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Tourism Management Perspectives 11 (2014) 5157

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Tourism Management Perspectives

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/tmp

An exploration of the motivations for volunteering: A study of

international volunteer tourists to Ghana
Felix Elvis Otoo , Francis Eric Amuquandoh
Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 15 February 2014
Received in revised form 25 March 2014
Accepted 3 April 2014
Available online xxxx
Keywords:
Altruism
Motivation
Ghana
Pull-push
Volunteer tourists

a b s t r a c t
Many issues surrounding the motivations of volunteer tourists to developing countries remain unresolved.
This paper investigates the motives of volunteer tourists to Ghana. A survey was undertaken of 410 volunteer
tourists in Ghana and the results indicate that three key motivations: (altruism and learning, philanthropy,
and socialization), inuence the decision to volunteer in Ghana. However, for international volunteerism in
Ghana, the main motivation is that of altruism and learning. Differences were found among the volunteer tourists
due to past travel experience including duration of past trips, education, past volunteer activity and the amount
of money committed to volunteering in Ghana.
2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
The concept of volunteer tourism has seen growth in the past few
decades because of its emphasis on helping alleviate the needs of others.
Volunteer tourism occurs in various forms including travelling for
internship (Billig & Root, 2006; Bringle & Hatcher, 2011; Simons &
Cleary, 2005), study tour (Haloburdo & Thompson, 1998; Heron,
2005), international gap year (Lyons, Hanley, Wearing, & Neil, 2012),
student exchange programs (Lyons & Wearing, 2008), charity work,
service-learning programs (Yates & Youniss, 1998) and career break
(Gilmour & Saunders, 1995). Irrespective of the forms volunteer tourism
takes, motivations are crucial for travel.
Over the decade, Ghana has been a key recipient of international
volunteer tourists (Novelli, 2005; Tomazos & Butler, 2009). Statistical
evidence of the subject however remains scanty even from government
sources. Authors including Boakye (2012) observe that international
students often travel to the villages in Ghana for voluntary work.
There is however little empirical evidence to explain the motivations
of these volunteers to the country.
Besides, researchers have varying conclusions regarding the issue of
volunteer motivation. Brown and Lehto (2005) equally argue that no
single motivational theory has yet fully connected with the hard facts
of volunteer motivation consistently and with results that can be replicated. Harrison (2003) similarly noted that while the motivation to travel for mainstream travellers is the same, specic market segments such
Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: felixotoo@gmail.com (F.E. Otoo), amuquandoh@yahoo.co.uk
(F.E. Amuquandoh).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tmp.2014.04.001
2211-9736/ 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

as volunteer tourism lack such common motivation. Though general literature tends to support the notion that volunteers have a helping disposition towards host communities, emerging studies seem to suggest
that the nature of volunteer tourism is more about the gains made by
the volunteers rather than those being helped. Gilllan (2006) and
Simpson (2004) highlight that benets to host organizations and communities are less clear particularly as volunteers become the focus rather
than host communities. Dumlie, Kunze, Pankhurst, Potter, and Van
Bruaene (2006) also hold the view that short-term placements may be
less cost-effective and may interrupt continuity of service. Smith
(1981) suggests that volunteering is essentially motivated by the expectation of psychic benets of some kind as a result of activities that have a
market value greater than any remuneration received for such activities.
This paper is a response to calls for more empirical examination of
the motivations of volunteer tourists using a large-scale survey
(Brown & Lehto, 2005; Chen & Chen, 2011). Sufce to say, it is only in
understanding volunteers motivations that satisfaction, longer stay
and repeat visit can be guaranteed. This study therefore explores the
motivation of volunteer tourists to Ghana.
1.1. Context of the study
There is an important body of research dealing with the motives and
desires of tourists as well as their planning procedures. Nonetheless,
Fodness (1994) has stated that empirical research concerning the
motives of tourists is an important area in tourism that has yielded
few existing results. Similarly, Kozak (2001) also rationalize that it is imperative for empirical examination of tourist motivation to be undertaken, since this will help to identify the attributes that are to be promoted,

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F.E. Otoo, F.E. Amuquandoh / Tourism Management Perspectives 11 (2014) 5157

so as to match tourist motivations, or identify markets in which tourist

motivations and destination features and resources match. As stated
by Moscardo, Morrison, Pearce, Lang, and O'Leary (1996), analyzing
motivation and activities is important in understanding choice of
destinations. This understanding will enable destinations enhance
their image (Beerli & Martin, 2004; Trauer & Ryan, 2005) and increase
satisfaction and loyalty (Yoon & Uysal, 2005).
More specically, Zhang and Marcussen (2007) have stated that
understanding the perceptions and motivations of volunteer tourists is
principal for retaining these volunteers. The retention, in their opinion,
will inuence destination choice and image, and its interplay with
tourist satisfaction and loyalty (Yoon & Uysal, 2005). Equally, Rose and
Vitartas (2007) have studied that when volunteers perceive that their
motivations for wanting to volunteer are matched by the benets they
are gaining, the outcome of volunteering is more positive and satisfying.
Subsequently, the motivation of volunteer tourists has an inuential
role in their decision and enjoyment of Ghana as a destination.

these functions relates to satisfaction with volunteer activities. Stoddart

and Rogerson (2004), however, point out that motivations of volunteer
tourists differ from the escapist travel motives of non-volunteer tourists,
and do not generally pursue the typical international tourist itinerary.
Soderman and Snead (2008) found a variety of motivational factors,
including helping others, developing careers and learning skills. Stoddart
and Rogerson (2004) also found that the volunteer tourists were
motivated to develop skills and relationships with other people, as well
as to travel to a unique destination.
The commonly accepted terminologies for motivation in volunteer
tourism are altruism, travel and adventure, personal growth, cultural
exchange and learning, professional development, right time and
place, and the individual program itself (Wearing, 2001). Pearce and
Lee (2005) however caution that people may start with a different
type of travel motivation which may shift over travel experience and
life stages. Thus, it is conceivable that other factors including travel
experience may have a strong interaction effect on travel motivation
and intention (Lee, 2011).

1.2. Motivations of volunteer tourists

Though a plethora of motivations exists for volunteering, two main
motivations of volunteering are identied in the literature (Brown &
Morrison, 2003; Bussell & Forbes, 2002; Simpson, 2004). In its basic
form, volunteering has been explained as people wanting to help others.
This motive has been described as an altruistic motive. The volunteer in
this regard partakes in the placement for seless reasons and the desire
to help others in need of their services. However, there has also been
signicant research which suggests that although altruism may be
present in many types of volunteering, there is a second broad group
of egotistic factors (for example Hibbert, Piacentini, & Al Dajan, 2003).
That is, by the benets volunteers receive from being involved in the
placement such as career development, and strengthening relationship
with friends and families. Smith, Macauley, and Associates (1980)
challenge the notion of altruism suggesting that volunteers are motivated
solely by their own interests rather than any form of altruism.
Rehberg (2005) supports the view that volunteering motivations are
multifaceted in that they occur in combination with each other rather
than in isolation. Brown and Lehto (2005) found that volunteer tourists
have four main motives: cultural immersion; giving back and making a
difference; seeking camaraderie with fellow volunteers; and family
bonding and education. In their study, participants wanted immersion
in the local culture in hopes that it would lead to connections with the
local people. According to these researchers, the immersion led to
relationships with the hosts for some participants. Giving back and
making a difference were the only motives that did not seem the tourist
expected something in return. To the researchers, giving back and
making a difference gave the volunteer tourist a sense of purpose.
Gilmour and Saunders (1995) also identied that people volunteer
to take a break from the routine of their lives, to see countries with
someone who knows how the country and its ecosystems work, to be
active, to widen their horizons and to do something different, rather
than a passive holiday which might focus on lying around on beaches.
In the United States, Yates and Youniss (1998) aver that volunteering
through service-learning programs and education courses serve as processed educational experiences and, therefore, broadens ones horizons.
Clary et al. (1998) also suggested six broad functions served by
volunteering. These are the opportunities to express ones values
related to altruistic and humanitarian concerns for others (Values),
opportunities for new learning experiences, and to exercise ones
knowledge, skills, and abilities (Understanding), opportunities to be
with ones friends or to engage in an activity viewed favorably by others
(Social), experiences that may be obtained from participation in volunteer
work (Career), reduced guilt over being more fortunate than others
and addressing ones own personal problems (Protective), and the
egos growth and development (Enhancement). Clary et al. (1998)
suggest that the extent to which the volunteering experiences fulll

1.3. Conceptual framework

As part of the effort to identify the factors that inuence volunteer
tourists decision to volunteer their services in Ghana, a number of
theories and models were reviewed. After an assessment of the
strengths and weaknesses of various models including the theory
of reasoned action (Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975), theory of planed behaviour
(Ajzen, 1991), push-pull theory (Crompton, 1979), social movement
theory (McGehee, 2002), optimal arousal theory (Iso-Ahola, 1982),
and cost-benet analysis (Handy & Mook, 2011) the researchers
considered the push-pull theory (Crompton, 1979) as a suitable
framework for developing an understanding of volunteer motivation
to Ghana.
In the perspective of tourism, the pushpull model is the decomposition of a tourists choice of destination into two forces. Push motives
have been regarded useful for explaining the desire to go on a vacation
while pull motives have been useful in explaining the choice of destination. Goossens (2000) argues that tourists are pushed away from home
by emotional needs and pulled towards a destination because of the
emotional benets the destination offers.
Wearing (2001) mentions that push factors are the internal and
psychological forces, which leads an individual to seek a volunteer
tourism experience. For the purpose of this study, the push motives
refers to the availability elsewhere of experiences that may not be
found at the generating region. Push motivations appear to benet
the volunteer directly. Such push motivations may include variables
as having a good time and establishing newer relations with host
community and volunteer colleagues. Others include the quest to
be knowledgeable about host culture. These motives reect the
inuence of the destination in stirring volunteer tourists desire to
undertake the travel. Kozak (2001) acknowledges the usefulness of
this concept to model the intangible, intrinsic desires of tourists
who go on vacation.
The second force is of the pull type, a region-specic lure that
draws volunteer tourists towards a destination. This aspect comprises tangible characteristics or attributes of a destination that are
primarily related to the perceived attractiveness of a destination.
From Crompton (1979), these pull factors are inuenced by the destination rather than emerging exclusively from within the traveller
himself. For the purpose of this study, the pull forces depict the opportunities or gaps that necessitate the services of volunteer tourists.
They appear to be the benets volunteers render (or believe they
render) to the host communities or organisations they visit. It includes such variables as opportunity to provide social development,
nancial and material donation, construction of social infrastructure
and teaching in orphanages.

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2. Methodology
The study was based on a random sample of 410 volunteer
tourists in Ghana between June and August, 2012. Thirty-eight
volunteer organisations granted permission for their clients involvement in the study. A list of volunteers was then obtained from these
identied volunteer organisations. Sixty percent of the volunteers
from each organisation were randomly selected for the study. For
volunteers who were not within immediate reach, the questionnaires
were given to their coordinators for delivery and subsequent collection.
This approach helped to reach volunteers regardless of their location in
the country.
Data were collected through the use of questionnaires consisting
of three sections. The rst section focused on the trip characteristics of
volunteer tourists in Ghana. The second module focused on motivations
of volunteer tourists. The motivational elements were measured on a
ve-point Likert scale from 1 = strongly agree to 5 = strongly disagree.
The motivation elements were selected based on earlier studies in
the volunteer tourism literature (Brown & Lehto, 2005; Jonsson &
Devonish, 2008; Palacios, 2010; Raymond & Hall, 2008; Zahra &
McIntosh, 2007). The third section dealing with socio-demographic
characteristics of respondents sought data about country of origin,
age, marital status, and educational attainment.
The questionnaire was pretested on a sample of twenty volunteer
tourists in Cape Coast. This town was selected because it is a leading
tourist destination in Ghana. The pre-test helped the researchers to
assess the viability of the instrument after which the necessary
modications were made. The questionnaires were in English
based on the assumption that most of these volunteer tourists can
read and write in English.
Both the t-test and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) were
performed in order to assess how the motivations of participants
differed across socio-demographic and travel characteristics. The
t-test statistical analysis was employed on socio-demographic variables that were measured along a dichotomous scale. These include
gender (1 = male, 2 = female) and marital status (1 = unmarried,
2 = married). Other characteristics of respondents such as country
of origin, age, and educational level were measured along interval
scale differences using ANOVA.
3. Results of the Research
3.1. Prole of the sample
In all, there were more females (69%) involved in the study than
males (31%). While the age of respondents ranged from 14 years to 56
years, close to half (49%) of the respondents were between the ages of
20 to 29 years. Those below the age of 20 years constituted 45%.
About 7% of the volunteer tourists were above 30 years. The educational
levels of the respondents were notably basic (3.2%), secondary (17%),
university or college (66%) and post graduate (14%). The marital distributions of the respondents were single (92%), married (6.8%), divorced
(1%) and widowed (0.2%). Nearly two-thirds of the volunteers were
students (67.3%).
Europe contributed nearly half (49.5%) of the respondents while
America contributed 156 (38.1%) of volunteers to the country. The
number of volunteer tourists from Africa and Oceania represented
2.2% and 2.4% respectively. Additionally, the average length of stay
of the volunteer tourists was 47.4 days.
3.2. Structure of motivations for volunteering in Ghana
The literature acknowledges that there are varied motivational
factors inuencing the decision to volunteer overseas. To enable
documentation of how these motivations interact to inuence the

53

decision to volunteer in Ghana, factor analysis was employed.

Table 1 presents the results of the factor analysis.
In testing for the suitability of the data for factor analysis, two
statistical measures (Bartletts test of sphericity and the Kaiser-MeyerOlkin (KMO)) were used. Bartletts test of sphericity (2140.796) was
found to be signicant at p = 0.000. According to Pallant (2005),
Bartletts test of sphericity should be signicant (p 0.05) for the factor
analysis to be considered appropriate. Also, the KMO value of 0.891 was
equally signicant above the recommended minimum of 0.6. Based on
the above statistical measures, the use of factor analysis was deemed
appropriate. There were 26 motivational statements subjected to
principal components analysis, using the varimax rotation. Of these,
19 variables with factor loadings above 0.4 were retained.
The results indicate that three factors; altruism and learning motives
(30.6%; alpha = 0.91), philanthropic motives (8.9%; alpha = 0.67) and
socialization motives (6.9%, alpha = 0.62) were the motivational
factors of volunteer tourists to Ghana. These factors collectively
explained 46.2% of the underlying motivations of volunteer tourists
to Ghana.
From Table 1, Factor I which was labelled as altruistic and learning
consisted of 12 items including desire to give back; experience different
cultures, help others, broaden horizon, challenge self, cross-cultural
learning and to know more about the country. With an eigenvalue of
7.96, Factor I accounted for nearly one-third of the motivations of
volunteer tourists to Ghana.
The second factor, labelled as philanthropic motives explained 8.9% of
the motivations of volunteer tourists to Ghana. Factor II (philanthropy)
consisted four items relating to respondents desire to contribute to
alleviating poverty, assist in social development, provide nancial
assistance to host community and supplement the effort of workers
in the host community.
The nal factor was labelled as socialization. This factor was made up
of three variables; to have a good time, strengthen relation with friends,
and work with other volunteers. The factor accounted for 6.7% of the
total variance.
3.3. Motivations of volunteers across socio-demographic characteristics
Table 2 depicts the extent to which the motivations of volunteer
tourists differ across the background groupings of respondents using
ANOVA and t-test. The motivational statements were initially captured
on a ve-point Likert scale but collapsed to a three-point Likert
(1-1.49 = Agree, 1.50- 2.49 = Neutral, 2.50- 3 = Disagree) to
facilitate interpretation of the data.
The result of the t-test revealed that there was no signicant
difference between male and female volunteers in terms of their
altruistic and learning motives (p = 0.81), philanthropic motives
(p = 0.26), and socialization motives (p = 0.53). Both males
(mean = 1.18) and females (mean = 1.17) agreed that altruism
and learning was a key motivational factor for their involvement in
volunteer tourism in Ghana. It was also observed that while males
agreed that they were motivated by philanthropy (mean = 1.47)
as well as socialization (mean = 1.46), their female counterparts
were divided on these motives (mean = 1.53 and 1.50 respectively).
Signicant difference did not exist between the age of respondents
and their motivations. All age categories were found to agree on
altruism and learning motivation while being divided on philanthropy.
However, volunteers below 20 years were more socialization oriented (mean = 1.60) while those between 20 years and 29 years
(mean = 1.50) and above 30 years (mean = 1.52) were uncertain on
this motive.
Like age, no signicant difference was established between
marital status and motivations for volunteering in Ghana. On the
whole, both married (mean = 1.10) and unmarried volunteer tourists
(mean = 1.18) agreed that they were motivated by altruism and
learning. Similarly, the two categories (married (mean = 1.62);

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Table 1
Factors motivating volunteer tourists to Ghana.
Factor

II

III

Variables included in the factor

Factor Loadings

Altruistic and learning (Push)

To give something back
Experience different cultures
Adventure
Challenge oneself
To combine love for travel and giving back
Help others
Broaden horizon
To know more about the country
Learn new skills
Learn new culture and language
Get satised with achievements
Cross-cultural learning
Philanthropy (Pull)
Contribute to alleviating poverty
Aid social development
Financial assistance to community
Supplement the effort of workers
Socialization (Push)
To have a good time
Strengthen relation with friends
Work with other volunteers

0.669
0.793
0.617
0.718
0.680
0.734
0.757
0.622
0.631
0.636
0.526
0.508
0.756
0.511
0.694
0.585
0.656
0.739
0.698

Eigen values

Variance Explained (%)

Cronbachs alpha

7.964

30.6

0.91

2.321

8.9

0.67

1.741

6.7

0.62

Total

46.2

unmarried (mean = 1.51)) were divided on philanthropic motives.

Further look at the mean scores however suggested that in terms
of socialization, while married volunteers were certain on being
motivated by this motive (mean = 1.33), their unmarried counterparts
(mean = 1.50) were uncertain.
Unlike the previous variables, a positive signicant difference
was observed in the philanthropic motives of the respondents in
terms of educational attainment (p = 0.03). Fishers Least Signicant
Difference (LSD) test revealed that while college/ university volunteers
(mean = 1.49) and post graduate volunteers (mean = 1.44) were
divided on philanthropy as their motivation, their counterparts who
had attained basic level education (mean = 1.79) disagreed.

3.4. Motivations of volunteers across trip characteristics

In exploring the difference in the motivations for volunteering
in Ghana across trip characteristics, ANOVA and t-test were used as
presented in Table 3. The motivational statements were measured on
a three-point Likert scale (1-1.49 = Agree, 1.50- 2.49 = Neutral,
2.50- 3 = Disagree).
The result of the t-test revealed that there was a signicant difference
in the socialization motives of volunteers with respect to their travel company (p = 0.00). While volunteers who travelled in the company of
others agreed that they were motivated by socialization (mean = 1.44),
their counterparts who travelled alone were divided (mean = 1.59).

Table 2
Motivations by socio-demographic characteristics.
Background characteristics

Number

Altruism and learning

Philanthropy

Socialization

Gender
Male
Female

126
284

1.1792
1.1705
P = 0 .809

1.4722
1.5308
P = 0 .263

1.4630
1.4965
P = 0 .534

Marital status
Unmarried
Married

382
28

1.1789
1.0952
P = 0 .207

1.5052
1.6161
P = 0 .247

1.4974
1.3333
P = 0 .096

Age
b 20
20-29
N 29

184
199
27

1.1834
1.1738
1.0988
P = 0 .480

1.4918
1.5264
1.5556
P = 0 .706

1.4620
1.5042
1.5185
P = 0 .673

Highest education
Basic
High school
College/ university
Post graduate

13
70
270
57

1.3654
1.1940
1.1710
1.1140
P = 0 .101

1.7885
1.6107
1.4889
1.4430
P = 0. 032

1.4615
1.4333
1.4815
1.5789
P = 0 .430

Continent
Africa
Europe
America
Asia
Oceania

9
203
156
32
10

1.1667
1.1605
1.1656
1.3229
1.0750
P = 0.112

1.2778
1.5049
1.5176
1.6328
1.4250
P = 0 .355

1.3704
1.5090
1.4936
1.4062
1.2667
P = 0 .457

Signicant difference P 0.05.

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55

Table 3
Motivations by trip characteristics.
Background characteristics

Number

Altruism and learning

Philanthropy

Socialization

Travel company
Accompanied
Alone

280
130

1.1670
1.1865
P = 0.586

1.5045
1.5308
P = 0.613

1.4369
1.5923
P = 0.004

Previous volunteer travel

One time
Two plus
First time

183
19
208

1.1981
1.1930
1.1494
P = 0.354

1.5587
1.6842
1.4567

P = 0 .035

1.5428
1.3158
1.4519
P = 0.064

Travel duration
Less than 1 month
1 to 3 months
3 months plus

229
145
36

1.1670
1.1437
1.3310
P = 0.011

1.4956
1.5190
1.5972
P = 0 .502

1.4367
1.5310
1.6204
P = 0 .051

Type of activity
Conservation
Education
Social services
Medical

109
270
117
81

1.1560
1.1988
1.1546
1.2068
P = 0 .524

1.4128
1.5333
1.4017
1.6296
P = 0 .002

1.3945
1.5111
1.4843
1.4486
P = 0 .232

Amount paid ($)

500
500-1500
1500 plus

64
85
141

1.1719
1.2353
1.1212

1.4844
1.5441
1.5071
P = 0.750

1.4844
1.5529
1.4161
P = 0 .103

P = 0.052

Signicant difference P 0.05.

Similarly, the outcome of the ANOVA test revealed signicant

differences in the philanthropic motives of the participants across
their previous volunteer travel exposure (p = 0.04). Fishers LSD
suggests that the philanthropic motives of volunteers who had no
previous volunteer exposure (mean = 1.46) differed from those
who had a one-time exposure to volunteer travel (mean = 1.56).
Statistically signicant differences were also noted in the duration
of visit in terms of respondents altruistic and learning motives as
well as socialization motive. Fishers LSD detected differences in
the altruistic and learning motive of volunteers who spent more
than three months in the country (mean = 1.33) and those who
spent less than one month (mean = 1.17) and between one to three
months (mean = 1.14). Again, for socialization, volunteers who spent
more than three months in the country (mean = 1.42) were found to
differ from those who spent less than a month (mean = 1.62).
The results of the ANOVA test revealed a statistically signicant
difference in the philanthropic motivation of respondents and the type
of volunteer activity undertaken in Ghana (p = 0.00). Fishers LSD test
conrmed that the philanthropic motives of volunteers who engaged in
medical activities (mean = 1.63) differed from those who engaged in
social services (mean = 1.41) and conservation (mean = 1.41).
The ANOVA test again indicated a statistically signicant difference
in the altruistic and learning motives of volunteer tourists and the
amount paid to volunteer in Ghana (p = 0.05). In detecting where the
differences occurred, Fishers LSD test indicated that volunteers who
paid above $1,500 (mean = 1.12) were more motivated by altruistic
and learning motives than those who paid between $500 and $1,500
(mean = 1.24).
4. Discussion
The ndings reported in this paper support the view that volunteer
motivations are multifaceted (Rehberg, 2005). Altruism and learning
is the major factor that pushes individuals to volunteer in Ghana.
Proponents of altruism include Wearing (2001), Blanchard, Rostant,
and Finn (1995) and Esmond (2000). Learning motives have also been
found to be relevant in the study of Ferreira, Proenca, and Proenca
(2012). Though the variables identied as altruism and learning in
this study appear to reect Wearings (2001) cultural exchange and

learning, this paper isolates cultural exchange from altruism as such

exchanges are not essentially altruistic in meaning. For example, the
desire to give back and help others is arguably, not cultural. This study
suggests that altruism goes hand-in-hand with learning as volunteers
also identied such learning motives as learning new skills, learning
new culture and language, knowing more about the country, and
cross-cultural learning.
The result of this study also reveals that providing philanthropic
assistance to host communities is an important pull for volunteering
in Ghana. In developing countries, international volunteer tourists supplement the workforce of host communities by providing humanitarian
services ranging from assisting in social development projects such as
building of schools, markets and healthcare facilities to working in
orphanages. Others provide nancial assistance for needy communities
to be able to undertake needed development. This motive seems to
contradict Sins (2009) argument that volunteer tourists are motivated
more by a desire to travel than by a desire to contribute. Indeed
volunteer tourists have been noted to contribute funding and labour
to host communities (Campbell & Smith, 2006).
There are also pockets of egoistic motives for volunteering in Ghana.
These motives seem to be reected in the fact that volunteer tourists
have need for a good time, socializing with other volunteers, and
working with other volunteers they meet at the destination. Making
inference to Maslows (1943) hierarchy of needs, volunteers have
the desire for belongingness and acceptance into social groups. This
social group may be a class group, family, and the general society
as a whole. On the other hand, volunteer tourists may wish for a
good time during the volunteer experience. Prouteau and Wolff
(2008) and Smith (1998) contend that meeting people and making
friends through volunteering is a very important benet volunteers
associate with their visits. Palacios (2010) has equally indicated that
ability to enjoy extracurricular activities with others facilitates
socialization between volunteers. It is also implied in this study
that the desire for socialization is stronger among volunteers who
travelled in the company of others.
While many researchers concur that women have greater altruistic
motives than men (Backman, Wicks, & Silverberg, 1997; Caldwell &
Andereck, 1994; Trudeau & Devlin, 1996), this notion was absent
in this study. Thus, both sexes had nearly equal rating for the three

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F.E. Otoo, F.E. Amuquandoh / Tourism Management Perspectives 11 (2014) 5157

motivations. Similarly, the notion that age poses an important distinction in the motivation to volunteer (Gillespie & King, 1985) was also
not supported in the ndings of this paper. Respondents below the
age of 29 were observed to have similar rating for their motivation to
volunteer in Ghana as those above 30 years. For example, while all age
categories were uncertain about their philanthropic and socialization
motives, altruism and learning was a shared concern among them.
There was however a slight difference in the mean score of volunteers
socialization motive in relation to their marital status. Thus, married
volunteers were more likely to be motivated by the desire to socialise
than their unmarried counterparts (McIntosh, Goeldner, & Ritchie, 1995).
The results also suggest that while volunteers with post graduate
education saw the need to volunteer for philanthropic reasons, their
counterparts who were in college/university, high school and basic
schools were undecided. This creates a notion that philanthropic
motives for volunteering are more predominant among volunteers
with higher educational attainment. Indeed education has been noted
to inuence certain travel behaviour.
Though signicant differences were not recorded between
volunteers motivation and their place of origin, an interesting
issue emerging from the mean score is what appears to be a strong
obligation among volunteers from so-called lesser developed regions
to volunteer in Ghana. Volunteers from Africa and to an extent Oceania
were certain about being motivated by altruism and learning,
philanthropy and socialization.
In exploring the motivations of volunteers to Ghana, it was evident
that those with no previous volunteer travel exposure had greater
philanthropic motives for engaging in volunteer travel than those with
more than two previous exposures. It is implicit that the desire to aid
the less privilege decreased with increasing travel exposure. Volunteers
motivations appeared to have shifted from a more altruistic orientation
to a more socialization centered motivation. Such argument appears to
correspond to earlier works of Sin (2009). Chen (1998) and Wearing
(2001) also argued that tourists past travel experience inuenced
their decision making behaviour and motivation. Lee (2011) found a
negative moderating effect of past volunteer tourism experience on
motivation toward intended/future participation.
Generally, volunteers who spent less than a month in the country
had greater altruism and learning as well as socialization motives than
those who spent longer duration in the country. This perhaps is an
indication that volunteers who spend shorter duration in the country
have stronger motivation for travelling than those who stay longer.
It was also evident that volunteers who engaged in social services
and conservation were more inclined to volunteer based on philanthropic motives. There were however uncertainty among medical and
educational volunteers regarding this motive. This could have resulted
from the fact that the issues that constituted philanthropy as a motivational factor were more inclined towards social development variables
(example: supplementing the local workforce, social improvement,
contribute to alleviating poverty and providing nancial assistance to
developmental projects).
In terms of the payment, altruism and learning appear to have
inuenced the amount paid to volunteer in Ghana. It is suggested in
this study that volunteers who are motivated by altruism and learning
were more willing to pay higher sums of dollars for their placement.
Overall, there is a line of research that debates whether altruism or
self-interest is the more dominant theme in volunteer tourist motivations (Wearing & McGehee, 2013). While this study establishes that
altruism is a dominant form of motivation in Ghana, it appears that
self-interest and altruism are not entirely mutually exclusive. Some
researchers have suggested that volunteers are not born altruists and
can adopt any position on the continuum between pure altruism and
pure egotism (Hustinx, 2001; Tomazos & Butler, 2010). Wearing and
McGehee (2013) and Rehberg (2005) believe that rather than an
absolute dichotomy of altruism versus self-interest, volunteer tourists
are quite able to possess multiple motivations simultaneously.

5. Conclusion
In the face of growing academic interest to understand the motivations of people who are willing to devote time and nance to help others
in need, this paper explored the motivations of volunteer tourists to
Ghana. Three underlying motivations draw volunteer tourists to
Ghana; altruism and learning, philanthropy, and socialization. Central
to the ideal of volunteerism is the idea of altruism and learning. Volunteers are also motivated to establish and strengthen relationship with
local community members as well as with their colleague volunteers.
Philanthropy is higher among rst-time volunteers who are better
educated and engaged in conservation and social services. Likewise,
socialization is a common motivation among volunteers who travel in
the company of others and for less than a month. People are committed
to devote more money to volunteer if they believe they are providing a
seless help to needy communities however short their stay is.
The socio-cultural and economic difference between the more
developed north and the less developed south provides the opportunity
for volunteers to offer humanitarian assistance. However, implicit
within the desire to assist others is the quest for cultural learning
about their destinations.
This paper has provided insight into the motivations of volunteer
tourists to Ghana. It has explored the differences of these motivations
on socio-demographic and travel characteristics. There is still a need
to explore how these motivations affect the experiences and overall
satisfaction in the country. Further studies are therefore required
to establish the resultant effects of motivations on satisfaction
and experiences.

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Felix Elvis Otoo is with the Department of Hospitality and

Tourism Management at the University of Cape Coast in
Ghana. His research interests include volunteer tourism,
non-prot and social work, ecotourism, tourists behavior,
and tourism and climate studies.

Francis Eric Amuquandoh is a Professor in Tourism at the

Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management of the
University of Cape Coast in Ghana. His research interests
include community and tourism development, ecotourism,
food tourism and heritage tourism.