Strategic Nudging for Sustainable Tourism: A Game-Theoretic Model with Shapley Value Analysis

Abstract

This study investigates how nudge strategies infulence tourists' decision-making processes and hotel preferences within the context of sustainable tourism. The study also examines the role of factors such as tourist characteristics, preference probabilities, hotel selection trends, and price sensitivity in shaping eco-friendly hotel preferences within the framework of game-theoretic framework. This study uses a simulation-based dataset constructed by considering parameter ranges reported in existing literature. The literature-based dataset includes variables such as tourist profile (age, income, education level), sustainability awareness, preference for eco-friendly hotels, price range, and responses to nudge strategies. The model integrates game theory with simulation techniques to analyze the interaction between tourists and hotels. The Shapley value method is used to measure the contribution of each nudge strategy to the overall system. The findings revealed that the discount nudge strategy had the greatest impact on encouraging tourists to adopt sustainable behaviors, while the information nudge strategy had the least impact. The results indicate that social norms may play a critical role in shaping long- term collective behavior. The study contributes by providing a comparative evaluation of nudge strategies and offering strategic and policy-relevant insights for promoting sustainable tourism.