How Does Tourist Experience Affect Environmentally Responsible Behavior?

Mountain tourism is an important part of China’s tourism market. Tourist behavior is essential to environmental protection and the sustainability of destinations. This paper takes environmentally responsible behavior (ERB) as an important tourist behavior. It breaks down the dimensions of the traditional tourism experience, such as hedonism, participation, novelty; or hedonism, involvement, novelty, local culture; and analyzes the influence of entertainment, education, aesthetics, and escape on place attachment from the nature of the tourism experience. It then incorporates nature bonding into the system of place attachment and analyzes the relationship with place attachment, tourist experiences, and ERBs in Qianshan Mountain, a 5A scenic spot in China. Partial least squares structural (PLS) equation modeling is used to analyze the data of 410 valid questionnaires. The results found that tourist experiences affect ERBs through place attachment. Nature bonding is the key factor of ERBs. The results are as follows: escape and aesthetics influence ERB through nature bonding; entertainment influences general ERB through place identity and nature bonding; education has a positive impact on general ERB through place identity and place dependence. Entertainment and education experiences partially affect place attachment. Place identity and nature bonding affect general ERB, but particular ERB is related only to nature bonding. The internal psychological mechanism of ERB is identified. In addition, mountain landscapes can be designed from the perspective of entertainment experiences, landscape aesthetic, leisure atmosphere and educational functions, so that tourists can spontaneously pay attention to environmental issues and engage in the practical activities of environmental protection.

The Effect of Tourism Experience on Tourists’ Environmentally Responsible Behavior at Cultural Heritage Sites: The Mediating Role of Cultural Attachment

With the rapid development of tourism and the explosive growth of tourist arrivals, the destructive effects of tourist activities on the ecological environment of tourist destinations are becoming increasingly severe, seriously restricting the sustainable development of these destinations. As one of the most important types of current tourist destinations, cultural heritage sites are in urgent need of a well-protected ecological environment. Environmental protection has already become an important task for their sustainable development. The behavior of tourists during visits, which plays a central role in tourist activities, has gradually become a key factor affecting the environment of tourist destinations. Therefore, approaches to effectively identify the mechanisms underpinning tourists’ environmentally responsible behavior have become a focus of both theoretical and practical domains. Based on a stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) theoretical framework, our study established a mediation model based on cultural attachments, and explored the mechanisms affecting how cognitive, emotional, and cultural experiences influence tourists’ environmentally responsible behavior. The experience-attachment-behavior transmission mechanism was also considered. A structural equation model was applied to empirically test the 588 pieces of data collected from tourists involved in heritage tourism. The test results show that the cognitive, emotional, and cultural experiences delivered from tourist destinations of cultural heritage, positively affected tourists’ environmentally responsible behavior. Cultural attachment plays a partially mediating role between cognitive, emotional, cultural experiences and tourists’ environmentally responsible behavior. These study results not only support theoretical research on the relationship between tourism experiences and tourists’ environmentally responsible behavior, but also indicate the effective driving pathways of tourists’ environmentally responsible behavior at the practical level. As such, this research provides both theoretical reference and practical guidance for the sustainable development of tourist destinations with diverse cultural heritages.

EXTENDED THEORY OF PLANNED BEHAVIOR TO EXPLAIN ENVIRONEMNTALLY RESPONSIBLE BEHAVIOR IN CONTEXT OF NATURE-BASED TOURISM

Promoting environmentally responsible behavior is important in preventing and reducing the environmental problem. This work focused on particular environmentally responsible behavior (avoiding and reducing littering). The present study extended the Theory of Planned Behavior (environmental knowledge, biospheric value, and positive emotional experience) to identify the factors influencing intended environmentally responsible behavior of tourists visiting nature based destinations in the context of Indonesia. Based on the data collected from 204 respondents through questionnaires survey using purposive sampling approach. The structural equation analysis shows that biospheric value, environmental knowledge, and positive emotional experience have a positive influence on attitude toward behavior. Besides, the result demonstrated that attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavior control have a significant positive influence on environmentally responsible behavior intention. The findings emphasized that positive emotional experiences have a strongest influence on attitude and perceived behavior control have a strong influence on environmentally responsible behavior. This work contributes to the sustainable development goals and environmentally responsible behavior in tourism behavior literature. Although, some limitations were acknowledged in this work, practical implication and future agenda for research are provided.

CAN SOCIAL MEDIA BE A TOOL FOR INCREASING TOURISTS’ ENVIRONMENTALLY RESPONSIBLE BEHAVIOR?

For the sustainable development of a tourism destination, environmentally responsible behavior (ERB) is a vital issue. This study developed an implicated model based on the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) framework showing the usages of social media by tourists regarded as a stimulus; environmental awareness, and place attachment generated from using social media regarded as an organism; and tourists' ERB thereby bringing behavioral intension regarded as responses. The integrated tourists' ERB model was experimentally tested using survey data from 467 Bangladeshi tourists by SEM-based methodology. The study found that social media has a beneficial effect on environmental awareness and place attachment, negatively impacting ERB. Furthermore, environmental awareness and place attachment has a favorable impact on ERB. This article discusses theoretical discoveries as well as practical consequences.

The role of online social networks in university students’ environmentally responsible behavior

Purpose This study aims to determine the effect of online social networks on university students’ environmentally responsible behavior (ERB). This research aimed to develop and test a behavioral model in the context of online social networks, where students’ attitudes, knowledge and behavior influence their ERB. Design/methodology/approach This study used a quasi-experiment with a pretest-posttest design and a random parallelization control group. The research used a questionnaire to assess ERB, environmental attitudes and environmental knowledge. The researcher randomly assigned 120 students to an experimental and a control group of equal size. Both groups initially completed a pretest. The experimental group was trained in environmental issues over four months (an academic semester) via an online social network. Findings The findings indicated that the social network had a significant effect on motivating ERB. Additionally, it improved environmental attitudes. According to the results, online social networks such as Facebook can significantly aid in teaching and learning environmental issues in formal academic settings. Originality/value Online social networks facilitated significant cognitive progress in environmental education. The primary objective is to educate students about ERB.

Does Positive Contact Between Residents and Tourists Stimulate Tourists’ Environmentally Responsible Behavior? The Role of Gratitude and Boundary Conditions

This study explored how and when positive contact between residents and tourists stimulates tourists’ environmentally responsible behavior. Drawing on social exchange theory, we verified a moderated mediation model in which gratitude mediated the link between positive contact and tourists’ environmentally responsible behavior, while agreeableness moderated the relationship between positive contact and gratitude. Data were collected from 691 visitors to Mount Wuyi. The findings revealed that positive contact directly affected tourists’ environmentally responsible behavior and that this link was mediated by gratitude. Furthermore, agreeableness significantly moderated the effects of positive contact on gratitude. In particular, the effect of positive contact on gratitude was stronger for tourists with high agreeableness. Additionally, agreeableness also strengthened the indirect relationship between positive contact and tourists’ environmentally responsible behavior through gratitude—which was, again, stronger for highly agreeable tourists.

Slum dwellers' occupational activities and health implications

PurposeThe literature has acknowledged that good health is a crucial component of well-being. This study explores the country-specific understanding of slum dwellers' occupational activities and their environmental behavior.Design/methodology/approachUsing the environmentally responsible behavior model, the study utilized exploratory qualitative approach to purposely sample 35 respondents, who responded to health-related behaviors through in-depth interviews.FindingsFindings show that respondents are engaged in diverse socio-economic occupational activities such as selling of cooked and uncooked food in polythene bags, selling of sachet water and burning the waste generated from these activities in the slum environment. In addition, the study found specific occupational activities of masons, carpenters, tilers, salon beauticians, scrap dealers and unhygienic waste disposal in the slums. Finally, this study uncovered divided opinions in terms of respondents' environmental responsibility and awareness of environmental ramifications. Therefore, issues such as health hazards, unhealthy environment and soil deterioration are common at the slum dwellings.Research limitations/implicationsThe study findings and the conclusion drawn cannot be generalized to represent the entire population of slum dwellers in Ghana due to the qualitative methodology employed.Practical implicationsThis study revealed a country-specific understanding of the environmentally responsible behavior of slum dwellers based on their occupational activities, which can inform health policies.Originality/valueThe outcome of this study advanced contextual culturally specific understanding, concerning health-related behavior of slum dwellers, which is important to policymakers and practitioners in contexts.