508 ComO2 0.768 ComO3 0.786 ComO4 0.679 ComO5 0.683 ComO6 0.638 IndO IndO1 0.679 0.901 0.906 0.919 0.557 IndO2 0.768 IndO3 0.765 IndO4 0.749 IndO5 0.782 IndO6 0.777 IndO7 0.775 IndO8 0.738 IndO9 0.676 VTO VTO1 0.652 0.839 0.841 0.879 0.510 VTO2 0.730 VTO3 0.762 VTO4 0.699 VTO5 0.773 VTO6 0.682 VTO7 0.691 CompO CompO1 0.685 0.831 0.837 0.874 0.498 CompO2 0.680 CompO3 0.751 CompO4 0.744 CompO5 0.725 CompO6 0.739 CompO7 0.606 ER ER1 0.707 0.897 0.899 0.914 0.494 ER2 0.672 ER3 0.743 ER4 0.772 ER5 0.770 ER6 0.669 ER7 0.647 ER8 0.651 ER9 0.771 ER10 0.698 ER11 0.608 PR PR1 0.650 0.868 0.874 0.898 0.558 153 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh PR2 0.721 PR3 0.744 PR4 0.817 PR5 0.766 PR6 0.792 PR7 0.728 EcoSP EcoSP1 0.630 0.765 0.773 0.835 0.459 EcoSP2 0.579 EcoSP3 0.677 EcoSP4 0.729 EcoSP5 0.746 EcoSP6 0.692 EnvSP EnvSP1 0.632 0.855 0.863 0.887 0.497 EnvSP2 0.681 EnvSP3 0.636 EnvSP4 0.709 EnvSP5 0.776 EnvSP6 0.685 EnvSP7 0.785 EnvSP8 0.718 SocSP SocSP1 0.704 0.818 0.825 0.868 0.525 SocSP2 0.658 SocSP3 0.773 SocSP4 0.786 SocSP5 0.761 SocSP6 0.655 Note: CA= Cronbach’s Alpha; CR = Composite Reliability; AVE = Average Variance Extracted; CompO = Competitor Orientation; IndO = Industry Orientation; VTO = Visitor/Group Travel Orientation; ComO = Community Orientation; EnvSP = Environmental Sustainability Performance; SocSP = Social Sustainability Performance; EcoSP = Economic Sustainability Performance; PR = Political Regulations; ER = Ecological Regulations Table 7.7 shows that in the first iteration 29 items have outer loadings less than 0.708 and four constructs (VTO, EnvSP, EcoSP and ER) have AVE less than 0.50 threshold. This result led to the elimination of the 29 items that have loading below 0.708 (J. Hair et al., 2019). Nevertheless, 154 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh the reliability (using Cronbach’s alpha, rho_A and composite reliability) of the latent variables were all above 0.7. Table 7.8: Results on Reliability and Convergent Validity – Second Iteration Variable Indicator Loading CA rho_A CR AVE ComO ComO1 0.785 0.768 0.778 0.865 0.682 ComO2 0.846 ComO3 0.844 ComO4 Omitted ComO5 Omitted ComO6 Omitted IndO IndO1 Omitted 0.889 0.893 0.913 0.599 IndO2 0.785 IndO3 0.774 IndO4 0.757 IndO5 0.796 IndO6 0.793 IndO7 0.776 IndO8 0.735 IndO9 Omitted VTO VTO1 Omitted 0.810 0.809 0.875 0.638 VTO2 0.822 VTO3 0.831 VTO4 0.793 VTO5 0.745 VTO6 Omitted VTO7 Omitted CompO CompO1 Omitted 0.788 0.790 0.862 0.610 CompO2 Omitted CompO3 0.775 CompO4 0.784 CompO5 0.780 CompO6 0.785 CompO7 Omitted ER ER1 0.734 0.862 0.862 0.897 0.593 ER2 Omitted ER3 0.760 ER4 0.794 ER5 0.813 ER6 Omitted ER7 Omitted 155 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ER8 Omitted ER9 0.787 ER10 0.727 ER11 Omitted PR PR1 Omitted 0.859 0.863 0.895 0.589 PR2 0.686 PR3 0.742 PR4 0.824 PR5 0.779 PR6 0.811 PR7 0.753 EcoSP EcoSP1 0.612 0.765 0.778 0.834 0.458 EcoSP2 0.562 EcoSP3 0.672 EcoSP4 0.726 EcoSP5 0.760 EcoSP6 0.708 EnvSP EnvSP1 Omitted 0.803 0.822 0.871 0.630 EnvSP2 Omitted EnvSP3 Omitted EnvSP4 0.682 EnvSP5 0.833 EnvSP6 Omitted EnvSP7 0.856 EnvSP8 0.793 SocSP SocSP1 0.699 0.786 0.793 0.862 0.611 SocSP2 Omitted SocSP3 0.814 SocSP4 0.827 SocSP5 0.779 SocSP6 Omitted In Table 7.8, the outer loadings, Cronbach’s alpha, rho_A, composite reliability and AVE for the constructs during the second iteration are reported. Again, six indicators had loadings less than the recommended threshold of 0.708 and were deleted from the model accordingly. However, the reliability coefficients are adequate but the AVE for EcoSP is still less than 0.50. 156 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Table 7.9: Results on Reliability and Convergent Validity – Final Iteration Variable Indicator Loading CA rho_A CR AVE ComO ComO1 0.773 0.768 0.787 0.864 0.680 ComO2 0.847 ComO3 0.853 ComO4 Omitted ComO5 Omitted ComO6 Omitted IndO IndO1 Omitted 0.889 0.893 0.913 0.599 IndO2 0.784 IndO3 0.777 IndO4 0.750 IndO5 0.796 IndO6 0.790 IndO7 0.780 IndO8 0.738 IndO9 Omitted VTO VTO1 Omitted 0.810 0.810 0.876 0.638 VTO2 0.826 VTO3 0.829 VTO4 0.800 VTO5 0.736 VTO6 Omitted VTO7 Omitted CompO CompO1 Omitted 0.788 0.791 0.862 0.610 CompO2 Omitted CompO3 0.775 CompO4 0.786 CompO5 0.784 CompO6 0.780 CompO7 Omitted ER ER1 0.737 0.862 0.862 0.897 0.593 ER2 Omitted ER3 0.750 ER4 0.798 ER5 0.815 ER6 Omitted ER7 Omitted ER8 Omitted ER9 0.784 ER10 0.730 ER11 Omitted 157 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh PR PR1 Omitted 0.851 0.854 0.894 0.628 PR2 Omitted PR3 0.742 PR4 0.830 PR5 0.788 PR6 0.826 PR7 0.772 EcoSP EcoSP1 Omitted 0.751 0.767 0.857 0.668 EcoSP2 Omitted EcoSP3 Omitted EcoSP4 0.750 EcoSP5 0.883 EcoSP6 0.815 EnvSP EnvSP1 Omitted 0.801 0.806 0.883 0.716 EnvSP2 Omitted EnvSP3 Omitted EnvSP4 Omitted EnvSP5 0.820 EnvSP6 Omitted EnvSP7 0.884 EnvSP8 0.833 SocSP SocSP1 Omitted 0.781 0.784 0.872 0.695 SocSP2 Omitted SocSP3 0.831 SocSP4 0.858 SocSP5 0.811 SocSP6 Omitted Table 7.9 and Figure 7.2 show the final iteration results. Finally, the results show that all the reflectively measured constructs’ measures have adequate construct reliability and convergent validity. More specifically, all the loadings exceed the threshold value of 0.708, the average variance extracted (AVE) is higher than the critical value of 0.5, and all the construct reliabilities (i.e. Cronbach’s alpha, the coefficients rho_A, and the composite reliability) have values above 0.7 (J. Hair et al., 2019; Shmueli et al., 2019). 158 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Once the iteration process is completed, the final model is checked for discriminant validity based on Fornell and Larcker, the cross loadings and the Heterotrait-Monotrait (HTMT) approaches. The details are provided in the next section. Figure 7.2: Measurement model Note: Boxes = indicators; Circles = Sub-construct; Lines/Arrows = Paths 7.4.2 Discriminant Validity Tests Here, the discriminant validity of all dimensions of the three constructs was examined. Three approaches to assessing the discriminant validity of the constructs (Fornell and Larcker criterion, 159 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh the cross loadings and the Heterotrait-Monotrait (HTMT) approach) were applied. The results are depicted in Tables 7.10, 7.11 and 7.12. In Table 7.10, the discriminant validity of the latent variables using the Fornell-Larcker criterion is reported. Table 7.10: Fornell and Larcker criterion of discriminant validity Variable 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1. ComO 0.825 2. CompO 0.423 0.781 3. ER 0.502 0.517 0.770 4. EcoSP 0.388 0.398 0.558 0.817 5. EnvSP 0.423 0.467 0.475 0.470 0.846 6. IndO 0.498 0.622 0.626 0.391 0.403 0.774 7. PR 0.476 0.419 0.655 0.403 0.513 0.488 0.792 8. SocSP 0.484 0.400 0.537 0.529 0.546 0.458 0.504 0.834 9. VTO 0.409 0.463 0.471 0.369 0.417 0.469 0.519 0.398 0.799 From Table 7.10, the square roots of the AVEs are shown on the diagonals; the figures below the diagonals are the correlations between the constructs. From the table, all figures on the diagonals are greater than the figures below them, which indicates that discriminant validity is assured. According to Hair, Sarstedt, Ringle and Mena (2012), discriminant validity using the Fornell- Larcker criterion at the construct level can be achieved if the square-root of the AVE is greater than the highest correlation between the latent variable and the other constructs. Table 7.11 shows the discriminant validity of the latent variables using the cross-loading criterion. 160 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Table 7.11: Cross loading criterion of discriminant validity of Latent Variables Items ComO CompO IndO VTO ER PR EcoSP EnvSP SocSP ComO1 0.773 0.364 0.346 0.275 0.359 0.363 0.234 0.277 0.331 ComO2 0.847 0.329 0.394 0.279 0.413 0.423 0.331 0.329 0.435 ComO3 0.853 0.362 0.477 0.438 0.459 0.391 0.375 0.421 0.420 CompO3 0.366 0.775 0.503 0.331 0.407 0.358 0.326 0.352 0.346 CompO4 0.331 0.786 0.530 0.437 0.450 0.357 0.295 0.430 0.364 CompO5 0.349 0.784 0.494 0.326 0.399 0.320 0.306 0.334 0.285 CompO6 0.272 0.780 0.404 0.342 0.348 0.264 0.318 0.333 0.239 IndO2 0.435 0.541 0.784 0.363 0.491 0.372 0.355 0.301 0.309 IndO3 0.295 0.464 0.777 0.366 0.503 0.364 0.307 0.278 0.285 IndO4 0.336 0.514 0.750 0.395 0.468 0.354 0.279 0.262 0.252 IndO5 0.363 0.445 0.796 0.375 0.457 0.367 0.244 0.341 0.373 IndO6 0.388 0.489 0.790 0.355 0.465 0.340 0.295 0.381 0.395 IndO7 0.442 0.476 0.780 0.343 0.505 0.415 0.375 0.314 0.446 IndO8 0.417 0.451 0.738 0.360 0.505 0.426 0.249 0.290 0.376 VTO2 0.287 0.368 0.433 0.826 0.381 0.443 0.255 0.344 0.326 VTO3 0.291 0.378 0.357 0.829 0.342 0.326 0.272 0.260 0.311 VTO4 0.380 0.335 0.384 0.800 0.427 0.453 0.374 0.300 0.340 VTO5 0.336 0.398 0.321 0.736 0.345 0.420 0.266 0.415 0.291 ER1 0.358 0.358 0.517 0.283 0.737 0.536 0.458 0.349 0.403 ER3 0.435 0.401 0.427 0.371 0.750 0.481 0.392 0.373 0.403 ER4 0.388 0.436 0.434 0.313 0.798 0.523 0.469 0.336 0.457 ER5 0.396 0.421 0.503 0.328 0.815 0.466 0.434 0.346 0.403 ER9 0.400 0.433 0.526 0.474 0.784 0.491 0.392 0.400 0.366 ER10 0.342 0.338 0.484 0.411 0.730 0.522 0.426 0.387 0.440 PR3 0.422 0.377 0.407 0.371 0.500 0.742 0.297 0.369 0.368 PR4 0.403 0.357 0.438 0.457 0.550 0.830 0.319 0.437 0.460 PR5 0.387 0.246 0.352 0.415 0.507 0.788 0.274 0.392 0.394 PR6 0.313 0.338 0.360 0.374 0.539 0.826 0.325 0.388 0.402 PR7 0.365 0.341 0.371 0.432 0.499 0.772 0.378 0.440 0.368 EcoSP4 0.278 0.212 0.217 0.292 0.395 0.329 0.750 0.389 0.393 EcoSP5 0.354 0.365 0.332 0.365 0.485 0.362 0.883 0.419 0.461 EcoSP6 0.316 0.380 0.394 0.245 0.482 0.301 0.815 0.350 0.439 EnvSP5 0.369 0.364 0.293 0.410 0.390 0.472 0.421 0.820 0.423 EnvSP7 0.386 0.435 0.379 0.339 0.439 0.461 0.382 0.884 0.517 EnvSP8 0.312 0.385 0.352 0.307 0.371 0.362 0.392 0.833 0.441 SocSP3 0.379 0.331 0.400 0.349 0.464 0.471 0.431 0.519 0.831 SocSP4 0.436 0.380 0.418 0.308 0.457 0.408 0.442 0.426 0.858 SocSP5 0.396 0.283 0.321 0.340 0.420 0.378 0.452 0.417 0.811 161 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Table 7.11 reveals that outer loading of each indicator was greater on its respective latent variable than its cross-loadings on any other latent variables. This also confirms that discriminant validity was achieved. In Table 7.12, the discriminant validity of the latent variables using the Heterotrait-Monotrait Ratio (HTMT) analysis criterion is reported. Table 7.12: Results of Heterotrait-Monotrait Ratio (HTMT) analysis criterion of Discriminant validity Variable 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1. ComO 2. CompO 0.545 3. ER 0.611 0.623 4. EcoSP 0.498 0.508 0.690 5. EnvSP 0.526 0.582 0.570 0.610 6. IndO 0.589 0.739 0.716 0.468 0.473 7. PR 0.589 0.507 0.764 0.504 0.616 0.559 8. SocSP 0.619 0.501 0.652 0.691 0.687 0.537 0.615 9. VTO 0.503 0.574 0.562 0.468 0.512 0.555 0.617 0.500 - For discriminant validity, the latest criteria for evaluating discriminant validity, the Heterotrait- Monotrait (HTMT) ratios were considered. All HTMT values (Table 7.12) were below the threshold of 0.85 (Henseler et al., 2015) or 0.90 (Hair et al., 2013), and this also confirms that discriminant validity was attained. 7.5 Structural Model Assessment (Analyses on StMO Dimensions Predicting SP Dimension) This section presents the PLS-SEM results on the analyses of four dimensions of StMO predicting the three dimensions of sustainability performance. Thus, the influence of competitor orientation, industry orientation, visitor/group travel orientation and community orientation on environmental 162 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh sustainability performance, social sustainability performance and economic sustainability performance. In order to assess the structural model, collinearity, model fit (SRMR), predictive power and relevance checks were done. This is in line with the structural model assessment procedure outlined by Henseler et al. (2016), Hair et al. (2019) and Usakli and Kucukergin (2018). 7.5.1 Collinearity Checks According to Hair et al. (2019), variance inflation factor (VIF) values above 5 are indicative of probable collinearity issues among the predictor constructs, but ideally, the VIF values should be close to 3 and lower. Table 7.13 shows the VIF statistics. Table 7.13: Results of VIF Path VIF ComO => EcoSP 1.423 ComO => EnvSP 1.423 ComO => SocSP 1.423 CompO => EcoSP 1.763 CompO => EnvSP 1.763 CompO => SocSP 1.763 IndO => EcoSP 1.902 IndO => EnvSP 1.902 IndO => SocSP 1.902 VTO => EcoSP 1.421 VTO => EnvSP 1.421 VTO => SocSP 1.421 As shown in Table 7.13, all the VIF values are below the more conservative threshold of 3.3 (Diamantopoulos & Siguaw, 2006), indicating that collinearity is not at critical levels. 163 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 7.5.2 Model Fit Following the recommendation of Henseler et al. (2016), the model fit was assessed using the standardised root mean square residual (SRMR) factor model. Thus, in terms of fit indices, SRMR was used (Hu & Bentler, 1998) which needs to be smaller than 0.08. This fit index must be met before the hypotheses of the proposed model can be tested (Fındıklı, Yozgat, & Rofcanin, 2015). The model fit index is presented in Table 7.14. Table 7.14: Results of SRMR Criterion Saturated Model Estimated Model SRMR 0.064 0.077 For the model, the SRMR was 0.077 which is less than 0.08 threshold. This implies that there is a good model fit (Hu & Bentler, 1998). Therefore, the hypotheses of the proposed model can be tested. 7.5.3 Model Predictive Power and Predictive Relevance Further, the R2 and Q2 criteria were used to evaluate the predictive power and predictive relevance of the structural model (Chin, 1998). The R2 measures the amount of variance in the dependent variable that can be accounted for by the independent variable(s). The R2 ranges from 0 to 1, with higher levels indicating more predictive accuracy. According to Fornell and Cha (1994) and Chin (1998), if this test criterion is larger than 0, the model is considered to have predictive validity, otherwise, the model cannot be granted predictive relevance. As a rule of thumb, R2 values of 0.75, 0.5, and 0.25 may be considered as being substantial, moderate and weak, respectively (Hair et al., 2 2012). Each endogenous variable should have an R -value ≥ .20 (Sanchez, 2013). Blindfolding was used to cross-validate the model’s predictive relevance for each of the individual endogenous 164 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh variables, the Stone-Geisser Q2 value (Geisser, 1974; Stone, 1974) The R2 coefficient and predictive relevance (Q2) are shown in Table 7.15. Table 7.15: Results of coefficient of determination analysis Construct R2 Adjusted R2 Q² Effect Size EcoSP 0.247 0.238 0.145 Small EnvSP 0.309 0.300 0.201 Medium SocSP 0.322 0.314 0.207 Medium Small: 0.0 < Q2 effect size < 0.15; Medium: 0.15 < Q2 effect size < 0.35; Large: Q2 effect size > 0.35 From Table 7.15, coefficient of determination (R2) is 0.247 for EcoSP. This implies that the four dimensions of StMO explains 24.7% of the variance in EcoSP. With regard to the EnvSP and SocSP, the four dimensions of StMO explain 30.9% and 32.2% of the variance in EnvSP and SocSP respectively. In addition, the predictive relevance (Q2) of the model was 0.145 for EcoSP, 0.201 and 0.207 for EnvSP and SocSP respectively. As all the Q2 values are >0, it establishes the fact that the PLS structural model has predictive relevance. These results show that the model has acceptable level of predictive relevance and predictive power (Sanchez, 2013; Usakli & Kucukergin, 2018; Hair et al., 2019). 7.5.4 Hypothesis Assessment on StMO Dimensions Predicting SP Dimension With respect to the evaluation and estimation of inner model, the path coefficients were assessed by using bootstrap t-statistics, based on 5,000 subsamples, with a bias-corrected bootstrap, testing for a two-tailed significance of 95% (Anderson & Gerbing, 1984). The hypotheses were judged and sustained on the basis of the conservative significance level of 0.05. The results are presented in Table 7.16. 165 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Table 7.16: Hypothesis Assessment on StMO Dimensions Predicting SP Dimension Hypotheses Path β T Statistics P Values Decision H1a CompO => EnvSP 0.261 3.909 0.000 Supported H1b CompO => SocSP 0.092 1.283 0.199 Rejected H1c CompO => EcoSP 0.175 2.227 0.026 Supported H2a IndO => EnvSP 0.048 0.668 0.504 Rejected H2b IndO => SocSP 0.184 2.399 0.016 Supported H2c IndO => EcoSP 0.114 1.513 0.130 Rejected H3a VTO => EnvSP 0.187 2.655 0.008 Supported H3b VTO => SocSP 0.148 2.132 0.033 Supported H3c VTO => EcoSP 0.154 2.277 0.023 Supported H4a ComO => EnvSP 0.212 3.193 0.001 Supported H4b ComO => SocSP 0.294 4.223 0.000 Supported H4c ComO => EcoSP 0.195 3.049 0.002 Supported As indicated in Table 7.16, results of the path coefficients and the p-values showed that out of the twelve (12) hypotheses tested, three (3) path relationships were insignificant (i.e. H1b, H2a and H2c). Specifically, CompO significantly predicted EnvSP (β = 0.261; t = 3.909; p = 0.000) and EcoSP (β = 0.175; t = 2.227; p = 0.026), indicating a one-unit increase in CompO will increase the expected value of EnvSP and EcoSP by 0.261 and 0.175 units respectively, thereby supporting H1a and H1c. IndO significantly predicted SocSP (β = 0.184; t = 2.399; p = 0.016) only, indicating a one-unit increase in IndO will increase the expected value of SocSP by 0.184, thereby supporting H2b. Furthermore, VTO significantly predicted EnvSP (β = 0.187; t = 2.655; p = 0.008), SocSP (β = 0.148; t = 2.132; p = 0.033) and EcoSP (β = 0.154; t = 2.227; p = 0.023). This demonstrates that a one-unit increase in VTO will increase the predictable value of EnvSP, SocSP and EcoSP by 0.187, 0.148 and 0.154 units respectively, thereby supporting H3a, H3b and H3c. 166 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Similarly, ComO significantly predicted EnvSP (β = 0.212; t = 3.193; p = 0.001), SocSP (β = 0.294; t = 4.223; p = 0.000) and EcoSP (β = 0.195; t = 3.049; p = 0.002), signifying a one-unit increase in ComO will increase the expectable value of EnvSP, SocSP and EcoSP by 0.212, 0.294 and 0.195 units respectively, thereby supporting H4a, H4b and H4c. 7.6 Moderation Analysis Moderation analysis was conducted to assess if state regulations (political and ecological regulations) moderated the relationship between stakeholder market orientation (StMO) and sustainability performance. Moderation is conducted in order to determine if the relationship between stakeholder market orientation (StMO) and sustainability performance (SP) depends on state regulations (SR). Again, the moderation model was estimated using PLS-SEM Software (SmartPLS 3.2.8) because of its robust ability to determine moderating effects (Ringle et al., 2015). Table 7.17: Moderating Effect of ER and PR Hypotheses Path β T Statistics P Values R2 Decision H5a PR*StMO => SP -0.062 1.191 0.234 0.526 Rejected H5b ER*StMO => SP 0.136 2.719 0.007 Supported As presented in Table 7.17, StMO and SR explains 52.6% of the variance in predicting SP (R2 = 0.526). Ecological regulation (ER) significantly moderated the effect StMO had on SP (β = 0.136; t = 2.719; p = 0.007), hence supporting H5b. This suggests that ER strengthens the effect of StMO on SP. Surprisingly, political regulation (PR) was found to insignificantly moderate (i.e. weaken) the effect StMO had on SP (β = -0.062; t = 1.191; p = 0.234). 167 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Note: Blue line = Less ecological regulation; Green line = High ecological regulation; Red line = No ecological regulation Figure 7.3: Slope analysis of the moderation effect of ER Note: Blue line = Less political regulation; Green line = High political regulation; Red line = No political regulation Figure 7.4: Slope analysis of the moderation effect of PR 168 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Figure 7.3 and 7.4 above show the slope results for SP predicted by StMO for each category of state regulations. In summary, the results indicate that only ecological regulation aspect of state regulations strengthened the effect of StMO on SP. The final results are presented in Figure 7.5 to show the path relationships in the model. Figure 7.5: Final Model 169 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh CHAPTER EIGHT DISCUSSION OF RESEARCH FINDINGS 8.0 Overview The previous chapter captured the empirical results and analysis of the study which involved the descriptive statistical analysis, exploratory factor analysis, measurement model estimation and a structural model to test the conceptual framework. This chapter discusses the empirical findings of the hypothesis testing and their essence in relation to extant literature reviewed in the studies. This chapter is divided into two majors; the first part provides a brief background to the study while the second part discusses the findings of the study in relation to the research questions and hypothesis proposed at the introductory section of this study. The summary of the chapter is then given to capture the key issues posited in this chapter. 8.1 Introduction The focus of this study is to evaluate the impact of stakeholder market orientation on sustainability performance at tourism destinations. Earlier chapters of this study have outlined the contributions of integrating sustainability management practices into the business especially in the tourism business. Reviewing the literature on the study has established the need for businesses to engage their key stakeholders in order to incorporate sustainability performance practices into the business. Based on the stakeholder theory, it has been argued that, the business or the firm should be interested in all actors that affect the business directly or indirectly in relation to the achievement of its organizational objectives ( Donaldson & Preston, 2017; Freeman, 1999; Freeman et al., 2010; Hörisch et al., 2014; de Gooyert, Rouwette, van Kranenburg, & Freeman, 2017; Schaltegger et al., 170 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 2019). It has also been argued that, the destination business links itself to a network of stakeholders in order to provide a bundle of services that meet the destination customers or visitors (Mitchell et al., 2010; Line & Wang, 2017b, 2017a; Longart, Wickens, Ocaña, & Llugsha, 2017; Sugathan & Ranjan, 2019). In reviewing literature for the study, scholars have called for the expansion of the stakeholders of Market orientation hence, the reconceptualization of the concept (Narver & Slater, 1990b; Kohli et al., 1993; Mitchell et al., 2010; Line & Wang, 2017a, 2017b), as a result, this study proposed sustainability stakeholder market orientation (SStMO) as a response to the call for expanding the constituents of market orientation concept and its impact on sustainability performance. The study therefore contributes to the market orientation literature, tourism marketing literature, sustainability marketing literature and the stakeholder literature. As a result, the tourism business or enterprises must relate with its stakeholders by generating and disseminating information on sustainability management practices in order to improve sustainability performance at the tourism destinations. This study also moderate the StMO-SP relation with state regulation in terms of political and ecological regulations. This is because, the literature has contended that, sustainability practices are a cost to the business and leaving the business on its own to integrate sustainability into its business might not be fully achieved. As a result, there is the need for regulatory frameworks to coerce businesses to integrate sustainability practices into their affairs (Crittenden et al., 2011; Nkamnebe, 2011). This study therefore contributes to literature by moderating state regulations with the StMO-SP relationship to determine its effects. 171 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 8.2 Discussion of Findings Principally, the focus of this research is to discover the influence of stakeholder market orientation on sustainability performance of tourism destinations. The basic question of this research is thus: What is the impact of stakeholder market orientation on sustainability performance of tourism destinations? Attempting to answer this question had this study appraising four key questions which capped into the empirical and theoretical investigations revealed in previous chapters. The key outcomes discovered from this study have been expounded in connection to prior literature on the thematic areas of this discussion. Focusing on the research questions and objectives, these are discussed in the following sections of this chapter. 8.2.1 Development of conceptual framework to measure sustainability performance at tourism destinations The first objective is to develop conceptual framework to measure sustainability performance for tourism destinations. Review of extant literature has assisted in developing a comprehensive conceptual framework that is appropriate in measuring StMO and sustainability performance at tourism destinations. and hence became the framework that was used to measure StMO and SP as well as the moderating variables. These conceptual framework could also be used to measure SP in other services sectors such as education, health, and finance and so on in Ghana and in other countries. 172 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 8.2.2 The relationship between StMO and Sustainability Performance (SP) The measurement and structural model’s assessment using PLS-SEM helped to test the hypothesis between StMO dimensions and SP dimensions. Out of twelve (12) hypotheses testing the relationship, nine (9) were supported and three (3) were rejected. The study discusses the direct relationship between the StMO and SP in the sections below 8.2.2.1 Competitor orientation (CompO) and environmental sustainability performance (EnvSP) The study examined and tested empirically the hypothesis that, H1a: the level of Competitor orientation (CompO) of tourism business positively predicts environmental sustainability performance (EnvSP). The results from this test reveal that, competitor orientation predicts environmental sustainability; therefore, this hypothesis 1a is supported. This implies that tourism businesses that generate intelligence on environmental sustainability practices from their competitors are likely to improve their environmental sustainability performance. Tourism businesses that generate friendly environmental information on services from their competitors are likely to improve their environmental performance. These findings are consistent with studies by Graafland, (2016) where price competition among firms in twelve European countries established that, price competition has significantly increased a firm’s environmental performance at the long run. This implies that, firms that gather sustainable pricing information from competitive tourism businesses build sustainability competitive advantage hence, make enough revenue and are able to invest in environmental management practices that improve environmental performance. However, a longitudinal empirical study between 2000 and 2005 to examine the relationship between firm competitive strategy and their response to heightened market competition reveal a 173 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh negative relationship between market competition and corporate environmental performance (Duanmu et al., 2018). This study contradicts the empirical findings where competition predicts environmental performance. This implies that keen market competition or intense market competition has a negative impact on environmental performance. The study further reveals that the negative impact is worsened in firms that adopt cost leadership strategy but has less impact on those that adopt differentiation strategy. The negative impact is worsened for the former however less for those of the latter strategy implying that, firms that adopt cost leadership strategies as a result of market penetration will lose revenue or profit especially, if they do not have the capacity to absorb the price war well which leads to low investment in environmental management practices and low performance. However, firms adopting differentiation strategy as a result of adopting environment management strategies will uniquely stand out in the market and therefore attract premium prices. For instance, adopting technology to conserve water, reduce energy cost, etc. will eventually improve business profitability which will give way for the Ghanaian tourism businesses to invest more in environmental practices, thus improving environmental performance. Even though this finding from this hypothesis seems to agree and at the same time contradict extant literature, the reality on the ground in relation to Ghanaian tourism businesses are worthy of attention. It has revealed that, as the Ghanaian tourism industry becomes more competitive, most of the Ghanaian tourism businesses are investing in environmental performance activities. This was observed from the understanding that, the tourism businesses had about environmental performance and the efforts that are being put in place to improve environmental sustainability in the area of conserving energy use, water use and to a large extent, manage their liquid and solid 174 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh waste. Most of the tourism businesses are also undertaking afforestation activities to improve forest and animal conservation. 8.2.2.2 Competitor orientation (CompO) and social Sustainability performance (SocSP) The study continued to examine and test empirically the hypothesis that; H1b: the level of competition between the tourism business and its competitors positively predict the level of social sustainability performance (SocSP). Results from the empirical study reveal that, competitor orientation does not predict SocSP and hence the hypothesis 1b is rejected. This finding contradicts Fernández‐Kranz & Santaló, (2010)’s study that evaluate the link between competition and firms’ social performance and findings revealed that firms in more competitive industries have better social rating. During competitions firms are likely to adopt strategic orientations that would improve their reputation and build sustainability competitive advantage. However, the empirical study contradicts the market competition and social performance literature. The possible reason for this empirical finding that during keen market competition firms are likely to invest in innovative technologies that would assist them differentiate themselves from the competition and might be constrained for resources especially SMEs that constitute a large proportion of the tourism businesses in Ghana and this might make them reduce investment in social initiatives. This finding affirms the reality among Ghanaian tourism enterprises as most are not able to undertake a lot of social initiatives at the face of keen competition. Most of the businesses are largely SMEs (see Fig. 7.1) and are struggling to make profits and as a result are unable to invest in social initiatives such as providing scholarships for the needy but brilliant students in their communities as could be done by large companies. Therefore, most of the owners are not so skilled to offer their services to local NGOs and CBOs such as serving on their boards. 175 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 8.2.2.3 Competitor Orientation (CompO) and Economic Sustainability Performance (EcoSP) Empirically, the study appraised the hypothesis that, H1c: the level of competitor orientation (CompO) of tourism business at the tourism destination positively predicts economic performance (EcoSP). The outcome from the empirical study revealed that, competitor orientation predicts EcoSP and hence the hypothesis is 1c supported. This finding is consistent with existing literature which has established a positive and significant relationship between competitive strategies and firm performance and other performance measurement options (Baroto et al., 2012; Teeratansirikool et al., 2013; Danso, Adomako, Amankwah-Amoah, et al., 2019). For instance, Teeratansirikool et al., (2013) in studying competitive strategies and firm performance in Thailand revealed that, competitive strategies positively and significantly predict firm’s performance through other performance options. Another study in Ghana by Danso et al., (2019) to determine the impact of differentiation strategy on firm performance established that, differentiation strategies positively boosts performance outcomes with environmental sustainability orientation. This implies that firms that adopt cost leadership competitive strategies in the tourism industry will implement eco-efficiency strategies like energy saving systems, efficient water use through hi-tech systems, all to reduce cost of production and charge much lower prices than their competitors and build sustained competitive advantage. These sustainability strategies lead to sustainability competitive advantage which would assist the firm to improve its economic benefits as well as improve economic sustainability performance. 176 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh This result to a large extent collaborates with the evidence found among Ghanaian tourism businesses. It can be noticed from the age characteristics of the firms that, over 70% of the firms (see Fig. 7.1) exist between 6 to 40 years, which shows the fact that, most Ghanaian tourism businesses are at least breaking even at the face of stiff competition in the tourism sector. This also points to the fact that, if government can support these Ghanaian tourism enterprises with relevant resources such the availability of soft loans and human resource capacity building schemes, most of these businesses can flourish in the long-run to improve their economic viability and contribute to the growth of the Ghanaian economy. 8.2.2.4 Stakeholder Industry Orientation (IndO) and Environmental Sustainability performance (EnvSP) The study tested the hypothesis that, H2a: the level of industry orientation (IndO) with stakeholders at the tourism destination positively the level of EnvSP. Deducing from the empirical study, industry orientation does not predict environmental sustainability performance hence the rejection of hypothesis 2a. This study contradicts the works of Mensah and Blankson, (2013) where they studied the factors that predict environmental performance in Ghana and established that, environmental education, training of staff, support for destination community, conservation project supports such as afforestation, compliance with environmental regulations such as proper ways of managing both liquid and solid waste, predicted environmental hotel performance. The plausible reason that confirms the empirical findings about the tourism businesses in the three southern regions of Ghana namely, Greater Accra, Volta and Central; might be that, the tourism businesses were not engaging their workers and visitors in environmental education and training 177 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh and were not complying to environmental regulations resulted in poor performance in environmental management practices. This observation is not surprising as most of the tourism businesses at the tourism destinations in Ghana, especially, the coastal areas, disregard a lot of environmental management practices. As a result, the beaches are badly littered with plastic waste along with so much stench from the sea. The beaches in Ghana, for example, are dotted with many tourism businesses who have no collaboration among them in managing waste at these destinations. More so, the visitors to these destinations do not practice environmental management by dropping their waste in designated bins and in many cases, these waste bins are non-existence at some of these tourism destinations. All these occur due to the inability of the Ghanaian tourism enterprises to cooperate with their key stakeholders at the destination to manage environmental performance. 8.2.2.5 Stakeholder Industry Orientation (IndO) and Social Sustainability performance (SocSP) The study empirically tested the hypothesis that, H2b: the level of industry orientation (IndO) positively predicts the level of social sustainability performance (SocSP) at the tourism destination. Evidence from the empirical study recognised that, IndO predicts SocSP hence hypothesis 2b is supported. This empirical finding is related to the scholarly work of Awan et al., (2017) in which they studied the relationship between stakeholder orientations in adopting sustainable supply chain management practices (SSCP) in Pakistan firms. The evidence established that, SSCP predicts social performance. The implication of this reveals that, tourism enterprises that engage in IndO by collecting information on the kind of social support they can 178 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh give to communities from visitors, the community members, will go a long way to provide social initiatives that will meet the needs of the community. This supports the fact that, tourism businesses in these southern destinations in Ghana engage their industry stakeholders in providing social initiatives and hence, rated high in social performance. This finding, to a large extent, opposes the reality that exists among Ghanaian tourism businesses. This is because, most of the Ghanaian tourism businesses are SMEs (see figure 7.1) and are constrained with resources, the tourism businesses are not able to relate with their industry players to initiate social activities that might improve social sustainability. This has clearly brought a serious disconnection between theory and the practice of social performance among Ghanaian tourism enterprises. 8.2.2.6 Stakeholder Industry Orientation (IndO) and Economic Sustainability performance (EcoSP) Empirically, the study tested the hypothesis that, H2c: the level of industry stakeholder engagement (IndO) of the tourism destination business positively predicts the level of economic sustainability performance (EcoSP). Results from the empirical analysis however rejects this assertion that, industry orientation predicts EcoSP, hence hypothesis 2c is rejected. This study is inconsistent with the works of Danso et al., (2019) which empirically examined how stakeholder integration can stimulate financial performance by engaging organisations in Environmental sustainability orientation (ESO) and established that, stakeholder integration predicts financial performance when it is mediated by ESO. The plausible reason for this empirical evidence might be that, tourism businesses in Ghana might not engage in stakeholder integration to pursue ESO 179 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh as a strategic tool by adopting resource saving technologies which can put light and water off immediately one leaves a hotel room to save cost. More especially, a large proportion of the tourism enterprises fall within the SME segment and as a result might be constrained with resources (Odoom, 2016; Liu, Feng, & Wang, 2020; Rahman, Akter, Odunukan, & Haque, 2020) to even engage in these ESO practices to save cost. This result is consistent with the happenings in the Ghanaian tourism industry, as most of the tourism businesses, continue to remain micro and small enterprises (over 80%) with few being medium and large enterprises (see figure 7.1). This may be due to the fact that, the tourism industry is not able to generate enough revenue in order to expand from micro and small enterprises to medium and large enterprises. This is an indication that, the government and the financial sector must do more to support the Ghanaian tourism businesses to grow into medium and large-scale enterprises in order to support the Ghanaian economy through increase in job creation and ultimately, leading to their immense contribution to GDP. 8.2.2.7 Stakeholder Visitor Orientation (VTO) and Environmental Sustainability Performance (EnvSP) This study continues to examine and test the hypothesis that, H3a: the level of visitor orientation (VTO) positively the level of environmental sustainability performance (EnvSP). The empirical outcome of this hypothesis, after testing supports that, VTO significantly predicts EnvSP, hence hypothesis 3a is corroborated. This outcome is in agreement with the studies of Dabija et al., (2017) and Tseng et al., (2019). Dabija et al., (2017) in their study of stakeholders’ perception of 180 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh sustainability orientation of a Romanian university established that, all stakeholders perceive the university’s orientation towards performance of sustainability management practices and for that matter EnvSP. The study further established that, all stakeholders of the university have a highly positive opinion about the university’s environmental protection. Another study consistent with the empirical evidence is Tseng et al., (2019) that undertook an empirical investigation into the strategic orientation and environmental sustainability performance of Taiwanese information technology firms and contend that, customer and technology orientations have a positive relationship with Environmental Innovation Capability (EIC). The plausible explanation that supports the empirical evidence for the Ghanaian tourism business context might be that, when the Ghanaian tourism businesses undertake VTO by gathering information about environmental management needs and expectations of visitors in relation to environmental management practices, it will ultimately enhance the tourism businesses’ environmental performance at the tourism destinations. The above evidence can be approached from two sides in relation to the Ghanaian tourism industry. First, there is an evidence of visitors demanding environmental performance from Ghanaian tourism enterprises, to the extent that, Ghanaian tourism businesses do not respect the environmental needs of visitors and are likely to lose both existing and new visitors to competitors, hence, lose revenue. Tourists are now seeking for clean and serene destinations to visit, as a result, businesses that cannot meet these needs will lose patronage. Secondly, the attitude of most of these tourists who continually visit unclean tourism destinations such as littered beaches and polluted water bodies, would continue to make these TDs not improve in their environmental products, 181 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh hence, performing poorly in environmental sustainability performance. This means that, Ghanaian tourism businesses must continue to engage its visitors in order to provide the required environmental sustainability products such as forest and animal conservation, for the good of the eco-tourism industry. 8.2.2.8 Stakeholder Visitor Orientation (VTO) and Social Sustainability Performance (SocSP) The study further tests the hypothesis that, H3b: the level of stakeholder visitor orientation (VTO) positively predicts social sustainability performance (SocSP). This is supported by the empirical study on Ghanaian tourism businesses that VTO predicts SocSP and for that matter hypothesis 3b is supported. This finding is consistent with the scholarly work of Lee et al., (2020) where they investigated the impact of customer orientation on sustainability performance in the area of employee outcomes, customer satisfaction and customer retention in Malaysian SMEs and had the result revealing that, customer orientation predicts the three indicators of SocSP. This evidence can support the argument that, Ghanaian tourism enterprises are undertaking visitor orientations by constantly interacting with customers and other stakeholders to gather information on social causes and providing the leverage to tourism businesses in Ghana to improve their social rating. The above finding is inconsistent with the evidence from the Ghanaian tourism industry. Even though there is some level VTO in the industry, the tourism businesses do not take advantage of it to undertake social performance at the TDs. This might be due to resource constraints on the tourism businesses. As much as the tourism business may collect social performance information from visitors, they are not able to implement these social initiatives due to the unavailability of 182 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh resources among the tourism businesses in Ghana. For example, the tourism businesses cannot provide schools, clinics, good drinking water among other social amenities to the communities in which their located due to resource constraints. If Ghanaian tourism businesses have to play this role very well, they need to be supported by government and financial institutions in order to raise the needed resources to enable them achieve profitability and hence be able to undertake CSRs in their communities. 8.2.2.9 Stakeholder Visitor Orientation (VTO) and Economic Sustainability Performance (EcoSP) Furthermore, the study tests the hypothesis that, H3c: the level of stakeholder visitor orientation (VTO) positively predicts economic sustainability performance (EcoSP). The discoveries from the empirical studies support hypothesis 3c and as a result, VTO significantly affects and increases the level of EcoSP. The study is consistent with the empirical studies of Camarero et al., (2015) where they appraised the relationship between VTO and museum performance through technological innovation and tradition and the result supported a positive relationship between VTO and economic performance. This supports the view that, Ghanaian tourism businesses that engage in VTO by acquiring and disseminating visitor needs and expectations regarding these needs and expectations are likely to attract more visitors to their destination and hence, improving their revenue and profitability and building a favourable EcoSP. This finding can be discussed in two-folds. First, so far as the majority of the tourism businesses even though fall into the category of micro and small enterprises, continue to exist, it could be inferred that Ghanaian tourism businesses are achieving some level of economic performance as a 183 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh result of visitor orientation. To improve this situation, businesses must continue to engage visitors on the things they need at these destinations in order to increase patronage and revisits to improve revenue and profitability. On the other hand, majority of the tourism businesses continue to be micro and small-scale enterprises within 6 to 40 years of existence (fig. 7.1) and shows that, these tourism businesses are not improving in economic performance as a result of visitor orientation. This is because, most of these tourism enterprises are not able to transform into medium and large- scale businesses. 8.2.2.10 Stakeholder Community orientation (ComO) and Environmental performance (EnvSP) The study further tests the hypothesis that H4a: the level of stakeholder community orientation (ComO) positively predicts environmental sustainability performance (EnvSP). The findings from the empirical study supports hypothesis 4a, in view of this, community orientation has a positive relationship with environmental sustainability performance. This evidence is consistent with the empirical research by Cha et al., (2019) who examined the relationship between management personal engagement and firm’s societal causes and its impact on social and environmental performance revealed that, firms’ managements that engage in civic activities are more likely to undertake philanthropic activities and corporate environmental causes. This evidence is a plausible reason that, tourism enterprises in Ghana whose management engage in community activities are more likely to improve or support corporate environmental performances. This outcome to a large extent supports the evidence from the Ghanaian tourism industry. In areas where tourism businesses engage their communities, they are more likely to improve environmental performance. For instance, a tourism business that collaborates with its 184 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh communities can easily prevent bush fires, bad farming practices and engage in afforestation to improve the environmental performance of the TD. More so, community actions to a great extent affects the waste management practices of these TDs. For example, some community folks go to defecate or throw rubbish in the water bodies which lead to the poor environmental performance of the destination. A good partnership between the tourism business and the community through education and other awareness creation methods could change the behaviour of these communities to improve environmental performance. 8.2.2.11 Stakeholder Community orientation (ComO) and Social performance (SocSP) Empirically, this study continues to examine and test the hypothesis, H4b: the level of stakeholder community orientation (ComO) positively predicts social sustainability performance (SocSP). Evidently, the empirical studies suggest that, ComO positively and significantly predicts SocSP hence, the hypothesis 4b is supported. This finding agrees with the empirical work of Cha et al. (2019), who examined the relationship between a chief executive officer (CEO)’s personal participation in broader societal causes (CEO civic engagement). The firm’s social and community performance furthermore established that CEOs with active civic engagement are more likely to support various philanthropic efforts and hence improve the firm’s social rating. It therefore assumed that, Ghanaian tourism enterprises that engage stakeholder community orientation by supporting social initiatives such as representing on boards of non-for-profit organisations, donating to scholarship funds, building clinics among others would improve the reputation of the company and hence improve their social performance. 185 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh This conclusion can also be supported in the tourism industry in Ghana. Tourism businesses that engage their communities are able to understand their cultures such as food, dressing, music, and other cultural norms which could be incorporated into the business of the TD to improve its social performance. For example, through community orientation, the tourism business can use the food products of the community to provide its menu for visitors, or engage its cultural troupes to entertain visitors in these destinations. This orientation can improve relationship between the business and the community and further enhance, social and economic performance. 8.2.2.12 Stakeholder Community orientation (ComO) and Economic performance (EcoSP) The final direct hypothesis states that, H4c: the level of stakeholder community orientation (ComO) positively predicts economic sustainability performance (EcoSP). A careful observation from the empirical findings established that, stakeholder community orientation highly predicts EcoSP and hence the hypothesis 4c is supported. This result is in consonance with the scholarly works of Rodríguez Díaz and Espino Rodríguez, (2016) where they examined the key factors in achieving the sustainability performance at tourism destination. Furthermore, they reported that the key sustainability factors (supply chain, security, alternative leisure, and governance) have positive influence on long-term performance. The results showed that the key factors that have a direct and significant relationship with performance are the key resources. This means that, Ghanaian tourism enterprises must have the capability to identify key sustainability factors such as environmental resources, peace and security and other resources that can attract visitors to the community’s destinations and utilise them to improve business performance at the destination, hence, aiding in financial profitability. 186 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh This result could also be supported in the tourism industry in Ghana. Tourism businesses’ community orientation would go a long way to foster good economic relationships in one way. These relationships will lead to communities patronising the TDs and hence, improving revenue and performance. Due to this good relationship that is fostered between the TDs and the communities, the people in the communities offer their labour to the tourism businesses and also good positive word-of-mouth about the tourism business which go a long way to improve the revenue and profitability of the tourism business. The last but not the least is that, due to the tourism business community orientation, the tourism business is able to access resources such as land, which is critical to the growth and sustainability of every tourism business. 8.3 Moderation The objective is to moderate ecological and political regulation on StMO-SP relationship. In order to achieve this objective, the study conducted a moderation using SPLS-SEM (SmartPLS 3.2.8) to test the following hypotheses: H5a: Moderating effect of political regulation positively predicts the relationship between StMO and SP. H5b: Moderating effect of ecological regulation positively predicts the relationship between StMO and SP. To determine the moderating effects of political regulation on SP, findings from the analysis show a negative impact of political regulations on StMO-SP nexus, hence hypothesis 5a was rejected. This finding contradicts findings from extant literature which reveal that, government regulations 187 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh significantly impacts positively on corporate environmental responsibility and corporate financial performance (Li et al., 2017). The above finding proves that, political regulation negatively affects StMO-SP relationship hence, government institutions such as GTA must relook at its regulations in relation tourism business sustainability performance by engaging tourism destination stakeholders to come out with appropriate rules and regulations that will improve economic sustainability performance. For instance, for GTA to determine the fees charged at tourism destination by tourism businesses, it must consult customers, tourism businesses, and other essential stakeholders so that the fees charged will be affordable for visitors so as to improve patronage at the tourism destination, thereby leading to an improvement in revenue generation. It is also possible that, officials of GTA might be compromised hence, do not enforce the regulations to its latter which might result in poor sustainability performance at the tourism destinations. In testing hypothesis 5b, findings from this analysis established that, ecological regulation positively and significantly impacts StMO-SP relationship hence, the hypothesis 5b is supported. This finding is in agreement with studies by Akram et al., (2019), where it concluded that, there is a positive and significant effect of the moderating role of institutional regulation on corporate governance and environmental performance. The plausible reason for this finding is that, ecological institutions like the EPA, Water Resource Commission, and the Fire Service have been strict in regulating and enforcing tourism businesses at the southern part of Ghana to comply with environmental management practice. 188 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 8.2.4 The level of sustainability performance at tourism destination The first objective of the study is to determine the level of sustainability performance at tourism destinations. Perusing the extant literature, environmental sustainability performance is high in manufacturing firms mostly in the advanced economies followed by economic and social performances (Kassinis & Vafeas, 2006; Gabzdylova et al., 2009; Green, Toms, & Clarke, 2015; Awan et al., 2017; De Mendonca & Zhou, 2019). Reviewing the empirical literature, economic sustainability seem to be second level of sustainability performance being studied (Padovano & Ricciuti, 2009; Ghosh, 2010; Camarero, Garrido, & Vicente, 2015) and the social indicator being the least (Fernández-Kranz & Santaló, 2010; Lee et al., 2020). From the empirical study, the calculated overall means of observed performance per the indicators of the study had the highest observed mean representing the environmental sustainability performance indicator. This is followed by the economical and then the social indicator being the least level. These findings of comparing the three dimensions of sustainability performance have not been empirically noted in literature. However, a related work studied these three dimensions without ranking the level of performance of the sustainability performance dimensions. In their study, they examined the impact of stakeholder, public and customer orientation on the evaluation of supply performance in terms of social, economic and environmental criteria. The study revealed a significant positive impact of public orientation on sustainability prevalence in terms of supplier selection decisions, a significant negative impact of shareholder and customer orientation on sustainability prevalence and also found that, shareholder orientation drives cost prevalence in supplier selection. However, customer orientation does not drive cost (Reuter et al., 2012). Another related study which viewed the three sustainability dimensions evaluated the perceptions of 189 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh different stakeholder groups of a Romanian university with respect to its sustainability performance and established that, stakeholders of the university have positive orientation towards sustainability in terms of measures taken such as employee satisfaction, innovative and attractive educational programmes and compliance with sustainability principles regarding environmental protection and its positive attitude towards society (Dabija et al., 2017). This study ascertains and is consistent with the findings from literature as revealed above. One of the reasons for the empirical finding regarding the level of sustainability performance at the tourism destinations might be that, the existence of numerous environmental regulatory institutions within Ghana such as the Environmental Protection Authority, Water Resource Commission, Minerals Commission, Forestry Commission, and other non-governmental organisations in the environmental space are able to put tourism businesses in check since they have the power to sanction these destinations if they do not comply with the outlined regulations. This may result in a higher environmental performance at the tourism destinations. This finding to a large extent conforms to the reality on the ground as many of the state institutions that regulate environmental performance are many such as those mentioned above. This shows that, the government of Ghana is investing into environmental performance as it can be observed in the establishment of many ministries such as the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology, and the Ministry of Sanitation, which go a long way to attest to this fact. National, regional, district and local sanitation days have also been set aside to improve environmental sanitation. There are many private waste management companies such Zoomlion Ghana and others 190 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh who complement the efforts of the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies to improve environmental performance. These large contributions cannot be said of economic and social performances. A lot of companies flout labour laws as well as other labour protection laws with impunity, as most of them pay their workers below the minimum wage rate. The same can be said of government institutions that regulate social performance such as CHRAJ, and the Labour Department, as most of these organisations are not well resourced to carry out their mandate. The economic sustainability performance, being the second ranked performer in terms of sustainability in the tourism destination even affects and determines their long-term performance due to the Ghana Tourism Authority and Ghana Hotel Association. Another reason there is a high performance of this sustainability performance could be attributed to the presence of these state regulators and their membership in industry associations. For instance; Ghana Tourism Authority sets standards in terms of fee charging, security and other operational indicators that tourism sector businesses are supposed to comply with. In the same vein, Ghana Hotels Association, Tour operators Association of Ghana, Traditional catering services, among others, also set operational standards for their members which also form key sub-sector of the tourism industry, therefore leads to the economic sustainability performances of the tourism businesses. One of the reasons for the low performance of social sustainability performance can be attributed to the non-existence of institutions that compel tourism business to engage in social and 191 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh philanthropic activities and so this sustainability practice is left to the whims and caprices of the business. In addition, tourism businesses are largely made up of small and medium scale enterprises whose returns and capital base are usually low and are constrained with resources (Odoom, 2016) and hence, they may not have more willing and benevolent hands to invest in social causes which might have led to a low social sustainability performance. 192 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh CHAPTER NINE SUMMARY OF CONCLUSIONS AND REFLECTIONS 9.0 Chapter Overview The previous chapter discussed the major findings of the research. This chapter provides the summary of the research and the major findings, reflections on the study, contributions of the study, and implications for future research. In detail, this chapter assesses the key lessons derived from the study as well as discusses the contribution of this study to managerial practice and academic theory. Furthermore, it is structured into four principal portions. With the chapter providing a precise summary of the research problem, research objectives, and as well the major results of each objective. Succeeding this, the second part of the chapter presents potential contributions and implications for further studies and also for management and practice. The third part views the limitations that arose from this study. Finally, directions for future research are provided by signalling very relevant study avenues for assessing stakeholder market orientation (StMO) and sustainability performance for tourism destinations are examined. 9.1 Summary of the Research and Major Findings This research started with the major aim of exploring how market orientation is reconceptualised to align with the multiple stakeholder orientation to impact sustainability performance as a key performance outcome of the tourism destinations and investigate the role of state regulations on the stakeholder market orientation (StMO) – sustainability performance (SP) linkage. In order to achieve this goal, four main objectives were set. The first objective is to develop conceptual framework to measure sustainability. To achieve this objective, literature was reviewed and 193 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh comprehensive conceptual framework was developed in relation to the tourism destination. Using the market and stakeholder orientations’ ability to assist businesses to gather, disseminate and response to information and use it to provide superior offerings to their stakeholders, the second objective was set out to investigate the relationship between StMO dimensions and sustainability performance dimensions. In an attempt to achieve this objective, literature was subsequently reviewed to define and operationalise StMO and expand its constituents to suit tourism destinations network nature. The constituents of StMO as operationalised in this study to comprise competitor orientation, visitor orientation, industry orientation, community orientation, political orientation and ecological orientation as well as sustainability performance into environmental, social and economic sustainability performance. The third objective was to moderate state regulations (political and ecological) with the StMO-SP nexus to determine its impact positively or negatively. The fourth objective is to determine the levels of sustainability performance at tourism destinations. In an attempt to achieve this objective, sustainability performance dimensions and their indicators were studied and as a result compared the sustainability performance dimensions at the tourism destination to determine which sustainability performance outcomes are being practiced most at the tourism destinations in three regions of southern Ghana. An investigation into the literature on market orientation, stakeholder marketing, and sustainability and tourism destination marketing to understand the existing issues in the field to examine with the aim of getting solutions to the study objectives. More especially, emphasis was placed on reviewing extant literature on stakeholder engagement, stakeholder pressure, market orientation and their impact on sustainability performance. Corporate social responsibility and corporate governance and their impact on sustainability performance or social initiatives were also key areas 194 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh in the literature review. Further literature was reviewed on institutional regulations and sustainability performance. During the literature review that spanned the period mainly between 2010 and 2020, various gaps (in terms of issues, theories, methodology and context) were identified (refer to chapter 3 of this research). One key observation made from the literature review was that there was no consensus on the conceptualisation of the constituents of market orientation hence further calls for the expansion of the constituents especially to meet the needs of tourism destinations (Line & Wang, 2017b, 2017a; Mitchell et al., 2010). More so there was paucity of studies that studied the link between market orientation and sustainability performance and the few that tried to establish the relationship between market orientation and sustainability performance concentrated on environmental performance (Clark, Toms, & Green, 2014; Green, Toms, & Clarke, 2015) hence neglecting social and economic performance which are also key sustainability aspects. Methodologically, there seem to be more studies on quantitative methods, but few used PLS-SEM in analysing data. Moderation of the relationship especially in StMO-SP nexus was non-existence in the literature. In terms of theory, few studies used stakeholder and institutional theories in one study and only few studies were done in African and emerging economies. Drawing from the stakeholder and institutional theories and various frameworks from the study area led to the development of a conceptual framework for the current research. The framework assumed that when tourism destination marketing organisations (DMO) relate with key stakeholders of the tourism destination industry, they will be able to gather, disseminate and respond to sustainability information from the stakeholders which will be used to fashion out strategies to provide superior sustainability performance at the destination and as result build 195 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh sustainability competitive advantage for the destination. The framework further assumed that adopting sustainability management practices is a cost to businesses and as a result if left alone, might not engage in sustainability management practices. There is, therefore, the need for a regulatory framework for these destinations to obtain the optimum sustainability performance (Nkamnebe, 2011; Wang & Shen, 2016) . State regulations in terms of political and ecological regulations is, therefore, used to moderate the relationship between StMO and SP. Drawing on various definitions and conceptualisations (Roberts & Tribe, 2008; Mitchell et al., 2010; Green, Toms, & Clark, 2015; Line & Wang, 2017b, 2017a), the current study constructed a set of testable constructs/ scales which were based on the study’s conceptual framework. From the first stage of this research which involved reviewing of extant literature, a second stage comprising and empirical enquiry was then undertaken. Using tourism destination businesses from three regions of southern Ghana (Volta, Greater-Accra and Central), the study used the survey approach to test, purify and validate the constructs/scales developed from theory in the quest to find solution to the research questions proposed in the study. Analysis of the empirical data using smart PLS-SEM, then resulted in some findings that were discussed in relation to existing literature on the field being studied. 196 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Table 9.1 – Summary of major results/findings Research Research Objective Major Findings/Results A comprehensive conceptual framework has Research Objective 1: been developed to measure StMO-SP relationship. To develop conceptual frameworks to measure StMO and sustainability performance at TDs The finding for this objective was arrived Research Objective 2: after testing twelve hypotheses out of which To establish the relationship between nine were supported and three rejected. StMO and sustainability performance Those that were rejected are: CompO does not predict SocSP; IndO does not predict EnvSP; and IndO does not predict EcoSP. Largely, almost all StMO dimensions with the exception of the above listed three relationships support sustainability performance. Research Objective 3: With regards to this, the moderating effect of political regulation on StMO-SP was rejected To determine the moderating role of state whilst ecological regulation moderating regulation on StMO sustainability StMO-SP was supported. performance relationship at TDs Comparing the three levels of sustainability Research Objective 4: performance at tourism destinations, To determine the levels of sustainability environmental sustainability performance performance at tourism destinations topped, followed by economic Sustainability and the third level is social sustainability performance. 9.2 Reflections It is important to reflect on a research of this nature as it is essential to reflect on the approaches and the processes adopted in the study to provide answers to the research problems and questions stated in the study. The goal of this reflection is not to condemn the whole research but to make a 197 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh strong position for the chosen designs and their suitability in unravelling contributions of this research. As a result, three key areas of this study have been highlighted for this purpose. These include: theories, framework and methodology. This is because, these areas are the foundations of the research work as far as originality and novelty of knowledge contributions are concerned. 9.2.1 Reflection on Theories In order to address the research problem and proffer solutions to the research questions, it became necessary to review extant literature to understand the StMO and sustainability performance as an area of focus. One major issue that originated from the review was the lack of consensus on the conceptualisation of the constituents of MO; hence, scholars have called for the expansion of these constituents of MO. In addressing this gap, the study reconceptualised MO and MSMO into StMO which is quite suitable for destination marketing due to its network of stakeholders. The study adopted the stakeholder theory to explain the key stakeholders of the tourism business and stressed on the fact that there is a need for a healthy relationship between a tourism business and its key stakeholders such as competitors, visitors, industry players, community, regulators, etc. in order to provide superior service. It has been identified in literature that sustainability practice is a cost to businesses and as a result there is a need for a regulatory framework to make sure businesses comply with sustainability practices. This made this research adopt the institutional theory lens to explain how state regulations are used to moderate the StMO relationship in order to determine its impact in the relationship. The coercive dimension of the institutional theory is used to explain how state institutions that are backed by law use regulations to command tourism businesses to comply with sustainability management practices. It must be noted however that, the stakeholder and institutional theories are not the only theories used to study the area. Other theories like the 198 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh resource-based, dependency, slack, and many others have also been used to predict and understand the area. However, these two theories used seem to be more appropriate in helping to get answers for the research objectives and stated questions. 9.2.2 Reflection on the conceptual framework Review of extant literature on MO, MSMO, and SMO helped in the development of a framework for the current study. None of the existing models or frameworks was suited for the current study, and as a result, the study had to combine variables from MO, SMO and MSMO frameworks to develop StMO-SP conceptual framework. The underlying theorisation of the conceptual framework is that, tourism businesses must engage their key stakeholders such as competitors, visitors, industry players, community, ecological and political regulators to gather, disseminate and respond to sustainability information that is used to fashion out strategies that provide superior sustainability performance outcomes in the area of environmental, social and economic. The main relationship is moderated by state regulations to determine its effects. It must be noted that, the variables used in the conceptual framework might not be exhaustive, looking at the network setting of the TDs. However, there may be other variables that could have enriched the research outcome of the framework. Notwithstanding the above, the current study carefully chose the constructs that could have provided the possible empirical support and are also compatible with the existing theories and conceptualisations as well as managerial practice. 199 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 9.2.2.1 Reflection on the research methodology In view of methodological accuracy, this study adopted the use of quantitative approach. Directly, the research employed the survey approach through the administration of structured questionnaires designed to collate data from respondents at the various tourism destinations in mainly the Greater Accra, Volta and Central Regions of Ghana. The reason for using this method is based on the fact that, the study sought to appraise hypothetical propositions based on existing theory under well monitored circumstances. The study was aimed at delving deeper to grab more insight about the main issues and their potency on the relationships that exist between them, hence, the choice of analytical survey as postulated by Creswell, (2019). Also, this study is aimed at reviewing the occurrence by amplifying the relationships among some constructs (Saunders et al., 2011). To be able to deduce and draw a conclusive stance on StMO-SP at the selected tourism destinations, there was the need for a significant sample, a relatively larger sample in order to have a more accurate and conclusive generalised results. Furthermore, though either a mixed or a qualitative method could have uncovered deeper insights from this study, the nature of our sample size barred this study from towing that line. This study therefore followed strictly, the use and guidelines of a quantitative approach for this study. From a positivist angle, this study considered this objective mode of conducting the research by appraising the research questions for the aim of gathering specific and well-harnessed answers from the questions structured in the questionnaire. 200 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 9.3 Contributions and Implications for Future Research This study to a large extent has tried to make four major contributions to knowledge in the field of marketing and tourism destination literature. On a whole, it has been observed that, there is no consensus on the conceptualisation of the constituents of MO. As a result of extensive literature review in the area of MO, SMO, MSMO and Sustainability Marketing, the review has assisted in synthesising the various studies into a comprehensive systematic literature review. The extensive review has established key themes and patterns in StMO and sustainability literature, hence, has unearthed various issues such as theoretical, methodological and contextual gaps. Another area of contribution to knowledge is the reconceptualization of the MO concept into sustainability stakeholder market orientation (SStMO) which is more comprehensive and more suited for destination marketing setting. The conceptual frame developed to measure the StMO- SP relationship is a modest contribution to stakeholder, sustainability performance literature. The extensive literature review in the subject area has resulted in the development of a comprehensive conceptual framework which demonstrates how tourism destination enterprises should establish sustainable relationships with its key stakeholders in order to generate, disseminate and be responsive to sustainable market information and take advantage of other resources in order to fashion out comprehensive sustainability marketing strategy that will help in providing superior sustainability services at the tourism destinations. This conceptual framework has been based on the stakeholder theory and the institutional theory perspective. 201 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Empirical evidence and support from an emerging economy in the sub-Saharan African context provide contextual contribution to knowledge in the area of tourism destinations in Ghana. Review of literature has seen more work in advanced continents like America, Asia and Europe with limited number of works originating from Africa and Australia. More so, most of the studies were done in the manufacturing sector with less work in the service sector. Undertaking the empirical study in the tourism destinations in Southern Ghana answers the above call or gap. The findings that originated from the empirical data analysis and the conceptual model of the study have implications for theory and practice. In addition to contributions to issues and theory, the study also contributes to methodological literature. Review of the existing literature reveal that, most of the works used old-fashioned multivariate analysis like Regression, ANOVA, and others. However, this research uses modern analytical tools such as the PLS-SEM, which has more predictive power, for the detailed measurement of these constructs to produce consistent and relevant results. The study has also contributed to the development of conceptual framework that are more related to the tourism destination industry and the service sector. Due to the quantitative method adapted, the study provided a robust ability for generalisation due to fairly large samples and very high response rates compared to the qualitative and conceptual works discussed in the literature. Moderating the StMO-SP relationship with state regulations also contribute to methodology as moderators help to determine the strength or otherwise of the relationship. In this study, it has been noticed that, while political regulation moderated the StMO-SP negatively, the ecological 202 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh regulation is significantly positive on the relationship. This therefore means that ecological regulatory institutions should continue to enforce the rules to improve environmental sustainability or compliance while political regulatory institutions revisit their rules and mode of regulation. 9.3.1 Implications for Management and Practice It must be noted that there are very key managerial implications that can be derived from this research findings. To management of tourism destinations, this research comes in handy as it will help tourism business managers to identify key stakeholders from whom information can be generated and disseminated to fashion out sustainability management strategies that will help improve sustainability performance at the TDs. If this is done, it will help TD businesses to be more competitive and attract more visitors to their destinations hence become more profitable. It has been noticed from the survey that, most of the tourism businesses are SMEs that are generally constrained with resources. This study will help the government and its agencies as policy makers and implementers to improve infrastructure and social amenities at the TDs to further improve sustainability performance outcomes at these TDs. The study will also help government to fashion out credit facilities that can support these SMEs in the tourism industry to improve their marketing capabilities in terms of human resource and product development and promotional activities. The study has also identified that economic and social sustainability practices are low at the tourism destinations. Government and its policy makers can therefore resource institutions such as CHRAJ and Labour Commission to be able to enforce social protection laws and regulations at these TDs to curtail human rights abuses like unfair termination of appointment, low wages, and 203 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh other abuses. The GTA should also relook at its laws through stakeholder engagement with these tourism businesses to help come out with proper revenue management systems that can help the tourism businesses to thrive and perform better in profitability. This can be done through fashioning out revenue sharing formula that retain greater amount of revenue at the TDs for their development, as it has been observed that, some of these TDs are being managed by communities through the committee system. Looking at the potential of the tourism industry and its contribution to GDP, this research makes a case for sustainability management practices to be given attention at the tourism destinations. The study will also help tourism planners to liaise with destination stakeholders to come up with strategies that will enhance sustainable tourism development in the country. It has been identified from the survey that, a lot of sand-winning is going on at the beaches and deforestation activities at most of the forest reserves. Government must therefore equip the Forestry Commission, the Water Resource Commission, and the Wild Life Commission to be able to protect our forest reserves and their resources; which are very central to the sustainability of tourism in the country. It has also been observed that, many of the workers at these TDs have been undertrained. This is due to the fact that, many of these TDs are SMEs and as such; are unable to employ and train highly qualified staff. Therefore, the study recommends to policymakers that, they fashion out regular training programmes for these TD Managers so as to improve their skills and enhance customer service. 204 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 9.4 Conclusions The study concludes that, tourism businesses in Ghana largely fall within the SME bracket. This is because, over 90% of the tourism businesses surveyed employ lower than 100 workers and are largely, privately owned. This means that, if the sector is given the needed attention, it can become an engine of growth and employ a large majority of Ghanaians. The study further concludes that, environmental performance is the best sustainability management practice adhered to at the tourism destinations. This is because environmental performance had the highest mean value after the analysis was conducted. The third conclusion is that, community and visitor orientations predicted sustainability performance most, with all its hypotheses supported. Community predicted social performance most, followed by environmental performance and economic performance (Díaz & Espino-Rodríguez, 2016). This conclusion means that businesses that undertake more community orientation are likely to perform more sustainably. Visitor orientation leads to sustainability performance. Out of the dimensions, visitor orientation predicts environmental sustainability most, followed by economic sustainability and then social sustainability. This implies that when organisations undertake visitor orientation through engaging visitors on sustainability issues, it goes a long way to improve environmental sustainability first and foremost, economic sustainability before social sustainability. Industry orientation to a large extent does not predict sustainability performance. This is because, two of the hypotheses were rejected i.e. industry orientation does not predict or support environmental and economic performances. Industry orientation only predicts social performance. This means that, tourism businesses that engage in industry orientation to a large extent must relook at their strategic direction as their actions do not improve environmental and economic sustainability performance. It also means that industry orientation will reap social performance. Therefore, tourism businesses 205 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh are encouraged to engage their industry players in order to improve social sustainability performance. Competitor orientation to a large extent supports sustainability performance with two dimensions supported, i.e. competitor orientation predicts environmental and economic sustainability. However, competitor orientation does not predict social sustainability. Tourism destination businesses are encouraged to undertake competitor orientation by gathering information from their competitors in order to improve environmental and economic sustainability. It is advisable for tourism businesses undertaking competitor orientation with the aim of improving social performance to revisit their strategy since as it is in its current state could not improve social sustainability performance. The last but not least conclusion is that ecological regulation significantly impacts positively on sustainability performance as has been asserted other scholarly findings (Akram et al., 2019). However, political regulation does not impact sustainability performance. This implies that, StMO alone is not enough to support sustainability. However, ecological regulation by ecological institutions is needed to strengthen SP. However, political regulations that are applied to improve sustainability performance needs to be revisited as they are not providing effective regulation thus institutions like GTA must revisit its regulations that are used for these tourism businesses with regards to SP. 9.5 Research Limitations and Directions for Future Research This research cannot be said to have exhausted in every aspect of the subject area under study. As a result, it is bound to have some limitations. Limitations are not to make the study weak but to rather strengthen it by outlining the major shortcomings that might be of interest to future scholars 206 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh (Mariani & Baggio, 2020). As much as the study has made some humble contributions to existing literature on StMO and SP, it is important to identify some limitations which might be associated with the current study. In the first place, the research surveyed tourism business owners and managers in collecting key empirical data. The limitation of using key informants has been documented in organisational related studies and this study recognises similar conditions (Kim & Daniel, 2020). As much as the respondents for the research questions were qualified, the ability to contact more than one respondent would have improved and given more insight into the topic under study (Nunan, Birks & Malhotra, 2020). Due to this limitation, it is difficult to come out with informant bias that may occur as a result of the rating of the various scales measuring the items. For example, measuring the independent variables, the study depended on the manager’s perception of sustainability performance at tourism destinations. However, it is the hope of the researcher that responses provided by the respondents who happen to be the managers or owners of the sampled tourism businesses are true and actual reflections of their business operations. Another methodological limitation is that the research was conducted on a relatively large sample (n=313). However, this does not cover all the tourism businesses in Ghana and the responses were collected at one time (cross sectional). Undertaking a longitudinal study could have validated the responses of the owners over time hence, minimise owner response biases. More so, the study adopted a non-probability sampling technique (convenient sampling). Even though convenient sampling is quite suitable for the research aimed at testing theories, care must be taken when generalising the results of this study. Another related limitation is the variables used in the conceptual model. As much as the variables used in the conceptual framework might have been comprehensive and meets the demand of the current study, there could have been other variables 207 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh which if incorporated into the framework could enhance the generalizability of the results as much as possible. The findings from the study coupled with the limitations stated above suggest that there is a need for a further research with regards to the current study. To legitimately propose future research directions, one needs to reflect on the literature review section of this study. In the first place, key topical issues and themes used in StMO and SP research, it could be identified that, there is little works done on the challenges, enterprises space in undertaking sustainability management practices and also determine to what extent sustainability practices are helping the business to achieve other outcome variables such as customer satisfaction, revisit intentions, and increase in profitability. Furthermore, examining the literature, there is paucity of studies on mixed and qualitative works on the subject area. It is therefore prudent for future researchers to look at qualitative and mixed methods in studying StMO and SP. Adopting the case studies approach can provide in-depth information about how tourism businesses engage stakeholders to improve SP. It was also realised that, issues on how sustainability performance outcomes are communicated to the public to enhance the image of these businesses have not been outlined in literature. Future research should therefore look at how and which specific communication tools will be more relevant in handling favourable sustainability outcomes in order to get the needed attention from the public. Context gaps have also been identified in the StMO-SP research where more studies were focused in manufacturing companies and developed economies. Future research should look at studying the subject matter in other service sectors such as health, telecommunications, banking, insurance and education in emerging economies like Ghana. These will help in identifying similarities and 208 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh differences in StMO adoption and SP studies in advanced and developing economies as well as in manufacturing and services sectors. Further studies should be conducted research on the Visitors’ perspective on SP at TDs. Customers or tourists’ perspective of sustainability performance was not the focus of this study. 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Total Quality Management and Business Excellence, 16(8–9), 1041– 1052. https://doi.org/10.1080/14783360500163243 245 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 246 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh APPENDICES Methodology for the Review Focusing on this study and its principal purpose, a documentation of literature was carried out by probing how the various articles used in the research are distributed across some relevant journals. This was done in order to provide evidence of the current state of study. The researcher began by looking at mainly articles in academic journals on market orientation, stakeholder scope as well as those related to sustainability performance. The study first chose to limit the review of literature to articles published in academic journals because these can be considered validated knowledge and are likely to have the highest impact in the field (Tahai and Meyer, 1999; Podsakoff et al., 2005). Furthermore, the review also looked at the scope description in the Business Source Premier database. After weighing information on quality and impact, topical appropriateness and empirical orientation, the study selected some key journals as a basis for the review. The relevant journals were solicited by searching seven online databases including Google Scholar, SAGE, Emerald, Wiley Online Library, EBSCOhost, Taylor and Francis, and Science Direct. Other relevant journals were also consulted based on some article recommendations. To the extent that practice is the root of business management (Bowman et al., 2002; Pettigrew et al., 2002), some practitioner-oriented journals were also considered. However, essays and theses were not included in the study. 247 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Table A1: Summary of Empirical Literature Sources and Year of Publication* Peer Reviewed ≤2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 Total Journal Articles Business x xx x 4 Strategy & the Environment Conservation & x 1 Management of Archaeological Sites Journal of x 1 Healthcare Management Strategic xx x 3 Management Journal European x 1 Journal of Marketing Journal of x x x 3 Sustainable Tourism International x 1 Journal of Hospitality Management Sustainability x x x 3 Journal Political Studies x 1 Journal of x 1 outdoor recreation and tourism Journal of x 1 Economics & Management Strategy Journal of x xx 3 Cleaner Production Public Choice x 1 British Journal x 1 of Management Journal of x x 2 Business Research Journal of x 1 Business Venturing Greener x 1 Management International 248 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Journal of x 1 Convention & Event Tourism Journal of x 1 Business Ethics Academy of x 1 Management Journal International x 1 Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education Management of x 1 Environmental Quality California x 1 Management Review Journal of x 1 Cleaner Production Sustainable x 1 Development Social x 1 Responsibility Journal Journal of x 1 Purchasing and Supply Management Academia x 1 Revista Latinoamericana de Administración Procedia x 1 Manufacturing Journal of x 1 Cultural Heritage OJBM x 1 Journal of x 1 Tourism Research Management x 1 Research Review Organization & x 1 Environment Journal of x 1 Travel Research OVERALL 14 0 3 3 1 3 4 7 5 4 1 47 TOTAL 249 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Table A2: Summary of Conceptual Literature Sources and Year of Publication* Peer Reviewed ≤2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 Total Journal Articles Organization & x 1 Environment Palermo Business x 1 Review Journal of Cleaner x x 2 Production European Journal x 1 of Social Sciences Studies Journal of x 1 Corporate Citizenship Journal of Strategic x 1 Marketing Management x 1 Research Review Total Quality x 1 Management and Business Excellence Business strategy x 1 and the environment Society and x 1 Economy . Journal of the x 1 Academy of Marketing Science AMS x 1 Journal of Public x 1 Policy & Marketing Journal of x 1 Macromarketing Journal of x 1 Sustainable Tourism Journal of Destination Marketing & Management OVERALL 5 3 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 3 0 16 TOTAL 250 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Table A3: Mapping of Empirical and Conceptual Literature Sources and Databases Scheduled Mapping of Empirical and Conceptual Literature Sources and their Databases* Sage Wiley Taylor Jstor- Academia Online and Palermo Esbcohost Science Emerald MDPI Oapu Scirp spinger Total Library Francis direct insight b.org Peer Reviewed Journal Articles Business Strategy & the xxxx 4 Environment Conservation & Management of x 1 Archaeological Sites Journal of Healthcare Management x 1 Strategic Management Journal xxx 3 European Journal of Marketing x 1 Journal of Sustainable Tourism xxxx 4 International Journal of Hospitality x 1 Management Sustainability Journal xxx 3 Political Studies x 1 Journal of outdoor recreation and x 1 tourism Journal of Economics & x 1 Management Strategy Journal of Cleaner Production xxxxx 5 Public Choice x 1 British Journal of Management x 1 Journal of Business Research xx 2 Journal of Business Venturing x 1 Greener Management International x 1 Journal of Convention & Event x 1 Tourism Journal of Business Ethics x 1 Academy of Management Journal x 1 International Journal of x 1 Sustainability in Higher Education Management of Environmental x 1 Quality California Management Review x 1 Journal of Cleaner Production x 1 Sustainable Development x 1 Social Responsibility Journal x 1 Journal of Purchasing and Supply x 1 Management Academia Revista Latinoamericana x 1 de Administración Procedia Manufacturing x 1 Journal of Cultural Heritage x 1 OJBM x 1 Journal of Tourism Research x 1 Management Research Review xx 2 Organization & Environment xx 2 Journal of Travel Research x 1 Palermo Business Review x 1 European Journal of Social x 1 Sciences Studies Journal of Corporate Citizenship x 1 Journal of Strategic Marketing x 1 Total Quality Management and x 1 Business Excellence Society and Economy x 1 Journal of the Academy of x 1 Marketing Science AMS x 1 Journal of Public Policy & x 1 Marketing Journal of Macromarketing x 1 Journal of Destination Marketing & x 1 Management OVERALL TOTAL 8 10 8 1 3 14 7 3 1 1 6 1 63 251 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Table A4: Mapping of Issues, Country/Methods/Level of Analysis and Theory/Models Author/s and Year Focus/Issues Country/ Method Theory/Models/Co and Level of ncepts Analysis Goodman et al. To examine how diverse 13 countries in Stakeholder Theory (2017) stakeholders, bring different Europe level of pressure to contribute to Qualitative firm innovation. meta Jansson et al. (2017) To examine the relationships Sweden Market and between two common strategic Quantitative Entrepreneurial orientations, market Macro orientations Concepts Bruku (2015) To explore how the community Ghana Qualitative- Community engagement is used as a case study engagement strategic tool to preserve the Micro concept heritage sites Elmina castle Ginn (2006) The purpose of this study is to USA Institutional and examine how community Quantitative dependence orientation and strategic Meso theories flexibility affect accounting measures of financial performance in acute care hospitals. Hillman et al. (1999) To examine firm’s political USA Resource relation with government and its Quantitative dependency theory impact on firm outcomes Macro Pekovic & Rolland To develop a better theoretical France Contingency theory (2016) and empirical understanding of Quantitative causal and contextual Macro mechanisms explaining the relationship between customer orientation and business performance. Mensah & Blankson To explore the factors that Ghana Resource based (2013) account for the environmental Quantitative theory performance of hotels in the Meso special context of a developing country, Ghana. It also examined the socio-demographic characteristics of managers and organizational characteristics that determine the environmental performance of Ghanaian hotels 252 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Erdogan & Tosun To explore the nature of Turkey (2009) environmental performance of Quantitative tourism Meso accommodations in Goreme Historical National Park Rodríguez Díaz & To explore the key factors in Spain Stakeholder theory Espino Rodríguez achieving the sustainability Quantitative (2016) performance of at tourism Macro destination Duanmu & Pittman To examine the China Institutional theory (2018) relationship between firms’ Quantitative competitive strategy and their Macro response to heightened market competition Ghosh (2010) To examine the impact of India Selectorate theory political competition on state- Quantitative of political survival level income and fiscal Macro and economic variables theory of competition Cobbinah et al.(2017) To explore the outcome of Ghana N/A ecotourism in local communities Qualitative adjacent to Ghana's foremost Micro and most popular ecotourism destination–the Kakum Conservation Area – and its influence on the relationship between local residents and park officials. Fernández‐Kranz & To examine the link between Spain Altruistic and Santaló (2010) competition and firms’ social Quantitative strategic theories performance Meso Panwar et al. (2016) To explored whether a USA Porter’s generic Quantitative strategic orientation firm's choice of competitive Macro concept strategy is associated with its level of environmental or community engagement Padovano & Ricciuti To establish the relationship Italy Theory of political (2009) between political competition Quantitative competition and and economic performance Meso performance Graafland (2016) To explore the relationships European countries Slack resource between the intensity of price Quantitative theory, Neo- competition, time horizon and Meta classical economic environmental performance theory, stakeholder theory Tang & Tang (2018) To examine comprehensively China Integration of how Chinese SMEs, interact Quantitative Complexity science with multiple stakeholders Meso and stakeholder simultaneously to shape their management theory environmental performance. Lee et al. (2020) To employ social sustainability Malaysia Resource based as a strategic resource in Quantitative view Meso 253 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh achieving competitive advantage within organizations Bal et al. (2013) To examine the processes for UK stakeholder theory engaging stakeholders in Qualitative construction projects Tang & Tang (2012) To explore stakeholder firm China Stakeholder power power difference, i.e., the net Quantitative theory difference between a Meso stakeholder's power over a firm and a firm's countering power to this stakeholder, which determines the extent to which the stakeholder is able to pressure firms to engage in environmental activities Schlange et al. To explore how sustainability- Switzerland Stakeholder theory (2009) driven entrepreneurs perceive Qualitative their stakeholder Micro Relationships. Danso et al. (2019) To explore how stakeholder Ghana Stakeholder theory, integration can stimulate Quantitative resource financial performance by Macro dependence, prompting organizations to ecocentric, value creation and value destructive theories Andersson & Getz To explore the extent to which Sweden Stakeholders, (2008) festivals can function as Quantitative resource sustainable attractions, while Meso dependence and fulfilling their social and institutional cultural roles at the community theories level. De Madariaga & To explore the managerial Spain Theory building Valor (2007) aspects of the relationship with Qualitative stakeholders, under the Macro assumption that transfer of knowledge is being made from relationship and market orientation perspective Kassinis & Vafeas To investigate the relationship USA Resource (2006) between stakeholder pressures Quantitative dependence theory and firm environmental macro performance Dabija et al. (2017) To aim to evaluate the Romania Stakeholder perception that different Quantitative orientation stakeholder groups have of one Micro of the largest and most important Romanian university with respect to its sustainability orientation Mensah (2014) To examine the extent to which Ghana Stakeholder theory primary and secondary Quantitative stakeholders influence the Meso environmental performance of hotels in Accra and whether size 254 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Tseng et al. (2019) To explore how Strategic Taiwan Strategic orientation (SO) customer Quantitative- marketing and orientation, competitor dynamic capability orientation, and technology theory orientation) influences the (environmental innovation capability) EIC and environmental sustainability performance in the context of buyer-supplier relationships. In addition, this study examines the impact of inter-functional coordination on SO and also explores the moderating role of buyers’ value added in the relationship between SO and EIC Peloza et al. (2012) To examine stakeholders’ perceptions of the sustainability Mixed method activities of firms, and compare Micro that perception with the reality of a firm’s investment in sustainability. Gabzdylova et al. To investigate various Stakeholder theory (2009) sustainability issues in the New New Zealand Zealand wine industry. Namely, Mixed method the study examines (1) what Meso drives the industry to engage in sustainability practices, (2) the role of stakeholders in the company’s decision-making, and (3) environmental practices related to water utilization, chemicals and waste management Timur & Getz (2009) To examine the concept of USA N/A sustainable tourism Mixed development in urban Macro destinations De Mendonca & To empirically examines the USA Institutional theory Zhou (2019) effects of companies' Quantitative environmental orientation on Macro their long‐run financial performance. It also examines the mediating roles of environmental legitimacy and environmental performance. Wang et al. (2018) To investigates the factors China Slack resource driving firms’ corporate Quantitative theory philanthropy (CP) behaviour Meso from a community perspective Cha et al. (2019) To explore the relationship USA Upper echelon and between a chief executive Quantitative stakeholder theories officer (CEO)’s personal engagement in broader societal causes (CEO civic engagement) 255 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh and firm’s social and environmental performance. . Reuter et al. (2012) To examine the direct effects of Germany Concept of triple shareholder, public, and Quantitative bottom-line customer orientation on the macro evaluation of the outlined-trade off; and investigates the indirect effects by introducing the formalization of ethical culture as a mediating variable to assess the impact of the three kinds of shareholder orientation on the propensity to select suppliers based on their performance in terms of social and environmental criteria as well as cost performance. Komarac et al. (2017) To explore the current role of 7Ps model competition as one of the Qualitative neglected aspects of museum Croatia marketing management and Meso discover whether museum professionals consider museums to be market immune and to find out what they think about the role of competition in creating and managing their existing and new services. Awan et al. (2017) To examine the relationship Pakistan Stakeholder and between stakeholder pressure Quantitative resource-based and adoption of sustainable view theories supply chain practices and impact on sustainability performance Oluwatoyin et al. Determine if there is a Nigeria (2018) significant relationship between Quantitative market orientation and Meso performance of hotels in Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria. 2) Ascertain if the size of a hotel affects market orientation practices in Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria. 3) Examine if the age of a hotel affects market orientation practices in Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria Line &Wang (2017) The purpose of this research is USA Stakeholder theory to propose and operationalize a Quantitative conceptualization of the market Meso orientation construct within the specific context of the destination marketing environment. 256 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Green et al. (2015) To assess the impact of an USA Resource advantage established market orientation Quantitative theory on the implementation of green Meso supply chain practices and environmental performance. Murillo‐Luna et al. To investigates the relationship Spain N/A (2008) between the efforts of firms to Quantitative protect the natural environment Meso and the demands of environmental sustainability they receive from stakeholder groups. Roberts & Tribe To develop of sustainability Tobago (2008) indicators which could be Qualitative applied across a range of small tourism firms and which would provide a systematic framework by which STEs’ contribution to STD could be assessed. The indicators selected and developed in this study takes a multi-sectoral approach so that equal consideration is given to the environmental, economic, socio-cultural and management dimensions of STD Rawhouser et al. To use innovation management Stakeholder theory (2018) theoretical lens to compare USA and closed and stakeholder engagement and Mixed crowed sourced standards developed in two carbon markets: The Climate Action Reserve and the U.N.’s Clean Development Mechanism Polo Pena et al. To ascertain the importance of Spain MO Concept (2013) market orientation as a business Quantitative strategy within the rural tourism sector. 257 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Table A5: List of Articles used for Literature Review* No. Author No. Author 1 Andersson & Getz (2008) 33 Line & Wang (2017) 2 Ashwin & Hirst (2015) 34 Mensah & Blankson (2013) 3 Awan et al. (2017) 35 Mensah (2014) 4 Bal et al. (2013) 36 Mitchell et al. (2010) 5 Bruku (2015) 37 Murillo‐Luna et al. (2008) 6 Camarero et al. (2015) 38 Nkamnebe (2011) 7 Cha et al. (2019) 39 Oluwatoyin et al. (2018) 8 Chabowski et al. (2011) 40 Padovano & Ricciuti (2009) 9 Cobbinah et al. (2017) 41 Panwar et al. (2016) 10 Crittenden et al. (2011) 42 Pekovic & Rolland (2016) 11 Dabija et al. (2017) 43 Peloza et al. (2012) 12 Danso et al. (2019) 44 Perrini & Tencati (2006) 13 De Madariaga & Valor (2007) 45 Polo Pena et al. (2013) 14 De Mendonca & Zhou (2019) 46 Pushpakumara et al. (2019) 15 Duanmu & Pittman (2018) 47 Rawhouser et al. (2018) 16 Erdogan & Tosun (2009) 48 Reuter et al. (2012) 17 Fernández‐Kranz & Santaló (2010) 49 Roberts et al., (2008) 18 Ferrell et al. (2010) 50 Rodríguez Díaz & Espino Rodríguez (2016) 19 Font & McCabe (2017) 51 Schaltegger (2011). 20 Gabzdylova et al. (2009) 52 Schaltegger et al. (2019) 21 Ghosh (2010) 53 Schlange et al. (2009) 22 Ginn (2006) 54 Roberts & Tribe (2008) 23 Goodman et al. (2017) 55 Silva et al. (2019) 24 Graafland (2016) 56 Sloan (2009) 25 Green et al. (2015) 57 Stone (2012) 26 Heikkurinen & Bonnedahl (2013) 58 Tang & Tang (2012) 27 Hillman et al. (1999) 59 Tang & Tang (2018) 28 Jansson et al. (2017) 60 Timur & Getz (2009) 29 Kassinis & Vafeas (2006) 61 Tseng et al. (2019) 30 Komarac et al. (2017) 62 Wang et al. (2018) 31 Kumar et al. (2016) 63 Zink (2005) 32 Lee et al. (2020) 258 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh A6: Introduction Letter from the Department of Marketing and Entrepreneurship 259 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh A7: Ethical Clearance from the Ethics Committee for the Humanities (ECH) 260 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh QUESTIONNAIRE This questionnaire is designed to examine stakeholder market orientation and sustainability performance in your tourism destination. This survey is purely for academic purposes and as such any information provided would be managed with absolute confidentiality. Kindly note that, there are no right or wrong answers, and the researcher would appreciate if the responses would depict as much as possible what entails in reality. Section A: General Information 1. How long has the business been in operation? ………………………….. 2. Type of Business: State [ ] Private [ ] 3. Your business operation: Beach Resort [ ] Forest Reserve [ ] Castle and Forts [ ] Water fall [ ] Mountain hiking [ ] Others, …………………………… 4. Function/Role: CEO/Gen. Manager [ ] Operations [ ] Marketing [ ] Others [ ] 5. Number of employees in your organisation: ………………… 6. Number of males ………. Number of Females: ……………………. 7. Location of Destination: 8. District……………………………… 9. Region: ……………………………. Section B Please indicate the extent to which you agree or disagree with the following statements below. Tick the appropriate number on the Likert scale 1 to 5, with 1 = Strongly Disagree (SD); 2 = Disagree (D); 3 = Neutral (N); 4 = Agree (A); 5 = Strongly Agree (SA) 261 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh STAKEHOLDER MARKET ORIENTATION 1 2 3 4 5 SD D N A S A Competitor Orientation 1 Our destination obtains information from other destinations in order to implement strategy on environmental sustainability performance 2 Our destination searches for information from other destinations to set prices for our products/services 3 In supporting the communities surrounding our destination, we examine activities that other destinations are doing for their communities 4 Our destination searches for information from other destinations to determine appropriate remuneration and working conditions for our workers. 5 Our destination closely monitors wise use of water of other destinations 6 Our destinations gather information on waste management strategy of other destinations 7 Our destination searches for information on how other destinations are implementing afforestation projects Industry Orientation 8 We get information from our partners like hotels, tour operators or restaurants as to how to use water wisely 9 We give information to our partners such as hotels and restaurants to keep destination clean 10 We collect information from our partners like hotels, tour operators and restaurants/food joints to influence how we set prices of products. 11 Our partners like the restaurants, hotels and tour operators/ transport owners support us or give us information as to how to support the communities around us. 12 We regularly meet with our industry partners to deliberate on how best to serve our visitors. 13 We constantly meet with our industry partners to deliberate on how to minimise pollution of the air at the destination 14 We mostly meet with our industry partners like hotels and tour operators with regards to how to protect the forest, animals and water bodies at the destination 15 We mostly consult our industry partners any time we want to support our local community 262 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 16 We mostly advise our industry partners to use local products in serving our visitors Visitor/Group Travel Orientation 17 Our managers seek information about visitor needs in order to set our strategic objectives 18 Visitors’ complaints are taken seriously and responded to swiftly. 19 Visitors are advised to keep the destination clean and not do things that will endanger the environment. 20 Visitors are normally asked to appreciate the culture of the local community 21 Our destination offers prices that are affordable to visitors 22 We encourage our visitors to enjoy the music/drama of our local community. 23 We encourage our visitors to patronise locally produced food Community Orientation 24 Our business supports the local community in various social initiatives e.g. Education, sanitation 25 Our business engages the local community to promote its cultural heritage through music, drama etc. 26 The business uses the local produce to prepare its food and other services 27 The business train its staff to have cordial relationship with members of the local community 28 Our destination liaises with the local people to stop burning the destination’s land 29 Our business appoints key members of the community on boards STATE REGULATION ON SUSTAINABILITY PERFORMANCE AT TOURISM DESTINATIONS Political regulations 30 The state regulates our business in terms of the fees charged 31 The state provides standards within which our business operates 32 There are state institutions that provide training for our staff regarding tourism issues 33 Our business inputs concerns from tourism regulators in making business decisions. 34 There are laws regarding compliance with the minimum wage payments for employees 35 There are laws regulating the provision of certain services at destinations 263 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 36 There are laws regarding safety and security standards at the destination Ecological regulations 37 Our business engages the services of the Fire Service to educate the local community about causes and effects of bush fires 38 Our destination engages the services of the Forestry Commission to improve and protect the vegetation 39 There are laws regarding the protection of water bodies at the destination 40 There are laws regarding forest preservation at the destination 41 There are laws regarding the protection of animals at destinations 42 There are laws regulating the disposal of litter at destinations 43 There are laws governing the disposal of liquid & solid waste at destinations in Ghana 44 There are regulations governing the separation of waste at destinations in Ghana 45 There are laws regarding air pollution at destinations in Ghana 46 There are laws regulating noise pollution at destinations in Ghana 47 There are laws preventing mining and sand winning from the destination SUSTAINABILITY PERFORMANCE Environmental Sustainability Performance 48 We implement deliberate action to reduce pollution levels 49 Our business environment is consistently clean 50 We collect waste in designated waste bins for recycle 51 There is proper management of liquid waste 52 There are safety precautions to prevent environmental accidents 53 Preservation of biodiversity (trees, water and animals) is a priority 54 We are subject to environmental assessment agencies 55 There is water and energy conservation plan for our destination Social Sustainability Performance 56 We support community-based activities 57 We allow free access to locals who do not pose threats to the business 58 We partner with local and national security forces to protect tourists 59 We engage cultural troupes to entertain tourists occasionally 60 We promote the patronage of indigenous foods 61 We encourage locals to sell locally-made products Economic Sustainability Performance 264 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 62 There is an increase in visitor numbers 63 Visitor spending is progressive 64 Employees are satisfied with conditions of service 65 Majority of our workers are locals 66 Our destination supports the growth of local businesses 67 The livelihood of the local people depends on our destination Thank you for taking time to complete this questionnaire 265 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 266 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 267