How does self-image congruity affect tourists’ environmentally responsible behavior?

Abstract

Tourists’ environmentally responsible behavior (TERB) is crucial to the destination’s natural environment. Drawing on self-congruity theory, this study extends the existing literature on the underlying mechanism of TERB from the perspective of self-image congruity. Specifically, this study investigates the effects of actual and ideal self-image congruity on TERB by addressing the mediating role of destination psychological ownership (DPO) and the moderating role of endorsement of the New Ecological Paradigm (NEP). With 424 valid questionnaires collected from domestic tourists visiting Xiamen in China, this study finds that DPO fully mediates the positive effect of actual self-image congruity on TERB, whereas partially mediates the positive effect of ideal self-image congruity on TERB. Furthermore, the findings of this study suggest that endorsement of the NEP moderates the effects of actual and ideal self-image congruity and DPO on TERB, such that the relationships are stronger when endorsement of the NEP is high rather than low. Theoretically, this study makes a valuable addition to the TERB literature by empirically examining the roles of self-image congruity, DPO, and endorsement of the NEP. Practically, some helpful implications are proposed to stimulate TERB.