Residents’ Environmental Conservation Behaviors at Tourist Sites: Broadening the Norm Activation Framework by Adopting Environment Attachment

Yuling Zhang, Jie Zhang, Yuyao Ye, Qitao Wu, Lixia Jin and Hongou Zhang
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Yuling Zhang: Guangzhou Institute of Geography, Guangzhou 510070, China
Jie Zhang: School of Geographic and Oceanographic Science, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210046, China
Yuyao Ye: Guangzhou Institute of Geography, Guangzhou 510070, China
Qitao Wu: Guangzhou Institute of Geography, Guangzhou 510070, China
Lixia Jin: Guangzhou Institute of Geography, Guangzhou 510070, China
Hongou Zhang: Guangzhou Institute of Geography, Guangzhou 510070, China

Sustainability, 2016, vol. 8, issue 6, 1-16

Abstract: Understanding the factors that affect residents’ environmental conservation behaviors help in managing the environment of tourist sites. This research provides an integrative understanding of how residents near tourist sites form their environmental conservation behaviors by merging the norm-activation model and cognitive-affective model into one theoretical framework. Results of the structural analysis from a sample of 642 residents showed that this study’s proposed composite model includes a satisfactory level of predictive power for environmental conservation behaviors. The findings identify the following two dimensions of awareness of environmental consequences as having a key role in predicting environmental conservation behaviors: (1) awareness of positive consequences of environmental protection; and (2) awareness of disaster consequences. Results also show that environment attachment and personal norms about environmentalism played a mediating role between awareness of environmental consequences and environmental conservation behaviors, and that personal norms about environmentalism were the most powerful factor in predicting behaviors. Several practical implications were derived from the research findings that can contribute to environment management policy both within and outside the field of tourism, mostly notably: (1) how the effective promotion of these factors can encourage environmental conservation behaviors for residents; and (2) how governments can develop and implement environmental management measures to improve locals’ awareness of positive consequences of environmental protection.

Keywords: environmental conservation behaviors; awareness of environmental consequences; environment attachment; personal norms; J0101 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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