Antecedents and Consequences of Ecotourism Behavior: Independent and Interdependent Self-Construals, Ecological Belief, Willingness to Pay for Ecotourism Services and Satisfaction with Life

Kumju Hwang,Jieun Lee

doi:10.3390/su10030789

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the antecedents related to why tourists engage in ecotourism and the consequences of ecotourism behavior. This study examined the concept of self-construal as a social aspect of self that influences different levels of ecological beliefs, which, in turn, affect ecotourism behavior. To address the unsatisfactory predictive power of the belief/attitude-behavior model, this study included the willingness to pay (WTP) for ecotourism between the ecological belief and ecotourism behavior relationships. Finally, this study examined the impact of ecotourism on tourists’ satisfaction with life as a result of ecotourism behavior. A structural equation model was constructed to test the proposed model. We found significant impacts of self-construals in explaining ecological beliefs. Significant relationships were found between ecological belief and WTP for ecotourism services which influenced ecotourism behavior, and between ecological belief and ecotourism behavior which affected satisfaction with life. The moderating effect of gender was only found on the path between WTP and ecotourism behavior. The findings of this study offer some implications for industry and policymakers to develop effective ecotourism programs.

Highlights

With the growth of tourism industry, severe environmental problems caused by tourism have received public attention [1]
As the main purpose of this study is to evaluate the role of independent and interdependent self-construals in explaining why people have ecological beliefs that lead to ecotourism, this study conducted empirical research on the causal relationships among self-construal, ecological belief, ecotourism behavior and satisfaction with life (SWL)
The results revealed that new ecological paradigm (NEP) had a significant positive effect on the willingness to pay (WTP) (β = 0.369; t = 7.676) and ecotourism behavior (β = 0.099; t = 2.822)

Summary

Introduction

With the growth of tourism industry, severe environmental problems caused by tourism have received public attention [1]. Sustainability concerns in the tourism industry have led to the emergence of a new form of tourism, which is referred to as ecotourism; this form promotes the idea of sustainability and conservation of natural resources [2]. Ecotourism literature has emphasized that ecotourists’ behavior plays a critical role in growing ecotourism [1], their ecotourism behavior has not been sufficiently studied in relation to consumers’ ecological beliefs and behaviors [9]. Lee and Jan [1] argued that previous studies on ecotourism behavior used several theoretical behavioral frameworks, including value–belief–norm theory (VBN), the theory of reasoned action (TRA), theory of planned behavior (TPB), technology acceptance model (TAM) and social identity theory (SIT), the role of psychological and social factors influencing ecotourism behavior has not been sufficiently elucidated

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Conclusion