Extending the Theory of Planned Behavior with the Self-Congruity Theory to Predict Tourists’ Pro-Environmental Behavioral Intentions: A Two-Case Study of Heritage Tourism

Xiaojuan Rao, Hongliang Qiu (), Alastair M. Morrison and Wei Wei
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Xiaojuan Rao: School of Business Administration, Tourism College of Zhejiang, Hangzhou 311231, China
Hongliang Qiu: School of Business Administration, Tourism College of Zhejiang, Hangzhou 311231, China
Alastair M. Morrison: Greenwich Business School, University of Greenwich, London SE10 9LS, UK
Wei Wei: Department of Hospitality Services, Rosen College of Hospitality Management, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL 32819, USA

Land, 2022, vol. 11, issue 11, 1-19

Abstract: Tourists’ pro-environmental behaviors are critical to the conservation of cultural landscape heritage and for the sustainability of heritage tourism. Applying the theories of planned behavior (TPB) and self-congruity, this research explained the formation of tourists’ pro-environmental behavioral intentions (TPEBI). A total of 342 effective responses were gathered at a heritage destination, while another set of data was collected from a historic cultural destination for cross-validation ( n = 345). The findings indicated that: (1) there are direct and positive associations between TPEBI and attitudes toward the behavior, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, self-congruity, and functional congruity; (2) functional congruity mediates the association between self-congruity and TPEBI; (3) the “congruity-TPB” framework has greater predictive capacity in comparison to the single model; (4) a cross-validation approach found consistent results by using a historic cultural district as another case. Taking both rational and value-expressive factors into consideration, the current study expands the applicability of the self-congruity theory in TPEBI research. Findings produce some new insights into sustainable destination management.

Keywords: theory of planned behavior; self-congruity theory; self-congruity; functional congruity; tourists’ pro-environmental behavioral intentions; cross-validation; cultural landscape heritage; historic cultural district (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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