The Role of Awareness of Consequences in Predicting the Local Tourists’ Plastic Waste Reduction Behavioral Intention: The Extension of Planned Behavior Theory

Adel Nasser Badawi, Tarek Sayed Adelazim Ahmed (), Eid Kaadan Alotaibi, Ihab Saad Abbas, Ehab Rabee Ali and Eman Sarhan M. Shaker
Additional contact information
Adel Nasser Badawi: Department of Tourism and Archaeology, College of Arts, University of Hail, Hail 2440, Saudi Arabia
Tarek Sayed Adelazim Ahmed: Department of Tourism and Archaeology, College of Arts, University of Hail, Hail 2440, Saudi Arabia
Eid Kaadan Alotaibi: Department of Tourism and Archaeology, College of Arts, University of Hail, Hail 2440, Saudi Arabia
Ihab Saad Abbas: Department of Tourism and Archaeology, College of Arts, University of Hail, Hail 2440, Saudi Arabia
Ehab Rabee Ali: Department of Tourism and Archaeology, College of Arts, University of Hail, Hail 2440, Saudi Arabia
Eman Sarhan M. Shaker: Tourist Studies Department, High Institute of Tourism and Hotels-King Mariot, Alexandria 21500, Egypt

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-22

Abstract: Due to increasing concern about plastic waste and its impact on the ecosystem, it is vital to understand tourists’ behavioral intentions about plastic waste reduction on beaches. There have been several studies that have used the theory of planned behavior to investigate pro-environmental behaviors or intentions, but there are few specific research studies that have extended the theory of planned behavior by adding awareness of consequences to explain the power of behavioral intention. Accordingly, this paper aimed to investigate how awareness of consequences, subjective norms, attitudes, and behavioral control dimensions influence plastic waste behavioral intention on Jeddah’s beaches, in Saudi Arabia. This was performed on a random sample of 390 local tourists in Jeddah city from June to August 2023. A total of 340 of them agreed and answered the questionnaire, yielding a percentage response rate of 87%. This produced 271 valid questionnaires for data analysis after closely examining the survey. A self-complete questionnaire was used for data collection in using multiple statistical analyses to examine the hypotheses. The results demonstrated a positive influence of subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and consequence awareness on environmental behavioral intention. On the other hand, attitude did not significantly contribute to predict environmental behavioral intention. This study’s findings made clear how crucial it is to consider any potential negative effects while making plans to cut down on plastic trash. Educating people about the possible harm that using plastic products on beaches is anticipated to cause to the environment might also be beneficial. It is intended that, through understanding behavior and behavior determinants, governmental bodies, pro-environmental organizations, businesses, and communities will be able to implement appropriate strategies to reduce the use of plastic in Saudi Arabia to protect marine life.

Keywords: attitude; subjective norm; awareness of consequences; behavioral intention (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/1/436/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/1/436/ (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:16:y:2024:i:1:p:436-:d:1312828

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 ().