Why the tripartite relationship of place attachment, loyalty, and pro-environmental behaviour matter?

ABSTRACT

The tripartite relationship among loyalty, pro-environmental (PEB) behaviour, and place attachment (PA) was explored to capture the variability and complexity of both loyalty and PEB dynamics. Further, the tripartite model was extended to another precedent variable of destination image to more broadly explain the process of tourist behavioural change in nature-based tourism (NBT) destinations. The study found that PA is the critical factor beneficial to sustainable management of NBT context and cognitive destination image increases the psychological attachment to destinations. Particularly, this study suggests that the reciprocal synergy between loyalty and PEB intentions can be achieved by strengthening PA for the destination.

KEYWORDS:

• Loyalty
• pro-environmental behaviour
• place attachment
• place dependence
• place identity
• destination image
• nature-based tourism destinations
• Hainan Island
• Chinese eco-tourists

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.