An extension of the Theory of Planned Behavior to predict willingness to pay for the conservation of an urban park

Abstract

This paper relates the concept of moral obligation and the components of the Theory of Planned Behavior to determine their influence on the willingness to pay of visitors for park conservation. The sample consists of 190 visitors to an urban Spanish park. The mean willingness to pay estimated was 12.67€ per year. The results also indicated that moral norm was the major factor in predicting behavioral intention, followed by attitudes. The new relations established between the components of the Theory of Planned Behavior show that social norms significantly determine the attitudes, moral norms and perceived behavioral control of individuals. The proportion of explained variance shows that the inclusion of moral norms improves the explanatory power of the original model of the Theory of Planned Behavior (32–40%). Community-based social marketing and local campaigns are the main strategies that should be followed by land managers with the objective of promoting responsible, pro-environmental attitudes as well as a greater willingness to pay for this type of goods.