Study On The Measurement Dimensions And Influence Mechanism Of Tourists’ Environmentally Responsible Behavior

In recent more than twenty years,sustainable tourism has been philosophy and action that international organization and governments strongly supported and advocated,and hotspots and focus that the tourism research community concerned.With the rapid development of tourism market in China,tourism industry has been played an important role in the local economic development.Meanwhile,tourist activities spontaneously have negative effect on the destination environment.Previous research has showed that a relationship of "people-park symbiosis" exists between this kind of tourists and the destinations.Tourists,thus,can be regarded as a form of "asset",rather than traditionally criticized "liability",for destination’s environmental protection.Fostering tourists’ environmentally responsible behavior(TERB)was considered as the "best practice" in destination management for sustainable tourism.Therefore,investigating the measurement dimensions and influence mechanism of TERB has become a critical issue in sustainable tourism research.Based on the tourism settings,this paper closely centers around the key question of "what are the measurement dimensions and influence mechanism of TERB".With the research methods of literature review,grounded theory,questionnaire,mathematical statistics and analysis,this paper discusses the following four sub-problems gradually and progressively:(1)How to define the concept of TERB(sub-study 1)?(2)How to develop the multidimensional construct of TERB based on a grounded theory approach(sub-study 2)?(3)How to develop the scale of TERB and how to validate the multidimensional construct of TERB(sub-study 3)?(4)What is the influence mechanism of TERB in ’ the integrated analytical framework for encouraging TERB(sub-study 4)?With all four sub-studies,five main conclusions are achieved in this dissertation as follows:Firstly,through literature comparison,the concept connotation of TERB is extracted.At present,scholars at home and abroad have adopted various terminologies to describe behavior that protects the environment,such as environmentally responsible behavior,pro-environmental behavior,environmentally friendly behavior,environmental protection behavior,ecological behavior,environmental behavior,environmentally concerned behavior,environmentally significant behavior,environmental consciousness behavior and sustainable behavior.By analysing and comparing these concepts and the corresponding dimensions,sub-study 1 defines TERB as any actions which reduce the negative impacts of tourist behavior on the destination environment or contribute to destination environmental preservation.Secondly,TERB is a multidimensional construct with four variables in sub-study 2.In accordance with the operation procedure of a grounded theory approach,a total of 38 raw data collected from in-depth interviews is analyzed in a series of the following steps:open coding,axial coding,selective coding,theoretical saturation test and theoretical modeling.Based on the above analysis,TERB can be classified into four constructs:environment-complying behavior,environment-consuming behavior,environment-saving behavior and environment-promoting behavior.Thirdly,the self-developed scale of TERB has good reliability and validity.According to the scale development process,based on the findings of sub-study 2,sub-study3 develops the initial scale of TERB at first.Afterwards,in the pre-survey phase,a total of 345 data collected from the valid questionnaires is analyzed in a series of the following steps:common method variance test,critical ratio test,correlation test,homogeneity test,content validity test and construct validity test.In the formal survey phase,a total of 830 effective data is analyzed in a series of the following steps:exploratory factor analysis,confirmatory factor analysis,reliability analysis,composite reliability analysis,convergent validity test,discriminant validity test and cross-validation test.In conclusion,empirical analytical results of sub-study3 indicate that:(1)The 18-item scale of TERB can be divided into four dimensions,including environment-complying behavior,environment-consuming behavior,environment-saving behavior and environment-promoting behavior.(2)In contrast with the first-order correlated four-factor model,the second-order correlated one-factor model with four first-order factors is a relatively optimal TERB model.Fourthly,based on the analytical framework of gain goals,normative goals,hedonic goals,situational factors or habitual factors,each theoretical model has good explanatory power for TERB,but the explanatory power of each model is different.The 3400 Chinese tourists’questionnaires were distributed and 2669 valid questionnaires were obtained,for an effective response rate of 78.5%.Based on the SPSS and AMOS data analysis software,sub-study 4 empirically tests construct validity,variable reliability and research hypotheses.The results of confirmatory factor analysis show that there is enough reliability and validity of each variable in the hypothesis model.Using the structural model to test relevant hypotheses,the empirical results of competitive models indicate that:(1)Compared with the model of TAM,the model of TPB has better explanatory power for TERB.(2)Integrating destination image or recreation experience into the attachment-TERB model can significantly raise its power in predicting TERB.(3)Different situational factors play a different moderating role between tourists’ psychological factors and TERB.(4)Integrating intervention policy factors into the model of TPB,the identity-personal norm model or the affection-TERB model can significantly raise its power in predicting TERB.(5)In the analytical framework of goal framing theory,environmental self-identity theory is the most important theory in predicting TERB.(6)Habitual factors are the most critical factors in driving TERB.Fifthly,in the integrated analytical framework which includes goal framing theory,situational factors and habitual factors,the effect of different factors on TERB is different.The empirical results of the integrated model indicate that:(1)In the integrated model,habitual factors,intervention policy factors,environmental self-identity,place attachment are the key predictive variables in predicting TERB.(2)In the integrated model,perceived behavioral convenience plays a positive moderating role between personal norm,environmental negative affection and TERB.Compared with previous literature,the main theoretical contributions of this paper are embodied in the following four aspects:Firstly,six important characteristics of TERB are proposed.Based on the findings of sub-study 1,six major characteristics of TERB are achieved in this dissertation as follows:(1)Tourists are the main body in implementing TERB.(2)Unusual Environment is the implementation environment of TERB.(3)The connotation of TERB is abundant.(4)The different types of goals(or motivations)govern TERB in a given situation.(5)TERB has positive effect on the tourism environment.(6)TERB has a direct and indirect impact on the tourism environment.This definition of TERB is the system integration of the existing literature,which makes a contribution to reveal the essential characteristics of TERB.Secondly,through the combination of quantitative and qualitative research methods,the self-developed scale of TERB under the background of Chinese localization is constructed and validated.Based on the findings of sub-study 2,the multidimensional construct of TERB is constructed through a grounded theory approach,which enriches the theoretical domain of TERB.Based on the findings of sub-study 3,the system architecture of TERB under the background of Chinese localization is constructed through exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis.This scale of TERB not only aids an understanding of the characteristics of Chinese TERB in the tourism settings,but also provides an important measurement tool for the empirical study of TERB in the context of Chinese localization.Thirdly,based on the integrated analytical framework for encouraging TERB,sub-study 4 provides a systematical and comprehensive explanation of the influence mechanism of TERB.The integrated analytical framework enriches and expands the research horizon of the influence mechanism of TERB.The empirical results of competitive models and the integrated model clarify the key factors in predicting TERB,which makes a contribution to reveal the problem of"which is superior:the different theoretical model in predicting TERB".Fourthly,sub-study 4 supplements and perfects the research of contingency relationship between tourists’ psychological factors and TERB.With introduction of four situational factors in the integrated framework for encouraging TERB(i.e.perceived behavioral convenience,social climate,destination environmental publicity and education policy,government environmental publicity and education policy),sub-study 4 comprehensively answers the question of "under what circumstances does the relationship between tourists’ psychological factors and TERB have a significant statistical difference",and provides a comprehensive explanation of the boundary conditions of the above relationship.