How Important are Value Orientations to Environmental Concern? A Comparison of National and International Tourists in Malaysia

Abstract

Environmental beliefs, intentions, and behaviors can be derived from three types of values, namely, egoistic, altruistic, and biospheric. Consequently, the understanding of tourists’ value orientations and their association with environmental concern is crucial for improving productive strategies in the management of natural resources and protected areas. This study aims to scrutinize the priorities of tripartite value orientation between national (Malaysian) and international tourists (mostly European), and to investigate the contribution of these three value orientations to tourists’ environmental concern. Results disclose that Malaysian tourists valorize egoistic values more than tourists from Europe and other developed countries and are thus less concerned about the environment compared with their international counterparts. Furthermore, egoistic values have a strong negative relationship with environmental concern, whereas altruistic and biospheric values are positively related to this variable.