Motivational place attachment dimensions and the pro-environmental behaviour intention of mass tourists: a moderated mediation model

Abstract

As a majority of tourist group, the pro-environmental psychological mechanism of mass tourists has not been investigated adequately. Deepening one core facet of the model of goal-directed behaviour, this study investigates the relationships among attitude (i.e. place attachment dimensions), desire, intention and mass tourism value orientation to expound the pro-environmental mentality of mass tourists. Questionnaires were collected from 865 domestic mass tourists visiting Sanya, China. The results partially confirm the validity of the explanation model and delineate the pro-environmental motivating nuance of each place attachment dimension. Place affect and place dependence both significantly motivate the environmental activation of mass tourists. While the motivating effect of the former is rather solid, it is vulnerable to moderation when it comes to the latter. Place identity unexpectedly plays a negative motivating role. The implications of the research findings are discussed.

Keywords:

• mass pro-environmental tourists
• pro-environmental psychological mechanism
• mass tourism value orientation
• place attachment
• attitude-intention gap

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Social Science Foundation of China under Grant No. 16BGL119; China National Tourism Administration under Grant No. 16TACK007; Education Department of Hainan Province under Grant No. Hnky2017ZD-4; National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant No. 41571133; and Hainan University under Grant No. kyqd1556.