How to Drive Tourists’ Pro-Environmental Behavior: Interactive Effect of Benefit Appeals and Goal Framing

Pengfei Deng, Xingye Zhou, Dan Xie and Peng Zheng ()
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Pengfei Deng: School of Management, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China
Xingye Zhou: School of Management, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China
Dan Xie: College of Education Training, Henan University of Technology, Zhengzhou 450001, China
Peng Zheng: School of Management, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 13, 1-19

Abstract: The drive to foster tourists’ pro-environmental behavior (TPEB) is a current research hotspot amidst the deteriorating ecological environment. However, existing studies have yet to reach definitive conclusions on how tourist destinations influence TPEB through different benefit appeals and goal framing. This paper investigates the interactive effects of these factors on TPEB, reporting on two experiments. Study 1 confirmed significant interactive effects of benefit appeals and goal framing on TPEB, wherein altruistic appeals and gain framing, as well as appeals to self-interest and loss framing, demonstrates matching effects. Furthermore, environmental awareness mediated these interactions. Study 2 established that tourists’ environmental knowledge moderates the interactive effects of goal framing and benefit appeals on TPEB. The moderating effect of high-level environmental knowledge is more pronounced, and tourists with higher environmental knowledge are more inclined to engage in TPEB compared with those with lower levels of environmental knowledge. The conclusions of this study not only enrich the research on influencing factors and mechanisms of TPEB but also offer practical insights for environmental management in tourist destinations.

Keywords: message framing; benefit appeals; tourists’ pro-environmental behavior; environmental awareness; environmental knowledge (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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