Search Results (40)

This study, grounded in the Value-Belief-Norm (VBN) theory, examines how tourism sustainability influences pro-environmental tourist behavior through the mediating roles of environmental knowledge and eco-destination image and the moderating role of biospheric value. Data were collected from 396 tourists visiting major destinations in Northern Cyprus via an online survey. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was employed to assess direct, mediating, and moderating effects. The findings reveal that tourism sustainability positively influences social engagement propensity, with both environmental knowledge and eco-destination image acting as significant mediators. Moreover, biospheric values were found to enhance the relationship between tourism sustainability and both mediators, although no moderating effect was observed between tourism sustainability and social engagement propensity. This study extends the application of the VBN theory in the tourism context by framing social engagement as a norm-driven outcome. It provides valuable insights for destination managers aiming to promote sustainable behaviors in emerging eco-tourism settings. This study is limited by its cross-sectional design and single-destination focus. Future research could explore diverse cultural settings and adopt longitudinal approaches to validate and expand upon these findings. Full article

This study examines the influence of environmental concerns on water conservation behaviors among Gen Z tourists in Iranian desert regions by extending the Norm Activation Theory (NAT). Adopting a quantitative approach, data were collected through a structured questionnaire from 330 Gen Z tourists (born between 1997 and 2012) who visited four Iranian desert villages (Qale Bala, Mesr, Abyaneh, and Rezaabad) between April and July 2023. Using systematic sampling, every fifth Gen Z tourist was selected. Data were analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). Results show that environmental concerns, situational responsibility, and personal norms positively impact water conservation behaviors, while denial of responsibility negatively affects them. Personal norms positively influence pride and guilt emotions, which in turn promote water conservation behaviors. The extended model, incorporating environmental concerns, demonstrated improved explanatory power over the original NAT. This research contributes to sustainable tourism literature by integrating environmental concerns and moral emotions into the NAT framework, offering insights into psychological mechanisms driving pro-environmental behaviors among Gen Z tourists in desert environments. Full article

Human activities significantly contribute to the biodiversity crisis, yet wildlife tourism can promote appreciation for animals and encourage conservation. This study assessed the impact of diving and snorkeling programs at Atlantis Dubai on tourists’ emotional connections with marine life and their conservation attitudes and pro-environmental behavioral intentions. In 2023 and 2024, 346 participants were surveyed before (n = 172) and after (n = 174) their experiences diving and snorkeling with elasmobranchs. Results indicated a notable increase in positive feelings toward sharks and rays, strengthening connections and respect for these creatures. The program positively influenced attitude toward sharks, making participants more inclined to support their protection and foster a deeper connection with the ocean. Although participants’ willingness to recycle improved, overall conservation attitudes and willingness to engage in broader pro-environmental behaviors showed minor change. However, the heightened positive emotions towards sharks resulted in improved perceptions of these animals, stronger conservation attitudes, and a commitment to environmental sustainability. A deeper connection with the ocean reduced fear of sharks. This research suggests that wildlife tourism can facilitate emotional connections with marine life, potentially inspiring conservation action and highlighting the need for targeted strategies to transform these emotional bonds into lasting pro-environmental behaviors. Full article

Tourists’ pro-environmental behavior (TPEB) is crucial in promoting the sustainable development of tourism worldwide. It has received increased attention from scholars in different fields of tourism, but relevant research on the normative activation and formation process of TPEB in geotourism is lacking. Given the complexity of behavioral causes and norm activation, this study is grounded in multiple theories, including the norm activation model (NAM), behavioral reasoning theory (BRT), and complexity theory, to illustrate the formation process of TPEB in geotourism. The Zhangye National Geopark, which is located in Gansu Province, China, was chosen as the research case for this study. In total, 502 valid survey responses were utilized for data analysis using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) and fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA). The PLS-SEM results showed that tourist intention for pro-environmental behaviors is linearly affected by moral norms, attitude, social norms, and perceived behavioral control, which are the key components in the NAM and BRT. The fsQCA results identified six causal recipes components that influence the formation of intention for pro-environmental behaviors, confirming the causal complexity principle of complexity theory. Among these, environmental awareness, anticipated emotion of pride, moral norms, attitude, and social norms are considered core variables. These research findings provide significant management guidance and strategies for the environmental protection of geoparks and the sustainable development of geotourism. Full article

As rational economic beings, economic gains in behavior influence consumers. Consequently, rewards influence consumer behavior, which leads to altruism and warm traits. This motivates consumers to enhance their willingness to behave in a pro-social way. Previous studies demonstrate that rewards can positively influence the environmentally conscious consumption behavior of consumers. However, their impact on the willingness of tourists to adopt low-carbon behavior is overlooked. Promoting low-carbon behavior, incentive services are becoming increasingly prevalent in tourism. Encouraging tourists to start behaving in a low-carbon way is of particular importance for sustainable tourism. Authors have combined rewards and the low-carbon behavioral intentions of tourists based on stimulus–organism–response theory to explore the positive emotions of tourists triggered by rewards. This theory posits that positive emotions will further boost tourist willingness to engage in low-carbon behavior. Thus, we conducted three experiments to investigate three key areas, namely, the role of rewards in influencing tourists’ willingness to become involved in low-carbon behavior, the impact of rewards on the generation of positive emotions, and the impact of positive emotions with regard to the readiness to become involved low-carbon behaviors. The results indicate that rewards exert a positive effect on emotions, which influences the inclination to engage in environmentally friendly behavior. Additionally, the extent of environmental knowledge moderates the willingness to participate in such activities. This paper provides original insights into the factors influencing the willingness of tourists to participate in low-carbon practices and provides valuable managerial guidance for the sustainable development of tourism. Full article

This study aims to develop the concept of self-social engineering in the context of tourism, focusing on tourists’ pro-environmental behavior. By integrating psychological theories such as Environmental Psychology Theory, the Theory of Planned Behavior, and Norm Activation Theory, the purpose of the investigation was to determine the extent of the direct influence of independent variables of perceived environmental quality (PEQ), attitude, subjective norm (SN), and perceived behavioral control (PBC) on self-social engineering (SSE) and their indirect influence through intention to engage in environmentally responsible behavior (ERB). The structural analysis results from a sample of 191 visitors indicated that the unified model demonstrates a satisfactory predictive capability for SSE. This study’s findings highlight significant and insignificant relationships among the research variables, providing insights into the dynamics of pro-environmental behavior. Significant positive relationships were observed between attitude and SSE and between SN and SSE, demonstrating the influence of individual attitudes and social pressures on fostering self-initiated environmental actions. Similarly, PBC was found to significantly impact both SSE and ERB, indicating that individuals who feel capable of taking environmental actions are more likely to do so. Conversely, some relationships were found to be insignificant. The relationship between PEQ and SSE was insignificant, suggesting that positive perceptions of environmental quality alone may not motivate individuals to engage in self-directed environmental behaviors. Additionally, PEQ showed a negative relationship with ERB, indicating that high environmental quality perceptions might reduce the urgency to act, potentially leading to complacency. These findings highlight pro-environmental behavior’s complex and context-dependent characteristics, underscoring the importance of adopting integrated approaches considering individual and situational factors. The limitations of this study include its cross-sectional design, which restricts the ability to analyze behavioral changes over time. Additionally, its relatively localized sample does not fully capture broader tourist populations’ diverse demographic and geographical contexts. Full article

Environmental education is one of the main functions of China’s national parks, and it also plays a crucial role in the construction of an ecological civilization. Compared with the rest of Asia, the inception of national parks in China occurred relatively late, and fostering tourists’ pro-environmental behavior is a challenging endeavor. According to the theoretical paradigm of stimulus–organism–response (SOR), in this study, we selected place attachment, environmental attitude, and environmental quality to construct a theoretical model of the relationship between the perception of environmental education and pro-environmental behavior. We conducted a sample survey of 728 tourists who had been to Wuyishan National Park and constructed a structural equation model. Our findings indicate the following: (1) pro-environmental behavior is directly and significantly promoted by one’s perception of environmental education, place attachment, and environmental attitude; (2) place attachment and environmental attitude play an intermediary role between one’s perception of environmental education and pro-environmental behavior; and (3) the quality of the external environment positively influences the correlation between one’s perception of environmental education and place attachment. This study provides solutions and suggestions for Wuyishan National Park to improve the effectiveness of environmental education regarding tourists’ pro-environmental behavior. Full article

This study considers Jinniu Lake (JNL), the biggest artificial lake and National Water Conservancy Scenic Spot (WCSS) in Nanjing, as an example to analyze the determinants of tourists’ willingness to pay (WTP) and satisfaction, as well as their pro-environmental behavior from a ‘tourist perceived value’ perspective (i.e., function, emotional, social, and epistemic), and then estimate the non-use value of JNL using the contingent valuation method (CVM). A total of 321 valid responses to questionnaires were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM) with the obtained results indicating the following: (1) JNL possesses a relatively high non-use value, influenced by emotional value, function value, social value, and epistemic value. (2) Satisfaction mediates the relationships between perceived value and WTP. (3) Education level, monthly travel frequency, and past visit frequency are all significantly positively correlated with WTP. In conclusion, strengthening tourists’ emotional and functional identification within destinations is conducive to improving visitor satisfaction and inspiring their pro-environmental behavior, ultimately feeding back into the development of the scenic area through WTP, achieving imitable ecological–economic circular development. Full article

As businesses and governments increasingly explore innovative strategies to promote pro-environmental behavior, autonomous vehicles (AVs) have emerged as a key initiative for fostering sustainable communities. However, the specific norms—personal, descriptive, and subjective—that influence behavioral intentions regarding AV adoption remain underexplored. This research addresses this gap by integrating the extended theory of planned behavior (TPB) with pro-environmental variables to examine both direct and indirect influences on behavioral intentions. Using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM), the proposed model was validated with data from 516 domestic Chinese tourists. The findings highlight that subjective norms and trust significantly shape positive intentions toward adopting autonomous vehicles. Furthermore, environmental knowledge and concerns exert a significant indirect impact on these intentions, underscoring the complex interplay of factors that drive pro-environmental behavior. These results provide valuable insights for policymakers and practitioners aiming to enhance the acceptance of AVs in China and offer a foundation for future research on the role of norms in technology adoption. Full article

The pro-environmental behavior of tourists is an important guarantee for the sustainable development of ecotourism scenic spots. This article is based on 806 tourist survey data from two ecotourism scenic spots, making use of exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and the structural equation model (SEM) to explore the impact of tourist experience quality on tourists’ pro-environmental behavior. The research findings indicate that (1) the quality of the tourist experience is an important factor affecting the formation of place attachment; (2) the quality of tourism experience directly and positively affects place dependence, and indirectly affects place identity through the mediating factor of place dependence; and (3) the direct impact of tourist experience quality on tourists’ pro-environmental behavior is significant, with place attachment playing a mediating role. This article provides inspiration for scenic spots to encourage tourists to engage in pro-environmental behavior. In the process of stimulating tourists to engage in pro-environmental behaviors, ecotourism scenic spots should pay more attention to the tourist experiences and emotional experiences. Scenic spots should make more efforts to improve the quality of the tourist experience, so that tourists can develop a sense of dependence on ecotourism scenic spots, gradually form self-identification with the scenic spots, and engage in environmentally friendly behavior, helping to achieve the sustainable development of ecotourism scenic spots. Full article

The harmonious coexistence of humanity and nature stands as a paramount objective in the global endeavor towards ecological civilization. By vigorously promoting eco-friendly recreational activities within World Agricultural Heritage sites, we can evoke tourists’ emotional understanding and empathy towards environmental protection. This approach presents an optimal solution to the challenges faced in realizing the ecological value of these heritage sites, thereby fostering an even deeper harmony between people and nature. For this study, the Anxi Tie Guan Yin Tea Cultural System, a site of global agricultural heritage significance, was chosen as the case study. Employing structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis, a survey was administered to 452 local tourists for empirical testing. The research reveals several key findings: (1) Tourists’ environmental concern exerts a notably positive influence on their pro-environmental behaviors; (2) both nature empathy and ecological anxiety serve as mediators in the relationship between environmental concern and tourists’ pro-environmental behaviors; (3) furthermore, nature empathy and ecological anxiety exhibit a sequential, or chain, mediation effect between environmental concern and pro-environmental behaviors; and (4) lastly, the impact of nature empathy and ecological anxiety on tourists’ pro-environmental behaviors differs according to gender. Consequently, managers of agricultural heritage sites should aim to evoke tourists’ sense of nature empathy while appropriately stimulating their ecological anxiety, thereby providing guidance for ensuring a harmonious blend of human activities and the ecological environment and ultimately fostering the sustainable development of World Agricultural Heritage sites. Full article

National parks are important spatial places for environmental education. To improve the perception and effectiveness of environmental education, it is critical to facilitate the public’s spatial experience. To explore influencing factors of perception and effectiveness of environmental education from a spatial perspective is of great significance for stimulating the public’s pro-environmental behavior and promoting the high-quality development of environmental education in national parks. Educational mode plays an important role in environmental education space, and spatial element is also an important part of it. In this study, Wuyi Mountain National Park was selected as a sample to explore whether educational methods and spatial elements affect the perception and effectiveness of environmental education through questionnaires and statistical methods. The results show that: (1) tourists prefer guided education mode, open space and road with interactive facilities and characteristic paving; (2) both educational modes and spatial elements have positive influence on the perception and effectiveness of environmental education; (3) educational mode and environmental education effectiveness are affected by the demographic characteristics, of which educational background is the main influencing factor. After analysis, it is suggested that when environmental education space is designed, tourists’ preference should be considered and personalized environmental education program should be customized, so as to improve the readability of environmental education space, and provide reference and support for strengthening the environmental education function of national parks. Full article

The aim of this research was to determine the scope of environmentally and socially responsible behavior related to tourist trips of women from Generation Z. The choice of this issue falls within the scientific discussion on the sustainable behavior of young consumers and the area of research on sustainable tourism. The presented research fills the research gap related to the sustainable behavior of young women in the context of tourist trips. This article reviews the literature justifying the choice of this research topic. The results of our own survey research were presented (a sample of 618 touristically active women from Generation Z). Quantitative and qualitative analyses of the obtained results were made. This research showed that respondents were most concerned about recreational space (not leaving garbage in the forest or on the beach, observing regulations in tourist regions and towns, and using only designated trails). They rated their behavior the lowest in terms of reduction in water consumption, use of ecological cosmetics while using water reservoirs, and choosing accommodation places where pro-ecological solutions are used. According to the respondents, the main reasons for the lack of responsible behavior are indifference and habits learned at home. The originality of the presented research results from its scope and concerns only women belonging to Generation Z. Full article

The drive to foster tourists’ pro-environmental behavior (TPEB) is a current research hotspot amidst the deteriorating ecological environment. However, existing studies have yet to reach definitive conclusions on how tourist destinations influence TPEB through different benefit appeals and goal framing. This paper investigates the interactive effects of these factors on TPEB, reporting on two experiments. Study 1 confirmed significant interactive effects of benefit appeals and goal framing on TPEB, wherein altruistic appeals and gain framing, as well as appeals to self-interest and loss framing, demonstrates matching effects. Furthermore, environmental awareness mediated these interactions. Study 2 established that tourists’ environmental knowledge moderates the interactive effects of goal framing and benefit appeals on TPEB. The moderating effect of high-level environmental knowledge is more pronounced, and tourists with higher environmental knowledge are more inclined to engage in TPEB compared with those with lower levels of environmental knowledge. The conclusions of this study not only enrich the research on influencing factors and mechanisms of TPEB but also offer practical insights for environmental management in tourist destinations. Full article

Tourists’ environmentally responsible behavior (TERB) is one of the key areas in tourism as it concerns tourism sustainability that further influences a destination’s competitiveness and image. This study sought to deepen the formation of TERB through tourists’ degree of environmental perception, mediated by their feeling of awe towards the environment, and moderated by their level of face consciousness. Data were collected from tourists in Tibet and the findings indicated that awe exerted partial mediation on the tourists’ perception-behavior relationship. Furthermore, face consciousness moderated the mediated relationship of humanistic environmental perception, awe, and TERB. This study adds value to existing tourism studies by revealing the influences of awe on constructing tourists’ attitude in sustainable tourism. From a practical perspective, the findings offer insights for destination management organizations (DMOs) in promoting tourists’ environmentally responsible behavior that fosters sustainable tourism development. Full article