How does rural tourism experience affect green consumption in terms of memorable rural-based tourism experiences, connectedness to nature and environmental awareness?

Abstract

This paper investigates the relationship between rural tourism experience and tourists' post-experience green consumption intention. This study is conducted with 345 respondents who have been to a rural destination for tourism purposes within the last five years. Results, employing Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) model, show that the dimensions of rural tourism experience (i.e. education, esthetic, entertainment, and escapism) positively affect memorable rural-based tourism experiences which also have a positive and significant influence on connectedness to nature. Connectedness to nature and environmental awareness both have statistically significant influences on tourists’ green consumption intentions later in life. The results indicate that better rural tourism experience can increase motivation for green consumption. Meanwhile, the results demonstrated the importance of memorable rural-based tourism experiences, connectedness to nature, and environmental awareness, which have been found to play full mediating roles in the lasting relation between rural tourism experience and green consumption.