Cruise travelers’ environmentally responsible decision-making: An integrative framework of goal-directed behavior and norm activation process

Abstract

Building on theories with pro-social and self-interest motives, we developed a new model that comprehensively explains travelers’ pro-environmental decision-making process in an environmentally-responsible cruise context. Results of an online survey and structural model revealed that our theoretical framework which merged a Model of Goal-directed Behavior (MGB) and Norm Activation Model (NAM) had satisfactory accountability for pro-environmental intentions. Its prediction power was greater than that for the MGB and NAM. Findings also showed that integrating the sequential model of the NAM into the model was more effective in explicating an eco-friendly decision-making process than incorporating the alternative moderator model of the NAM. A salient role of personal norm in determining intention was identified; this personal norm and desire were significant mediators. This study is the first to provide a conceptual framework merging the MGB and NAM in the domain of pro-environmental behavior.