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Article
Publication date: 30 July 2024

Sahar Hosseinikhah Choshaly

This study aims to examine the pro-environmental behavior of tourists in one of the northern cities of Iran, Lahijan, by applying the Protection Motivation Theory (PMT).

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to examine the pro-environmental behavior of tourists in one of the northern cities of Iran, Lahijan, by applying the Protection Motivation Theory (PMT).

Design/methodology/approach

The sample consists of a total of 180 tourists who had traveled to Lahijan city in Guilan province. Data is analyzed using descriptive analysis and structural equation modeling (SEM) technique using Smart PLS 3.0.

Findings

The results confirm the importance of PMT in explaining the pro-environmental behavior of tourists. The findings of this study show the significant relationship between vulnerability, severity, self-efficacy, response efficacy, response cost and maladaptive perception with tourist’s pro-environmental behavior. Moreover, rewards are not related to pro-environmental behavior.

Practical implications

This study provides a better understanding of how to motivate tourists toward pro-environmental behavior. It also contributes to reinforcing PMT by adding evidence from tourism research and delivers profiles for tourism providers.

Originality/value

The study contributes to the understanding of the predictors of pro-environmental behavior of tourists in Iran using a full PMT which encompasses three concepts of threats appraisal, coping appraisal and maladaptive perception.

Details

International Journal of Tourism Cities, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2056-5607

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 23 April 2024

Laili Zulkepeli, Muhammad Ashraf Fauzi, Norazah Mohd Suki, Mohd Hanafiah Ahmad, Walton Wider and Syed Radzi Rahamaddulla

This science mapping analysis aims to discern current, emerging and future trends of pro-environmental behavior and the theory of planned behavior (TPB).

Abstract

Purpose

This science mapping analysis aims to discern current, emerging and future trends of pro-environmental behavior and the theory of planned behavior (TPB).

Design/methodology/approach

Bibliometric analysis through bibliographic coupling and co-word analysis were used to reveal the progress of this phenomenon. Of the 1,120 documents search in Web of Science (WoS) database, 1,031 were used in this analysis after restricting to journal publications and studies after the year 2000.

Findings

The results show that four themes emerged, namely the fundamentals of TPB for pro-environmental behavior, antecedents of pro-environmental behavior, integration of TPB with the norm activation model and value belief theory and studies of pro-environmental behavior in developing countries. Environmental concern, environmental awareness, environmental knowledge and environmental education were the most commonly integrated variables.

Research limitations/implications

This research is unique in the sense that the integration between TPB and other prominent theories of pro-environmental behavior is vital to predict individual pro-environmental behavior and understand the fundamental scientific importance of the domain. The norm activation model has been integrated with TPB in many pro-environmental behaviors. Mainstream media stakeholders should design and implement a plan for strategic communication and awareness campaigns in the community to encourage consumers to engage in many behaviors that lead to environmental sustainability.

Originality/value

This study presents a science mapping approach to uncover crucial knowledge structure related to pro-environmental behavior and the theory of planned behavior.

Details

Management of Environmental Quality: An International Journal, vol. 35 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1477-7835

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 21 August 2024

Mark Chris Maglanque Lapuz and Christopher Rivera Manlapaz

This study aims to address the following objectives: determine the pro-environmental behavior of students and professors engaged in the course Sustainable Tourism; determine the…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to address the following objectives: determine the pro-environmental behavior of students and professors engaged in the course Sustainable Tourism; determine the pro-environmental behavior component of the professor that has the highest influence on the pro-environmental behavior of students; and formulate a model describing the components of the pro-environmental behavior of the professor with significant influence on the pro-environmental behavior of students. It also evaluates the norm-activation-theory-aligned pro-environmental behavior of the course's instructor and the students taking the course after they participated in the course Sustainable Tourism.

Design/methodology/approach

A correlational analysis using the partial least squares structural equation modeling approach was conducted in the survey results to determine the specific components of the professor's pro-environmental behavior that influenced the students' pro-environmental behavior.

Findings

Situational responsibility, efficacy and denial of responsibility were proven more influential in shaping students' pro-environmental behavior. This implies that students learn and adopt a pro-environmental orientation through role modeling and practical application, not by knowledge acquisition.

Originality/value

This could improve the body of knowledge on pro-environmental behavior by analyzing the reciprocal relationships between the person who delivers the course that instills pro-environmental behavior and students who learn from their professors using the norm activation theory.

Details

International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1467-6370

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 18 July 2024

Van Thi Hong Do and Long Thanh Do

While consumers are increasingly concerned about the environment and commit themselves to environmental protection, they are still reluctant to act. This phenomenon, to date, has…

Abstract

Purpose

While consumers are increasingly concerned about the environment and commit themselves to environmental protection, they are still reluctant to act. This phenomenon, to date, has remained a puzzle and gained much attention from practitioners and researchers. As a contribution to the understanding of the phenomenon, this study aims to examine the role of downward social comparison as an explanation for the inconsistency of the relationships between two types of pro-environmental attitudes, namely attitudes toward the environment and attitudes toward sustainable consumption, and two sustainable consumption behaviors including electricity-saving behavior and unneeded consumption reduction.

Design/methodology/approach

Hierarchical multiple regressions were employed to test the hypotheses with survey data from 381 consumers in a large city in a Southeast Asian country.

Findings

The regression results support our expectation that downward social comparison negatively moderates the relationships between the two attitude variables and the two sustainable consumption behaviors.

Originality/value

Our findings provide some insights into the complexity of the attitude-behavior relationship and offer some practical recommendations for governments and policymakers in designing more effective behavioral interventions for the sustainability of human society.

Details

Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1355-5855

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 February 2024

Israel Javier Juma Michilena, Maria Eugenia Ruiz Molina and Irene Gil-Saura

The purpose of this study is to identify groups of employees based on their motivations, detecting the main barriers that may influence their willingness to participate in the…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to identify groups of employees based on their motivations, detecting the main barriers that may influence their willingness to participate in the pro-environmental initiatives proposed by their employer.

Design/methodology/approach

To identify the different groups of employees, an online survey was conducted, and the Chi-square automatic interaction detection algorithm segmentation technique was used with a sample of 483 employees from 9 Latin American universities.

Findings

The results allowed us to identify various segments, in which the main obstacle linked to intrinsic motivation is the university culture and, to a lesser extent, the lack of equipment, while for extrinsic motivation, the lack of infrastructure is the most determining factor. Likewise, the results reflect that, compared to the less motivated employees, those who show greater motivation (both intrinsic and extrinsic) are the ones who encounter the greatest barriers, so that the perceptions of the most motivated, as expert observers, help to identify the main obstacles that organisations must remove to promote pro-environmental behaviours among staff members.

Practical implications

The results obtained help to guide the representatives or organisational leaders on the actions that generate the greatest impact in the mitigation of climate change from a motivational approach of behavioural prediction.

Social implications

This study contributes to a more sustainable society by developing an understanding of how employees react to issues related to climate change. Knowing the perceptions of employees can be a turning point so that other members of society can get involved in pro-environmental behaviours.

Originality/value

Many studies have analysed the intrinsic and extrinsic motivations of employees to engage in pro-environmental behaviours; however, as far as the authors are aware, this has not been analysed from the perspective of barriers to motivation.

Details

Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal, vol. 15 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-8021

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 August 2024

Lei Qi, Ji Li, Zhiqiang Pang and Bing Liu

The purpose of this study is to enrich the literature on employee relations with a new model focusing on the effect of institutional structure and that of employees’…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to enrich the literature on employee relations with a new model focusing on the effect of institutional structure and that of employees’ organizational identification on the relationship between institutional structure in an organization and employees’ pro-environmental behaviors, which represents an alternative approach for understanding employees’ pro-environmental performance.

Design/methodology/approach

We collect multi-level and multi-source data from 52 four- or five-star hotels in China (N = 963). For data analysis, we adopt the approach of multilevel structural equation modeling.

Findings

The results suggest that organizations’ green institutional structure (G-structure) can significantly influence employees’ organizational identification, which in turn can increase their pro-environmental performance.

Originality/value

We propose a new multi-level theoretical perspective to explain employees’ pro-environmental behaviors. While prior studies on the issue mainly consider only the effects of such micro-level variables as ability, motivation and personality, we focus on the effect of organizational institution and its interaction with micro-level variables so that we can evaluate the effect a commonly-studied contextual variable, i.e. green institutions, on the behaviors. Moreover, in this new theoretical model, we also take into account the effect of another insufficiently-tested micro-level variable, i.e. employees’ identification, which has not been considered as frequently as other micro-level variables in studying employees’ pro-environmental performance. Our results highlight the importance of all these variables and suggest a valuable alternative model for more comprehensive research of employees’ green performance.

Details

Employee Relations: The International Journal, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0142-5455

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 September 2024

Herdiyan Maulana, Haerani Nur, Erik Erik, Faradillah Firdaus and Novitasari Damanik

The higher education sector plays an important role in a nation’s implementation of pro-environmental regulations. Environmental initiatives should be the focal point of a…

Abstract

Purpose

The higher education sector plays an important role in a nation’s implementation of pro-environmental regulations. Environmental initiatives should be the focal point of a university's mission, and they are expected to be present in everyday academic life on campus. This study aims to propose the extended model of the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to understand the psychological aspects that may enhance the likelihood of university students engaging in environmentally friendly behavior.

Design/methodology/approach

This study used a quantitative approach involving a national sample of university student participants (N = 1,608) from various regions across Indonesia. The battery included extended TPB dimension measures (attitudes, norms, behavior control, environmental concern and habits on pro-environmental behavior intention) that were administered in the Indonesian language.

Findings

The structural equation modeling analysis revealed that the proposed extended TPB model met fit model indices and significantly predicted participants’ pro-environmental intentions.

Research limitations/implications

This theoretical model has the potential to assist relevant stakeholders and higher education institutions in the development of evidence-based pro-environmental policies and interventions to promote sustainable student behavior.

Originality/value

This study presents a novel approach to understanding the effect of the extended TPB model on participants’ ecological intentions in the Indonesian university setting. This study was among the first to propose a sustainable behavior intention model based on the TPB theory within the Indonesian context. The current findings challenged the established TPB framework and offered fresh insights into the behavioral-psychological interplay within university environmental contexts.

Details

International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1467-6370

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 25 March 2024

Fitri Rahmafitria and Regan Leonardus Kaswanto

One of the crucial elements of addressing global climate challenges through urban tourism is the continuing existence of urban forests. The reasoning is that the ecological…

Abstract

Purpose

One of the crucial elements of addressing global climate challenges through urban tourism is the continuing existence of urban forests. The reasoning is that the ecological attraction of urban forests can impact visitors’ intention to conduct pro-environmental behavior, including low-carbon actions. Thus, more visitors to urban forests will positively affect enhancing the quality of the urban environment. However, the extent to which ecological attraction can influence pro-environmental behavior warrants further investigation due to the complexity of psychosocial factors that impact behavioral intention. The main objective of this research is to examine the effects of the ecological attractiveness of urban forests on the pro-environmental behavior of visitors by exploring motivation, ecological experience, perceived value and knowledge as mediators. Moreover, whether the nature of the urban forest and facilities attract visitors simultaneously is also studied.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected from 615 respondents who visited three urban forests in Bandung, the second-most populous city in Indonesia, by five-point Likert questionnaires. As an analytical tool, SEM PLS was applied to establish the effect of the ecological performance of the urban forest on the increase in environmentally conscious behavior among urban forest visitors.

Findings

The findings demonstrate that the attractiveness of an urban forest affects the growth of environmentally responsible behaviors. Nonetheless, the attractiveness of urban forests is dictated more by their infrastructure than their ecological function. On the contrary, the visitors’ knowledge level can improve their motivation, environmental experience and perceived environmental value. These findings show the significance of developing educational programs with an emphasis on the experience of the visitors so that their ecological performance can contribute to improved low-carbon behavior. In conclusion, this work contributes to the management of sustainable urban tourism.

Research limitations/implications

This work also has some limitations. First, the medium R-square on intention behavior to low-carbon action suggests investigating other influential factors to produce a more robust conscious behavior. Mkono and Hughes (2020) mention that many complex factors that cause positive intention do not necessarily lead to environmental action. Thus, many psychosocial variables need to be explored in different models. Second, the convenient sampling used here does not represent the whole population, making generalization difficult. Thus, further work needs to apply more rigorous sampling techniques to validate the findings. Further investigations may also need to be conducted in other urban forests in another Asian country with a similar and different social context for benchmarking, as this study found that the type of attractive urban forest design is a more dense forest, which differs from other studies based in Europe. Exploring more influencing behavioral factors of pro-environmental action in the model is also suggested. Thus, we could contribute more to support recreational activities in urban forests.

Practical implications

As an implication for planning an urban forest to increase its recreational function, the authors illustrate the importance of producing educational programs. Although the improved knowledge of visitors has been shown to strengthen their commitment to perform pro-environmental actions, the mediating role of motivation, experience and perceived value reveals that some activities are required to achieve visitor motivation to actual behavior. Consequently, designing an urban forest requires not only the enhancement of eco-attractions and artificial elements for the convenience of visitors but also the development of an environmental education program that can improve visitors’ environmental experience and perception of ecological value. The designed educational program may use an experiential education approach incorporating objective knowledge of Earth’s current state. The urban forest education program must encourage visitors’ connection and participation with nature. Moreover, knowledge and information about Earth’s environmental quality can increase visitors’ perceived value, ensuring that their activities in the urban forest contribute to improved health, environmental quality and social environment. Thus, with well-managed and provided education, they are encouraged to adopt low-carbon action because it complements their contribution to a better quality environment.

Originality/value

The theoretical contribution of this research is generated through the role of urban forest attractiveness in the intention to conduct low-carbon action, which influences solutions to existing urban environmental problems. This work exhibits that both ecological attractiveness and attractiveness of artificial elements in urban forests can attract visitors and subsequently boost their outdoor recreation motivation, ecological experience and perceived value and then turn them to boost their intention to conduct low-carbon action. The physical characteristics of a site are behavioral stimuli that can increase a person’s motivation, experience and perception of the value of the environment, thereby increasing their intention to engage in low-carbon actions. This environment behavioral construction is fundamental in understanding that urban forests offer ecological benefits and influence the social quality of urban communities. Nevertheless, without visitor activity, urban forests are merely physical entities that become increasingly demanding to maintain. Due to this, an urban forest that is socially active and has an influence on promoting environmentally conscious behavior is needed, and its presence is becoming ever more crucial. This work shows the significance of integrating psychosocial approaches into managing tourism in urban forests.

Details

International Journal of Tourism Cities, vol. 10 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2056-5607

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 18 June 2024

Guy Assaker

This study aims to examine a comprehensive model for the concurrent effects of tourists’ sustainability concerns, social norms, frugality and awareness of the UN’s sustainable…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to examine a comprehensive model for the concurrent effects of tourists’ sustainability concerns, social norms, frugality and awareness of the UN’s sustainable development goals (SDGs) on sustainable travel behavior (STB), with sustainability in this case extending beyond the environmental to include economic and socio-cultural aspects as well.

Design/methodology/approach

The model is tested using a structural equation modeling technique based on data collected from 200 US respondents who traveled internationally in the past year.

Findings

Results reveal that all aforementioned variables, namely, sustainability concerns, social norms, frugality and SDG awareness, when considered together each positively influenced STB. However, SDG awareness did not accentuate tourists’ sustainability concerns associated with travel and tourism, as initially hypothesized.

Originality/value

Unlike previous studies that have mainly focused on the pro-environmental aspects of sustainability and failed to consider the aforementioned variables concurrently, the results from this study advance our understanding of the determinants of STB (more generally) while accounting specifically for the expected role of the UN SDG agenda.

Details

Consumer Behavior in Tourism and Hospitality, vol. 19 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2752-6666

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 16 September 2022

Jorge Nascimento and Sandra Maria Correia Loureiro

Considering the relevance of understanding what influences environmentally sustainable consumer choices, the present study aims to examine and synthesize the key determinants…

1807

Abstract

Purpose

Considering the relevance of understanding what influences environmentally sustainable consumer choices, the present study aims to examine and synthesize the key determinants factors from literature and outline a new conceptual framework for explaining green purchasing behaviors (GPBs).

Design/methodology/approach

A bibliometric analysis was conducted on 161 articles extracted from Web of Science and Scopus databases, which were systematically evaluated and reviewed, and represent the current GPB knowledge base. Content analysis, science mapping and bibliometric analysis techniques were applied to uncover the major theories and constructs from the state-of-the-art.

Findings

The evolving debate between altruistic and self-interest consumer motivations reveals challenges for rational-based theories, as most empirical applications are not focused on buying behaviors, but instead either on pro-environmental (non-buying) activities or on buying intentions. From the subset of leading contributions and emerging topics, nine thematic clusters are unveiled in this investigation, which were combined to create the new PSICHE framework with the purpose of predicting GPB: (P)roduct-related factors, (S)ocial influences, (I)ndividual factors, (C)oncerns about the environment, (H)abits and (E)motions.

Practical implications

By uncovering the multiple intervening factors in GPB decision processes, this study will assist practitioners and academics to move forward on how to foster more sustainable consumer behaviors.

Originality/value

The present study provides readers a summary of an unprecedentedly broad collection of papers, from which the key themes are categorized, the domain's intellectual structure is captured and an actionable framework for enhancing the understanding GPB is proposed. Four new thrust areas and a set of future research questions are included.

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