Fairness, Greenwashing, and Religious Centrality: Explaining Muslim Tourists’ Conservation Payment Intentions in a UNESCO Geopark

Abstract

This study examines how institutional signals shape Muslim tourists’ willingness to pay for conservation in the Rinjani–Lombok UNESCO Global Geopark, Indonesia. Drawing on justice theory, signaling theory, and Islamic stewardship principles, the model positions distributive and procedural justice as positive antecedents of trust in governance, while greenwashing functions as a negative signal. Trust is theorized as the proximal driver of willingness to pay, with perceived overtourism and Islamic religious centrality as contextual moderators. Data were collected through an on-site intercept survey of 235 Muslim tourists across major entry points and viewpoints in the geopark, with balanced coverage of weekdays, weekends, and time periods. Analysis was conducted using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Findings confirm that fairness strengthens trust, greenwashing undermines it, and trust significantly predicts willingness to contribute. The trust–payment link is weakened by overtourism but reinforced by religiosity, underscoring the role of credible and culturally resonant governance.

1. Introduction

Indonesia is experimenting with tourism policies that prioritize quality and sustainability, such as the provincial levy in Bali that earmarks revenue for cultural and environmental protection. In neighboring West Nusa Tenggara, Lombok has been promoted internationally as a halal-friendly destination and is home to both the Rinjani–Lombok UNESCO Global Geopark and the Mandalika tourism Special Economic Zone. This juxtaposition of conservation and event-driven development makes conservation finance particularly salient and visible to tourists, who simultaneously encounter the benefits of preservation and the pressures of rapid growth (Yasin et al., 2025).

A central challenge for protected destinations is ensuring stable funding for conservation while convincing visitors that such payments are fair, competently managed, and credible. In Lombok, this challenge is intensified by halal branding and a demographic composition in which Muslims form the overwhelming majority (Murtayadi et al., 2022; Supiandi, 2024). As a result, the payment intentions of most visitors are shaped not only by general governance quality but also by signals that resonate with Islamic values of fairness, trust, and stewardship (Arissaputra et al., 2025). This context raises a key managerial question: which institutional signals motivate Muslim tourists to contribute financially to conservation in a geopark that coexists with a Special Economic Zone?

Existing willingness-to-pay research in tourism and conservation has primarily emphasized individual attitudes and destination image, while giving limited attention to the institutional mechanisms through which legitimacy cues shape payment behavior. Studies on justice and legitimacy indicate that fair outcomes and transparent processes foster trust (Hamm et al., 2022) while research on greenwashing shows that credibility violations undermine it (Koch & Denner, 2025). However, these strands have rarely been integrated into a single explanatory model, and they have seldom been tested among Muslim tourist populations in geoparks undergoing rapid growth. Lombok offers an opportunity to examine such an institution-centered framework while recognizing Islamic religiosity as a central, rather than peripheral, moderating factor.

This study theorizes Muslim tourists’ willingness to pay for conservation as a credibility-sensitive legitimacy pathway. Perceived distributive and procedural justice are modeled as positive signals that build trust in destination governance, while perceived greenwashing is treated as a negative signal that diminishes it. Trust is expected to serve as the immediate driver of willingness to pay, consistent with evidence that institutional confidence underpins acceptance of costs for environmental public goods (Rompf et al., 2017). Two boundary conditions are incorporated: perceived overtourism, which is expected to weaken the trust–payment link under crowding Foronda-Robles et al. (2025), and Islamic religious centrality, which is expected to strengthen this link in a halal-branded, Muslim-majority setting (Huber & Huber, 2012).

In summary, this study makes three contributions. First, it advances theory by integrating organizational justice, credibility, and religious values into a single institution-centered framework of conservation finance. Second, it contributes empirically by testing this framework among Muslim tourists in the Rinjani–Lombok UNESCO Global Geopark, thereby extending willingness-to-pay research to a new cultural and institutional setting. Third, it offers practical guidance by identifying how fair governance practices, credible sustainability communication, and alignment with Islamic stewardship can be leveraged to design conservation finance mechanisms that are both legitimate and effective.

2. Literature Review and Hypothesis Development

2.1. Theoretical Foundation

Legitimacy-based governance provides an integrative lens for explaining when visitors support conservation finance in protected destinations. Audiences confer the right to govern when they perceive outcomes and procedures as fair and when sustainability communication is credible, which in turn builds institutional trust and cooperative behavior such as willingness to pay conservation fees (Levis & Smith, 2024). This perspective aligns with wider global research on conservation finance, where legitimacy cues have been shown to influence community participation and tourists’ acceptance of conservation levies in both developed and developing contexts.

Organizational justice theory specifies fairness judgments that supply these legitimacy cues. Distributive justice concerns whether benefits and costs are allocated fairly, while procedural justice emphasizes whether decisions are transparent and inclusive (Pérez Figueroa & Ulibarri, 2024). Both dimensions consistently predict confidence in authorities and are modeled here as antecedents to institutional trust (Colquitt, 2001). By contrast, perceived greenwashing introduces credibility risks. When environmental claims are exaggerated or unverifiable, tourists infer low credibility, which erodes trust. Studies across both corporate and tourism contexts show that greenwashing undermines stakeholder trust and can backfire when rhetorical claims are not matched by actual performance (Forliano et al., 2025; Şenyapar, 2024).

Institutional trust functions as the proximal mechanism that translates legitimacy cues into cooperative behavior. Global evidence demonstrates that higher trustworthiness increases acceptance of conservation fees and environmental costs, though the magnitude of effects varies across cultural and institutional settings (Fairbrother, 2016). Two boundary conditions are particularly relevant. First, perceived overtourism can weaken the trust–payment link, as crowding shifts tourists’ attention from stewardship to self-protection (Miah et al., 2025). Second, religious centrality is expected to strengthen this relationship in Muslim-majority, halal-branded destinations. Religiosity fosters prosocial giving Schugurensky and Mook (2024), and the Centrality of Religiosity Scale Huber and Huber (2012) captures variation in religious commitment, which has also been found to shape willingness to contribute in other faith-based or heritage contexts.

Taken together, this account integrates fairness cues from distributive and procedural justice with credibility cues from sustainability communication into a coherent institutional pathway. Trust is theorized as the immediate driver of willingness to pay, while overtourism weakens and religious centrality reinforces this mechanism. From these theoretical premises follow the study’s hypotheses, which test how fairness, credibility, and contextual moderators jointly explain tourists’ conservation payment intentions (See Figure 1).

2.2. Fairness and Credibility Cues to Trust

Perceptions of fairness provide foundational cues about whether a destination authority deserves confidence (Li et al., 2025). When visitors perceive that tourism benefits and conservation burdens are distributed equitably among residents, businesses, and tourists, they infer rightful and benevolent governance. Such perceptions foster institutional trust through a legitimacy pathway emphasized in organizational justice and environmental risk management research (Liang & Ma, 2021). Meta-analyses and empirical studies in tourism governance consistently link distributive fairness to higher trust and cooperative orientations. However, this relationship may weaken when benefits are opaque or appear to favor distant or elite groups rather than local communities, which undermines perceptions of fairness (Magni, 2021). From this reasoning follows the first hypothesis:

H1. 

Perceived distributive justice increases trust in destination governance.

Fairness in decision-making processes provides a distinct and equally important signal that shapes confidence in destination authorities. Transparent, consistent, and inclusive procedures communicate impartiality and respect, which in turn confer legitimacy and encourage deference to rules. This pattern has been documented across legal, organizational, and public policy contexts (Capano & Lepori, 2024). Within tourism, inclusive planning and visible accountability are associated with stronger institutional trust. However, procedural fairness may lose its effect when participation is symbolic or when outcomes remain visibly unequal, prompting audiences to discount procedural cues as superficial (Korbiel et al., 2025). Thus, the second hypothesis is proposed:

H2. 

Perceived procedural justice increases trust in destination governance.

A third pathway to trust concerns the credibility of sustainability communication. Visitors may detect exaggeration, selective disclosure, or misalignment between rhetoric and practice. Such signals activate persuasion knowledge, leading to skepticism toward both the message and the institution behind it, consistent with signaling theory and the persuasion knowledge model (Sneideriene & Legenzova, 2025). Empirical studies in corporate and tourism contexts demonstrate that perceived greenwashing undermines green trust and can provoke negative reactions. Independent certification and third-party audits can partially restore credibility, but misleading communication still erodes institutional trust (Apostolopoulos et al., 2025) Therefore, the third hypothesis is advanced:

H3. 

Perceived greenwashing decreases trust in destination governance.

2.3. Trust and Willingness to Pay

Confidence in destination authorities provides the psychological mechanism through which governance evaluations are translated into cooperative payment behavior (Amani & Chao, 2023). Trust represents a broad judgment that the authority is competent, acts with integrity, and serves the public interest. It lowers concerns about misallocation or opportunism and increases acceptance of individual costs for collective goods, consistent with legitimacy-based theories of cooperation (Bouma et al., 2014).

Empirical research across multiple contexts confirms that institutional trust significantly enhances willingness to pay for environmental protection. For example, studies show higher acceptance of environmental charges when revenues are credibly earmarked and transparently communicated (Levis & Smith, 2024), while reviews of carbon pricing indicate that fairness and credibility of fund use are critical to sustaining public support (Maestre-Andrés et al., 2019). In the tourism field, willingness to pay for conservation fees is consistently higher when governance is perceived as trustworthy, including in geoparks and other protected areas (Fang et al., 2024; Loreño & Bari, 2025).

The strength of this link, however, depends on context. It is reinforced by clear earmarking, independent verification, and transparent reporting, but it weakens when payments are perceived as ineffective, diverted, or primarily growth-oriented (Warnecke, 2025). Similar finding from African community-based conservation programs show that the absence of trust in how fees are managed quickly undermines willingness to contribute (Aseres & Sira, 2020). These patterns justify modeling trust as the immediate but context-sensitive driver of payment behavior. From this reasoning follows the next hypothesis:

H4. 

Trust in destination governance increases willingness to pay for conservation.

2.4. Moderating Effect of Overtourism

Perceptions of overcrowding can weaken the translation of positive governance evaluations into cooperative behavior (Pramuja, 2024). In destinations where congestion and environmental degradation are visible, tourists often redirect their focus from stewardship to self-protection, consistent with stimulus–organism–response reasoning (Foronda-Robles et al., 2025). Studies confirm that perceived crowding reduces acceptability and diminishes the effect of favorable evaluations on behavioral intentions, even when general attitudes toward the destination remain positive (Miah et al., 2025). Under such conditions, trust in authorities may fail to translate into willingness to pay, as conservation fees may be interpreted as enabling further visitation rather than safeguarding resources (Dewayani, 2024; Maeng et al., 2013).

The weakening of the trust–payment link is particularly pronounced when overtourism signals dominate at iconic sites, when media coverage emphasizes crowding, and when management strategies expand access without mitigation. Conversely, the negative effect is lessened when revenues are transparently earmarked for visitor management and when interventions such as timed entry or visitor caps are implemented (Milman et al., 2020). Similar dynamics have been observed globally in European heritage cities, Asian coastal destinations, and national parks in North America, where perceptions of saturation reduce visitors’ willingness to contribute to conservation funds.

Taken together, these insights suggest that overtourism acts as a boundary condition that dampens the effect of institutional trust on cooperative financial behavior. From this reasoning follows the next hypothesis:

H5. 

Perceived overtourism weakens the positive effect of trust in destination governance on willingness to pay for conservation.

2.5. Moderating Effect of Religious Centrality

Islamic religious centrality reflects the extent to which Islam is embedded in a Muslim tourist’s daily life across belief, practice, experience, and knowledge (Eid & El-Gohary, 2015). In Lombok’s Muslim-majority, halal-branded context, religious centrality is expected to moderate the link between trust in governance and willingness to pay for conservation. Rather than acting as a direct antecedent, it shapes the degree to which existing trust is translated into cooperative financial behavior.

This mechanism is grounded in Islamic teachings on stewardship (khalifah) and charitable giving. Research consistently shows that higher religiosity fosters prosocial contributions when institutions are trusted and funds are perceived as used responsibly (Schugurensky & Mook, 2024). Evidence from zakat, waqf, and sadaqah practices in Indonesia demonstrates that religiosity and institutional trust interact to drive collective contributions (Kasri & Chaerunnisa, 2021). The moderating effect is strongest when conservation payments are transparently governed and framed as protective, but it weakens when sustainability claims lack credibility (Abuznaid, 2012).

Although few studies have examined this mechanism outside Muslim contexts, parallels can be drawn with research on Christian tithing and Buddhist merit-making, which also highlight how religious commitment reinforces cooperative behavior in community and environmental initiatives. The limited availability of such cross-religious evidence underscores the novelty of investigating Islamic centrality in conservation finance.

From this reasoning follows the sixth hypothesis:

H6. 

Among Muslim tourists, Islamic religious centrality strengthens the positive effect of trust in destination governance on willingness to pay for conservation.

2.6. Mediating Effect

Fairness in outcomes is expected to influence willingness to pay primarily by shaping confidence in governing authorities (Maestre-Andrés et al., 2019). When visitors perceive that tourism benefits and conservation burdens are shared equitably among residents, businesses, and tourists, they infer benevolence and rightful stewardship. Elevated trust then lowers perceived risks of misallocation and increases readiness to accept personal costs for collective goods such as conservation fees (Subedi, 2024). From this reasoning follows the seventh hypothesis:

H7. 

Trust in destination governance mediates the positive effect of perceived distributive justice on willingness to pay for conservation.

Process fairness is anticipated to operate through the same psychological channel. Transparent, consistent, and inclusive decision-making communicates impartiality and respect, thereby conferring legitimacy and strengthening confidence in destination authorities. That confidence becomes the proximal driver of cooperative payment behavior, particularly when revenues are credibly earmarked for environmental protection (Liu et al., 2022). Direct effects of procedural justice on willingness to pay should be modest once trust is included, because procedural cues influence payment mainly by altering evaluations of governance rather than by changing cost–benefit judgments directly (Stangl et al., 2025). From this reasoning follows the eighth hypothesis:

H8. 

Trust in destination governance mediates the positive effect of perceived procedural justice on willingness to pay for conservation.

Credibility risks are expected to operate in the opposite direction through the same pathway. When visitors detect exaggeration, selective disclosure, or inconsistency between rhetoric and practice, they infer low credibility, activate persuasion knowledge, and generalize skepticism to the governing institution. This erosion of confidence suppresses willingness to contribute financially even when sustainability is part of destination branding (Christou et al., 2025). Independent certification and audited disclosures may mitigate but rarely eliminate this effect (Pelzer & Hogan, 2022). Accordingly, the dominant pathway remains negative via trust. From this reasoning follows the ninth hypothesis:

H9. 

Trust in destination governance mediates the negative effect of perceived greenwashing on willingness to pay for conservation.

3. Research Method

3.1. Study Site

This study was conducted in the Rinjani–Lombok UNESCO Global Geopark, located in West Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia (See Figure 2). Rinjani is one of Indonesia’s most prominent protected areas and a popular halal-friendly tourism destination, attracting both domestic and international visitors. The geopark coexists with the Mandalika tourism Special Economic Zone on the same island, creating a juxtaposition between conservation objectives and event-driven development. This context makes institutional signals about fairness and credibility especially salient at the point of deciding whether to contribute to conservation finance. According to UNESCO and provincial tourism authorities, the Rinjani–Lombok Geopark receives several hundred thousand visitors annually, reflecting its role as a major attraction in Indonesia’s nature- and culture-based tourism sector.

3.2. Sampling and Data Collection

The research employed a cross-sectional, on-site intercept survey of adult Muslim visitors at multiple entry points and viewpoints within the geopark. Data were collected evenly across all quarters of 2024, with balanced coverage of mornings and afternoons as well as weekdays and weekends. Intercepts were conducted at key gates and trails that channel most visitors, including Sembalun, Senaru, and Torean. To reduce intra-party dependence, only one respondent was recruited per travel party. The unit of analysis was the individual visitor. In total, 235 valid responses were obtained. Surveys were administered by trained enumerators in both English and Bahasa Indonesia, using a questionnaire that had been backtranslated to ensure linguistic and conceptual accuracy. Informed consent was obtained from all participants, and anonymity was assured.

3.3. Measures

All constructs were measured with established multi-item reflective scales adapted to the governance and conservation context (

Table 1. Measurement Items.

Construct	Item Code	Items	Source
Perceived distributive justice	DJ1	The benefits of tourism at Rinjani are shared fairly across local communities.	Adapted from Colquitt (2001)
	DJ2	The costs or inconveniences of tourism are not borne unfairly by some groups.
	DJ3	How tourism revenue is allocated seems appropriate for community needs.
	DJ4	The overall distribution of gains and losses from tourism feels justified.
Perceived procedural justice	PJ1	I can express my views to authorities about tourism and conservation decisions.	Adapted from Colquitt (2001)
	PJ2	Local stakeholders have meaningful influence on those decisions.
	PJ3	The rules used to make tourism decisions are applied consistently.
	PJ4	Decisions rely on accurate and complete information.
	PJ5	The decision process is free from bias toward particular groups.
	PJ6	The process follows ethical and community standards.
	PJ7	Explanations for decisions are timely and understandable.
Perceived greenwashing	GW1	The destination’s sustainability claims are misleading in their wording.	Adapted from Chen and Chang (2013); Schmuck et al. (2018)
	GW2	The destination’s visuals or symbols give a misleading impression of being green.
	GW3	The destination’s sustainability messages are vague and difficult to verify.
	GW4	The destination appears to overstate its environmental achievements.
Trust in destination governance	TR1	I trust the responsible authority to make the right decisions for tourism at Rinjani.	Adapted from Nunkoo and Gursoy (2012); Pagliara et al. (2021)
	TR2	I trust the authority to look after the interests of the local community in tourism development.
	TR3	I trust the authority to make sound decisions for the protection of this destination.
	TR4	Overall, I have confidence in the authority’s tourism and conservation decisions.
Willingness to pay for conservation	WTP1	I am willing to pay a conservation fee earmarked for protecting Rinjani’s environment.	Adapted from Fang et al. (2024)
	WTP2	I would accept an added fee if I can be assured that the money funds conservation activities.
	WTP3	If a conservation fee were collected today, the maximum I would pay per visit is: [currency box in IDR].
Perceived overtourism	OT1	At this site there are too many visitors for a comfortable experience.	Adapted from Neuts and Nijkamp (2012)
	OT2	The number of visitors here feels beyond what the place can handle.
	OT3	Overall, I feel that the destination is overcrowded during my visit.
Religious centrality	RC1	How often do you think about religious issues	Adopted from Huber and Huber (2012)
	RC2	To what extent do you believe that God or something divine exists
	RC3	How often do you take part in religious services
	RC4	How often do you pray?
	RC5	How often do you experience situations in which you have the feeling that God or something divine intervenes in your life?

). Distributive and procedural justice items followed organizational justice and tourism governance scales (Colquitt, 2001), greenwashing items were adapted from sustainability communication studies, overtourism from crowding perception scales, and religious centrality from the Centrality of Religiosity Scale short form Huber and Huber (2012). Trust items were drawn from prior tourism governance research, while willingness to pay was measured through two intention items and a bounded amount question in Indonesian rupiah, calibrated during pretesting with a payment card. Items were presented on seven-point Likert scales, with anchors ranging from “strongly disagree” (1) to “strongly agree” (7), and frequency/intensity anchors for religiosity.

3.4. Data Analysis

Data were analyzed using variance-based structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) in SmartPLS. The measurement model was assessed for reliability (Cronbach’s alpha, rho_A, composite reliability), convergent validity (AVE ≥ 0.50), and discriminant validity (HTMT and Fornell–Larcker criteria), with collinearity checked via VIF < 3.3. Once satisfactory, the structural model was evaluated using standardized path coefficients, coefficients of determination (R²), effect sizes (f²), predictive validity (Q², PLSpredict), and the SRMR index for model fit. Mediation and moderation were tested within the same PLS framework, with trust modeled as a mediator and overtourism and religious centrality as moderators through latent interaction terms with bootstrapping. Common method variance was assessed using full collinearity VIFs, which confirmed no serious bias.

4. Result

4.1. Descriptive Statistics

The survey yielded responses from 235 Muslim tourists who visited the Rinjani–Lombok UNESCO Global Geopark during 2024. Respondents were recruited on-site at multiple entry points and viewpoints through an intercept method that ensured balanced coverage of weekdays, weekends, mornings, and afternoons.

Table 2. Socio-demographic characteristics of respondents (N = 235).

Characteristic	Category	Percentage (%)
Gender	Male	51.5
	Female	48.5
Age group	18–24 years	18.7
	25–34 years	46.4
	35–44 years	20.8
	45 years and above	14.1
Education	High school or below	22.3
	Bachelor’s degree	47.6
	Postgraduate degree	30.1
Household income	<3 million IDR/month	15.7
	3–10 million IDR/month	53.2
	>10 million IDR/month	31.1
Place of residence	Other Indonesian provinces	54.9
	West Nusa Tenggara	34.5
	International visitors	10.6
Travel party	Solo	11.9
	Couple	39.1
	Family	36.6
	Friends/Group	12.4
Visit frequency	First-time visitor	63.8
	Repeat visitor	36.2
Length of stay	1–3 nights	72.7
	4 nights or more	27.3
Main activities	Hiking	43.0
	Sightseeing	41.3
	Other (cultural visits, leisure)	15.7

summarizes the socio-demographic characteristics of the sample.

These results indicate that the sample was relatively balanced by gender, with most respondents falling into the 25–34 age range and possessing at least a bachelor’s degree. Income levels were diverse, although the majority reported monthly household incomes between 3 and 10 million Indonesian rupiah. Most tourists were domestic, though a significant share were international visitors. Couples and families represented the dominant travel parties, and nearly two-thirds of respondents were first-time visitors to Rinjani–Lombok, typically staying for one to three nights. Hiking and sightseeing emerged as the most common activities.

4.2. Comon Method Bias

To assess whether common method variance (CMB) might distort the results, a full collinearity test was conducted. CMB refers to artificial inflation of relationships among variables due to measurement artifacts, such as respondents providing data for both independent and dependent variables in the same survey. One way to test for this is to calculate full collinearity variance inflation factors (VIFs), which indicate whether a single latent factor may be driving the correlations among constructs.

As shown in

Table 3. Full Collinearity VIFs.

Construct	VIF
Distributive justice	2.12
Procedural justice	2.34
Perceived greenwashing	1.91
Trust in destination governance	2.68
Willingness to pay	2.05
Perceived overtourism	1.76
Religious centrality	1.38
Marker variable	1.09

, the variance inflation factor (VIF) values ranged from 1.09 to 2.68. These values are well below the conservative threshold of 3.3, which is commonly used to signal potential bias in variance-based structural models. This suggests that no single latent factor is inflating the correlations among the constructs. In practical terms, the relationships among distributive justice, procedural justice, greenwashing, trust, overtourism, religiosity, and willingness to pay reflect genuine associations rather than artifacts of common method bias.

4.3. Measurement Model

The results of the measurement model indicate that all constructs demonstrate satisfactory reliability and validity.

Table 4. Measurement Model.

Construct	Item Code	Factor Loading	Cronbach’s α	CR	AVE
Perceived Distributive Justice	DJ1	0.78	0.84	0.88	0.65
	DJ2	0.82
	DJ3	0.81
	DJ4	0.84
Perceived Procedural Justice	PJ1	0.73	0.89	0.91	0.60
	PJ2	0.76
	PJ3	0.79
	PJ4	0.81
	PJ5	0.82
	PJ6	0.83
	PJ7	0.77
Perceived Greenwashing	GW1	0.80	0.86	0.90	0.69
	GW2	0.82
	GW3	0.85
	GW4	0.84
Trust in Governance	TR1	0.82	0.88	0.91	0.71
	TR2	0.84
	TR3	0.86
	TR4	0.85
Willingness to Pay	WTP1	0.81	0.83	0.89	0.67
	WTP2	0.83
	WTP3	0.82
Perceived Overtourism	OT1	0.77	0.80	0.87	0.68
	OT2	0.84
	OT3	0.85
Islamic Religious Centrality	RC1	0.79	0.87	0.91	0.66
	RC2	0.82
	RC3	0.83
	RC4	0.81
	RC5	0.84

shows the factor loadings for all items, which ranged between 0.73 and 0.86. Since values above 0.70 are generally considered acceptable, this confirms that each indicator adequately measures its intended construct. Reliability was further assessed through Cronbach’s alpha and composite reliability (CR). Both indices exceeded the 0.70 benchmark, with Cronbach’s alpha values between 0.80 and 0.89 and CR values ranging from 0.87 to 0.91. These results indicate that the items within each construct are internally consistent.

Convergent validity was examined using the average variance extracted (AVE). All AVE values fell between 0.60 and 0.71, well above the recommended cut-off of 0.50. This means that each construct explains more than half of the variance in its observed items, confirming that the indicators converge on their intended latent variable.

Discriminant validity was then assessed to ensure that the constructs are empirically distinct from one another. Using the Fornell–Larcker criterion (

Table 5. Discriminant Validity-Fornell-Larcker.

Construct	DJ	PJ	GW	TR	WTP	OT	RC
Distributive Justice	0.81
Procedural Justice	0.62	0.77
Greenwashing	−0.34	−0.29	0.83
Trust in Governance	0.58	0.64	−0.41	0.84
Willingness to Pay	0.55	0.52	−0.37	0.66	0.82
Overtourism	−0.21	−0.18	0.27	−0.29	−0.24	0.82
Religious Centrality	0.33	0.36	−0.22	0.39	0.44	−0.19	0.81

), the square root of the AVE for each construct (0.77–0.84) was higher than its correlations with any other construct. For instance, trust in governance had a square root AVE of 0.84, which was higher than its correlation with willingness to pay (0.66) and its negative correlation with greenwashing (−0.41). This indicates that the construct of trust captures something unique and not overlapping with the other variables.

To further confirm discriminant validity, the heterotrait–monotrait ratio of correlations (HTMT) was calculated (

Table 6. Discriminant Validity-HTMT.

Construct	DJ	PJ	GW	TR	WTP	OT	RC
Distributive Justice	1.00
Procedural Justice	0.74	1.00
Greenwashing	0.39	0.34	1.00
Trust in Governance	0.68	0.72	0.46	1.00
Willingness to Pay	0.63	0.66	0.41	0.77	1.00
Overtourism	0.26	0.23	0.31	0.35	0.33	1.00
Religious Centrality	0.41	0.48	0.28	0.52	0.58	0.27	1.00

). All HTMT values were below the conservative threshold of 0.85, which indicates that even closely related constructs are not redundant. For example, trust and willingness to pay recorded a value of 0.77: this shows that while they are strongly associated, they remain conceptually distinct.

Taken together, the measurement model results demonstrate that the constructs used in this study are reliable, valid, and empirically distinct, providing a solid foundation for testing the structural model.

4.4. Structural Measurement

The PLS-SEM results indicate that the proposed model provides an acceptable overall fit to the data (

Table 7. Model Fit Indices.

Fit Index	Value	Recommended Threshold
SRMR	0.061	<0.08 (good fit)
d_ULS	0.982	Closer to 0 = better
d_G	0.742	Closer to 0 = better
NFI	0.921	>0.90 (acceptable), >0.95 (excellent)

). The standardized root means square residual (SRMR) value of 0.061 is below the conservative cut-off of 0.08, suggesting that the difference between observed and predicted correlations is minimal. The discrepancy indices, d_ULS (0.982) and d_G (0.742), are close to zero, further confirming that the model reproduces the data well. Finally, the normed fit index (NFI) value of 0.921 exceeds the threshold of 0.90, indicating good incremental fit quality. Taken together, these indices demonstrate that the structural model is a reasonable representation of the observed relationships.

As shown in

Table 8. Path Coefficients and Hypothesis Testing (Direct Effects).

Hypothesis	Path (Direct Effect)	β (Standardized)	t-Value	p-Value	Decision
H1	Distributive Justice → Trust	0.29	4.21	<0.001	Supported
H2	Procedural Justice → Trust	0.34	5.02	<0.001	Supported
H3	Greenwashing → Trust	−0.25	3.87	<0.001	Supported
H4	Trust → Willingness to Pay	0.42	6.11	<0.001	Supported

, all four direct hypotheses are supported. Perceived distributive justice has a positive effect on trust in destination governance (β = 0.29, t = 4.21, p < 0.001). This indicates that when visitors perceive tourism benefits as distributed, they are significantly more likely to trust destination authorities. Procedural justice exerts an even stronger influence (β = 0.34, t = 5.02, p < 0.001), highlighting that transparent and consistent decision-making builds confidence more strongly than distributive fairness.

Perceived greenwashing shows a significant negative effect on trust (β = −0.25, t = 3.87, p < 0.001). This means that when tourists detect exaggerated or misleading sustainability claims, their trust declines at almost the same magnitude that fairness signals would otherwise build it. Finally, trust in governance strongly predicts willingness to pay for conservation (β = 0.42, t = 6.11, p < 0.001). This is the largest single effect in the model, underscoring trust as the central driver of cooperative financial behavior among Muslim tourists.

The moderation analysis (

Table 9. Moderation Analysis Results.

Hypothesis	Moderation Path	β (Standardized)	t-Value	p-Value	Decision
H5	Trust × Overtourism → Willingness to Pay	−0.18	2.94	0.003	Supported
H6	Trust × Islamic Religious Centrality → Willingness to Pay	0.21	3.47	<0.001	Supported

) provides support for both boundary conditions. Perceived overtourism significantly weakens the positive influence of trust on willingness to pay (β = −0.18, t = 2.94, p = 0.003). Although smaller than the main effect of trust (β = 0.42), this reduction is substantial. It suggests that even when tourists trust the authorities, crowding perceptions reduce their willingness to contribute financially. For example, visitors may interpret conservation fees as facilitating further use rather than protecting resources.

Conversely, Islamic religious centrality strengthens the trust–payment link (β = 0.21, t = 3.47, p < 0.001). The effect size is comparable in magnitude to overtourism but in the opposite direction. This means that Muslim tourists with stronger religious commitment are more likely to convert their trust in governance into conservation payments, reflecting Islamic principles of stewardship (khalifah) and charitable giving.

The mediation analysis (

Table 10. Mediation Analysis Results.

Hypothesis	Indirect Path	β	t-Value	p-Value	Decision
H7	Distributive Justice → Trust → WTP	0.12	3.26	0.001	Supported
H8	Procedural Justice → Trust → WTP	0.14	3.88	<0.001	Supported
H9	Greenwashing → Trust → WTP	−0.11	3.02	0.003	Supported

) confirms that trust is the psychological mechanism linking fairness and credibility cues to willingness to pay. Trust mediates the positive effect of distributive justice on willingness to pay (indirect β = 0.12, t = 3.26, p = 0.001). This indicates that about 40 percent of distributive justice’s impact flows indirectly through institutional trust.

Similarly, procedural justice has a significant indirect effect (indirect β = 0.14, t = 3.88, p < 0.001). This indirect pathway is slightly larger than that of distributive justice, showing that process fairness is especially important in shaping cooperative payment behavior through trust.

Finally, trust mediates the negative influence of greenwashing on willingness to pay (indirect β = −0.11, t = 3.02, p = 0.003). This means that credibility violations primarily reduce payment intentions because they erode trust in governance, not only because they directly affect perceptions of sustainability communication.

5. Discussion

This study demonstrates that Muslim tourists’ willingness to contribute financially to conservation in a geopark depends on institutional trust, which is shaped by perceptions of fairness and credibility and moderated by situational and religious factors. Fairness in both distributive outcomes and procedural transparency strengthens trust, while perceptions of greenwashing weaken it. Trust, in turn, functions as the immediate psychological mechanism that motivates tourists to accept personal costs for collective environmental protection.

The results contribute to the global literature on conservation finance by confirming that trust serves as a pivotal institutional mechanism through which legitimacy signals translate into cooperative behavior. Similar findings have emerged in non-religious contexts. For example, Kegamba et al. (2023) reported that transparency and fairness in benefit-sharing increased community willingness to fund biodiversity conservation across European protected areas. Likewise, Corbera et al. (2009) and Clifton and Mánez (2025) demonstrated that institutional legitimacy, particularly through fair revenue distribution, is essential for sustaining conservation payments in Latin American and African community-based projects. These studies collectively reinforce that fairness and credibility are not culturally bounded principles but universal governance conditions that shape conservation finance outcomes.

By integrating organizational justice theory with greenwashing literature, this study also contributes to the broader field of environmental governance. Previous research has shown that perceived fairness and credible sustainability communication are foundational to maintaining institutional legitimacy across governance systems (Lock & Schulz-Knappe, 2019; van der Hel & Biermann, 2017). Greenwashing undermines this legitimacy globally by eroding trust in both corporate and public institutions (Tu et al., 2024). Our results parallel these patterns, revealing that credibility violations can nullify the positive influence of fairness in tourism governance. This finding resonates with evidence from corporate environmental management in Europe (Hibbitt & Kamp-Roelands, 2002) and sustainable tourism initiatives in Africa (Lemunge et al., 2025), where exaggerated environmental claims decreased stakeholder cooperation and payment compliance.

The moderating effects further advance the international conversation on the context-dependent nature of conservation finance. Perceived overtourism significantly weakens the trust–payment link, aligning with global research showing that visitor congestion can reduce cooperative attitudes. In destinations such as Venice, Athens, and Istanbul, crowding has been shown to lower residents’ and tourists’ willingness to pay environmental levies (Choi et al., 2025; Yaprak et al., 2025). These findings indicate that the crowding–cooperation dynamic observed in Lombok reflects a wider phenomenon: when perceived saturation overrides stewardship, trust fails to produce financial cooperation.

Conversely, religious centrality amplifies the trust–payment link. While our study examines Islamic religiosity, parallel mechanisms appear across faith systems. Studies on Christian tithing (Bomberg & Hague, 2018) and Buddhist merit-making (Wang & Tan, 2024) show that spiritual commitment strengthens moral obligations toward collective environmental contributions. By modeling religiosity as a moderator rather than a direct antecedent, this study clarifies how moral-ethical worldviews can enhance institutional trust and thus increase conservation funding, a relationship applicable beyond Islamic contexts.

Our findings also resonate with community-based tourism (CBT) and community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) frameworks, which highlight the role of fairness, transparency, and trust in ensuring long-term sustainability. For instance, a study in Ethiopia has shown that local residents’ willingness to support wildlife conservation fees depends on the visible and equitable use of revenues (Aseres & Sira, 2020). In Nepal and Costa Rica, transparent governance in ecotourism enterprises has been linked to increased trust, higher WTP, and stronger local stewardship (L. A. Jackson, 2025). These cross-continental cases confirm that legitimacy-based governance anchored in fairness and credibility is universally effective in fostering cooperative conservation finance.

Theoretically, this research extends legitimacy-based governance frameworks by integrating distributive and procedural justice with credibility management and moral commitment. It advances the understanding that willingness to pay is not purely attitudinal but emerges from institutional trust shaped by fairness and transparency core tenets identified in both global and community-based conservation studies (C. M. Jackson et al., 2025). Practically, it underscores the importance of transparent financial governance, third-party certification, and participatory decision-making. Moreover, aligning conservation finance with local moral frameworks whether religious or civic can expand legitimacy across diverse cultural settings. Mechanisms such as earmarked conservation fees, audited reporting, and community co-management, widely endorsed in international conservation finance literature, remain critical for maintaining cooperation and preventing perceived exploitation.

By situating Muslim tourists’ conservation payment intentions within these global comparative frameworks, this study demonstrates that the dynamics of fairness, trust, and credibility observed in Lombok mirror fundamental patterns found in conservation finance worldwide. Institutional trust, when grounded in justice and authenticity, becomes a universal bridge linking local stewardship with global sustainability goals.

6. Conclusions

This study investigated how institutional signals of fairness and credibility shape Muslim tourists’ willingness to pay for conservation in the Rinjani–Lombok UNESCO Global Geopark. The findings confirm that distributive and procedural justice strengthen trust in governance, while greenwashing undermines it. Trust emerged as the central psychological mechanism driving cooperative financial behavior, but its influence was contingent: perceived overtourism weakened the trust–payment link while Islamic religious centrality reinforced it. These results highlight trust as the pivotal channel through which institutional legitimacy translates into willingness to contribute to conservation.

The study makes several contributions. Theoretically, it integrates justice theory, greenwashing research, and religious values into a unified legitimacy-based framework of conservation finance, clarifying how fairness and credibility cues operate under different contextual conditions. Empirically, it advances understanding by situating the analysis in a Muslim-majority, halal-branded destination, extending research on willingness to pay into a new cultural and institutional setting.

Practically, the results underscore the importance of transparent revenue allocation, inclusive and accountable decision-making, and credible sustainability communication in building trust. For Rinjani–Lombok specifically, conservation fees are more likely to gain acceptance if revenues are earmarked for visible environmental protection, if independent certification and audited reporting assure credibility, and if visitor management measures address overtourism pressures. Partnerships with local religious leaders and institutions can further align conservation finance with Islamic values of stewardship and charitable giving, enhancing both legitimacy and participation.

Several limitations should be acknowledged. The cross-sectional survey design restricts causal inference, self-reported intentions may not fully translate into behavior, and the focus on Muslim tourists in Lombok may constrain generalizability. Future research should adopt longitudinal or experimental approaches, incorporate behavioral payment measures, and extend the model to different religious or cultural contexts. Such work would clarify how religiosity interacts with institutional trust and further test the robustness of this legitimacy-based framework.