Tourists’ Pro-Environmental Behaviors: Merging The Norm-Activation-Model Theory And The Broken Window Theory

Abstract

Human behavior will be affected by personal psychological factors, the surrounding environment and the behavior of others at the same time. Existing research on tourists' pro-environmental behavior (PEB) only emphasizes tourists’ internal factors while ignoring the influence of other tourists and environmental factors on tourists’ pro-environmental behavior. Therefore, this study aims to develop a comprehensive model based on the two theories (the norm activation model theory and broken window theory), to explain the tourists' environmental behaviors. This study investigates more than 400 Chinese tourists traveling in groups in China's West Lake scenic spot, and it is determined that the proposed conceptual framework has good predictive power. The SPSS and AMOS statistical software were used to analyze the data in the study. The results also found that: (1) the behavioral reference of other tourists can positively affect tourists’ ascription of responsibility and pro-environmental behavior; (2) the environmental background can positively affect the behavioral reference of others, tourists’ awareness of consequences, personal norms, and pro-environmental behavior. This study provides a more systematic and comprehensive explanation for tourists' environmental decision-making and a feasible direction for the destination managers of China to cultivate tourists' pro-environmental behavior. In addition, the discussion part covers the limitation and future research suggestions of this study.