Will the Future Be Greener? The Environmental Behavioral Intentions of University Tourism Students

Su-Lan Pan, Ju Chou, Alastair M. Morrison, Wen-Shiung Huang and Meng-Chen Lin
Additional contact information
Su-Lan Pan: School of Tourism & Hospitality Management and Institute for Development of Cross-strait Small and Medium Enterprises at Hubei University of Economics, Wuhan 430205, China
Ju Chou: Graduate Institute of Environmental Education at National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei 11677, Taiwan
Alastair M. Morrison: National Kaohsiung University of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Kaohsiung 80217, Taiwan
Wen-Shiung Huang: Department of Tourism and Leisure Management at Ling Tung University, Taichung 40852, Taiwan
Meng-Chen Lin: School of Business Administration at Hubei University of Economics, Wuhan 430205, China

Sustainability, 2018, vol. 10, issue 3, 1-17

Abstract: Sustainable tourism is essential for tourism sector development. Environmentally responsible behaviors and behavioral intentions are important prerequisites for sustainable tourism. This research explores the behavioral intentions of university tourism students and significant factors affecting these behavioral intentions. The questionnaire survey method was applied to university students from the tourism departments of nine universities in Taiwan. A total of 390 valid questionnaires were collected. The pro-environmental behavioral intentions of the students ranged from moderate to high. Environmental knowledge positively affected behavioral intentions and positively influenced environmental sensitivity and environmental responsibility. Furthermore, environmental sensitivity and environmental responsibility exerted a full effect in mediating the relationship between environmental knowledge and behavioral intentions. Hence, increasing students’ environmental knowledge will enhance their behavioral intentions. However, by improving students’ sensitivity and responsibility, their intentions to protect the environment can be more effectively elevated. Development implications and recommendations for sustainable tourism and higher education are provided.

Keywords: sustainable tourism; environmentally responsible behavior; behavioral intentions; environmental sensitivity; environmental responsibility; university tourism students; Taiwan (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/3/634/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/3/634/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:3:p:634-:d:133918

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().