Pro-Environmental Behavior of Visitors to National Parks in India: Role of Recreation Involvement and Environmental Activism

Abstract

This study investigates the impact of recreational involvement and environmental activism in forming pro-environmental behavior in tourists visiting national parks. The objective is to understand how tourists spend time with nature and their level of environmental contribution to their willingness to adopt pro-environmental behavior within the National Park. In addition, it aims to examine the mediating role of environmental satisfaction between tourists’ pro-environment behavior and their place attachment. Based on the theory of Place Attachment, which asserts that humans form feelings of association with specific locations, the authors intend to understand how tourist attachment to the national park affects their attitudes and actions related to the environment. Visiting a national park is a recreational involvement for tourists, allowing them to sense responsibility toward the environment. In addition, environmental activism is featured as an individual involvement to protect the environment. Three hundred and fourteen national park visitors in India participated in the current study. WarpPLS (7.0), a variance-based structural equation modeling (SEM), was used to test the research model. By revealing the factors impacting pro-environmental behavior in a national park in India, findings provide an understanding to the national parks authorities in designing interventions and education programs that promote recreation involvement and environmental activism to foster sustainable tourist behavior toward conservation and preservation of national parks in India.