Role of Culture and Social Norms: Consequences for Communication Fostering the Intentions towards Sustainable Air Travel

As an environmentally aware, socially active age cohort, Gen Z is crucial to the adoption of sustainable travel practices. This study examines the specific elements that influence Gen Z’s approach to sustainable travel and how peer-to-peer relationships serve as catalysts to this behavior. This research had two primary. First, to investigate the determinants of Gen Z’s eco-tourism behavior, including environmental awareness, price sensitivity, social norms, and perceived behavioral control; second, to determine whether peer pressure increases the effect of these determinants on this generation’s travel choices. The researchers analyzed the responses to an online survey of 329 Gen Z social media users in Germany, and the findings confirm that environmental awareness, price sensitivity, social norms, and perceived behavioral control are associated with Gen Z’s sustainable travel behavior. Notably, peer pressure enhances the impact of environmental awareness, price sensitivity, and perceived behavior control on the travel behavior of Gen Z but does not associate with the influence of social norms. This research highlights the importance of peer influence in changing people’s perceptions of sustainable tourism and offers important recommendations for changing the behavior of young people toward environmental protection. It also deepens our understanding of the social psychology of sustainability by emphasizing peer influence as a moderator and suggests new avenues of research for sustainability across various social and economic environments.

The role of personal norms in the choice of mode for commuting

El impacto del conocimiento verde y la sostenibilidad en las intenciones de viaje verde a través del prisma de la teoría de la persecución de metas razonadasResumenPropósitoEl propósito de este estudio es investigar los factores que influyen en las intenciones de viaje verde dentro del sector turístico. Al examinar el efecto moderador del conocimiento verde dentro del marco de la Teoría de la Persecución de Metas Razonadas (TRGP), la investigación tiene como objetivo mejorar la comprensión de la toma de decisiones sobre viajes verdes y contribuir al desarrollo de estrategias que promuevan prácticas de viaje sostenibles en Vietnam y más allá.Diseño/metodología/enfoqueBasándose en la TRGP, se desarrolla un marco conceptual para comprender las relaciones entre metas activas de adquisición, metas activas de aprobación, actitudes hacia los viajes verdes, normas subjetivas, motivación para viajes verdes, control conductual percibido e intención de viaje verde. El estudio adopta un diseño de investigación cuantitativa y recopila datos de una muestra de 544 turistas vietnamitas a través de un instrumento de encuesta.HallazgosSe descubren y confirman las relaciones entre las variables de TRGP en el contexto del ecoturismo. Además, también se investigan los roles moderadores del conocimiento verde, contribuyendo directamente al turismo sostenible a través del prisma de la TRGP.Limitaciones/implicaciones de la investigaciónLa exploración de la intención de viaje verde y el papel del conocimiento verde en el estudio contribuye a los marcos teóricos y subraya la importancia de la educación ambiental para fomentar comportamientos de viaje sostenibles. Los interesados en el sector turístico vietnamita pueden beneficiarse de percepciones prácticas al centrarse en alojamientos ecológicos y paquetes turísticos responsables. El aprovechamiento de la influencia social y las campañas educativas puede fomentar aún más prácticas de viaje sostenibles entre los turistas vietnamitas, mejorando su inclinación hacia comportamientos ambientalmente conscientes.Originalidad/valorLa investigación subraya la importancia de intervenciones que se centran en factores orientados a metas, actitudes positivas, normas sociales, control percibido y conocimiento verde en la configuración de comportamientos de viaje sostenibles. Estas percepciones proporcionan una base para que los interesados en el turismo adapten estrategias como programas de educación ambiental y políticas de apoyo para promover prácticas turísticas sostenibles entre los turistas vietnamitas de manera efectiva.

Attendance of Renaissance festival (Faire), an event that recreates historic medieval living, is motivated by identification within a subculture and a strong sense of belonging, providing an interesting insight into the role of culture in influencing pro-sustainability consumption behaviors. This paper compares at home sustainable consumption practices with sustainable consumption travel behaviors within the Renaissance serious leisure community to determine the role social norms play in sustainable consumption behavior. Using a framework that compares normative (routines) and self-enhancing (habits) sustainability behaviors, evidence supports that demographics, specifically levels of education and gender, positively impact sustainable consumption behaviors, and that social norms positively affect Faire visitation. However, while Faire visitation does not affect normative behavior either at home nor while traveling, it does influence self-enhancing sustainability behavior negatively. Finally, social norms, mediated by Faire visitation, indirectly impact self-enhancing behavior both at home and when traveling. While the cultural ethos of festival communities could foster sustainable living more broadly, results suggest that Faire attendance seemed to undermine the likelihood of being sustainable elsewhere.

Shifting continental business travel from carbon-intensive modes to rail is crucial for emissions reduction. Behavioral interventions are a way to achieve this, but a gap exists in understanding their efficacy for sustainable business travel behavior. Based on online experiments with frequent business travelers, we scrutinize the impact of descriptive social norm interventions on mode choice intention, considering potentially negative employee reactions. While revealing factors influencing reactance and intention, contrary to expectations derived from the theory of planned behavior, behavioral interventions literature, and psychological reactance theory, our social norm treatments did not significantly impact mode choice intention and resulted in low reactance levels. Despite these unexpected results indicating that our interventions did not yield the desired changes, our study underscores the challenges of influencing sustainable business travel behavior and emphasizes the need for tailored interventions and incentives in practice, suggesting avenues for further research.

This study investigates how components of the Theory of Planned Behavior—attitudes toward sustainable tourism, social norms, perceived behavioral control, and personal moral norms—influence tourists’ intention to choose sustainable destinations and their willingness to pay more. A survey of 1102 tourists at a World Heritage Site in Córdoba, Spain, was analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The results reveal that favorable attitudes, social influence, perceived control, and internalized values significantly increase tourists’ intention to choose sustainable tourism, which in turn enhances their willingness to pay a premium. Additionally, gender differences were found, with women more willing to invest in sustainable travel. These insights are valuable for tourism managers and policymakers.

Climate change is one of the most pressing global threats, endangering the sustainability of the planet and quality of life, whilst urban mobility significantly contributes to exacerbating its effects. Recently, policies aimed at mitigating these effects have been implemented, emphasizing the promotion of sustainable travel culture. Prior research has indicated that both environmental awareness and regulatory efforts could encourage the shift towards greener mobility; however, factors that affect young people’s travel behavior remain understudied. This study examined whether and how climate change impacts travel behavior, particularly among Generation Z in Greece. A comprehensive online survey was conducted, from 31 March to 8 April 2024, within a Greek academic community, yielding 904 responses from Generation Z individuals. The design of the survey was informed by an adaptation of Triandis’ Theory of Interpersonal Behavior. The study also incorporated a comparative analysis using data from the UK’s National Travel Attitudes Survey (NTAS), offering insights from a different cultural and socio-economic context. Blending an Exploratory Factor Analysis and latent variable ordered probit and logit models, the key determinants of the willingness to reduce car use and self-reported reduction in car use in response to climate change were identified. The results indicate that emotional factors, social roles, and norms, along with socio-demographic characteristics, current behaviors, and local environmental concerns, significantly influence car-related travel choices among Generation Z. For instance, concerns about local air quality are consistently correlated with a higher likelihood of having already reduced car use due to climate change and a higher willingness to reduce car travel in the future. The NTAS data reveal that flexibility in travel habits and social norms are critical determinants of the willingness to reduce car usage. The findings of the study highlight the key role of policy interventions, such as the implementation of Low-Emission Zones, leveraging social media for environmental campaigns, and enhancing infrastructure for active travel and public transport to foster broader cultural shifts towards sustainable travel behavior among Generation Z.

The concept of 'sustainable travel' has been well discussed for over three decades; yet the meaning of sustainability in travel remains interpreted in many different ways. A transition to more environmentally sustainable travel has proved difficult to achieve, particularly in suburban areas. For individuals in society there are many different aspirations for, and constraints on, travelling in an environmentally sustainable manner. Lack of modal choice, route options, the cost of using public transport, and wider cultural norms are a few of the barriers to realizing a more sustainable transport network. Compounding this is the 'last mile' problem, concerning the facilities linking the main mode to the home, workplace or wider destination, which are often poor. This paper explores both the perceptions and opinions of everyday commuters in Ealing, London, including consideration of their localized lastmile issues. An in-depth study is undertaken with thirty-five employees of Ealing Council, using Q methodology to investigate the participants' perceptions towards, and awareness of, their respective journeys. The Q method analysis undertaken highlighted four major discourses associated with travel and the last mile problem in Ealing: 'the public transport user', 'the committed cyclist', 'the multi-modal traveller' and 'the frustrated traveller'. Understanding these different discourses and their unique characteristics has significant potential for assisting policy-makers and planners in developing more targeted investment priorities, policies, and stakeholder engagement strategies.

Sustainable consumption is increasingly shaped by online environments. Everyday exposure to online advertisement and social media content by peers may influence individual consumption decisions. By representative online surveys (N = 2,694), we examined how perception of online environments influences individual consumption levels of clothing, digital devices and leisure air travel, mediated by individual aspiration levels, personal and social norms. Structural equation modeling confirms relationships between perceived consumption‐promoting online content and consumption levels, fully mediated through aspiration levels. Sufficiency‐promoting online content is associated with higher social and personal norms for sufficiency, but neither of the latter are linked to aspiration or consumption levels. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that aspiration levels and consumption decisions are influenced by consumption‐promoting online content. Due to the use of cross‐sectional data, it cannot be ruled out that these results reflect that more consumption‐oriented individuals pay more attention to consumption‐promoting online content. Hence, the dominant causal direction needs to be determined by experimental or longitudinal methods.

This study examines how influencer-generated content authenticity, between genuine and superficial messaging, affects sustainable travel intentions among Generation Z (Gen Z) in India. The research addresses a gap in the tourism literature by exploring how content credibility influences psychological and motivational pathways toward eco-conscious travel behavior. Grounded in an integrated theoretical model combining the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), Self-Determination Theory (SDT), and the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM), the study investigates how content authenticity impacts cognitive appraisal, motivational alignment, and behavioral intention. A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 406 Indian Gen Z respondents using convenience sampling. Participants viewed curated influencer-driven sustainable travel content from Instagram and YouTube before completing the survey to ensure contextual engagement. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) via SmartPLS 4.0 assessed direct and indirect effects among variables. Findings show that genuine influencer content (GIC) enhances pro-environmental attitudes, perceived social norms, and beliefs about accessibility, fostering self-determined sustainable travel intentions. Superficial influencer content (SIC) demonstrates a weaker impact, operating through peripheral processing routes. The findings confirm the role of message authenticity in shaping behavioral outcomes within digital sustainability discourse. The study provides insights for tourism marketers, sustainability advocates, and policymakers by highlighting the importance of authentic influencer communication in promoting sustainable travel among Gen Z. Strategies should emphasize credible messaging to enhance psychological engagement and behavioral commitment aligned with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12. This study contributes theoretically by integrating cognitive, motivational, and communicative models within a unified framework, demonstrating content authenticity’s differentiated impact on sustainable travel behavior among digital-native consumers.

Purpose The aviation sector faces a pressing need to reduce its environmental impact, prompting Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to address air travel emissions, an often-overlooked component of their carbon footprints. This study aims to describe the procedure undertaken to design and apply a framework developed for analysing the integration of air travel in Brazilian HEIs. Design/methodology/approach A case study was conducted in a Brazilian federal public HEI to examine air travel patterns and the effectiveness of existing policies. The study employed a comprehensive framework that integrates emissions data, financial costs, travel displacement, driving factors and institutional constraints. Findings The study identifies key indicators related to emissions, costs, displacement, driving factors and institutional barriers, revealing insights into institutional air travel patterns. Notably, the analysis highlights an increase in post-pandemic air travel, emphasising the need for policies that promote digital alternatives and reduce the demand for physical presence. Significantly, the study uncovers the substantial role of external collaborators as contributors to air travel emissions Originality/value By providing a holistic and contextualised framework, this study enables Brazilian HEIs to critically evaluate their performance regarding air travel decarbonisation, identify areas for improvement and formulate targeted policies to mitigate their environmental impact. The findings hold substantial implications for stakeholders, including HEI administrators, policymakers and researchers, guiding them in fostering more sustainable air travel practices within the higher education.

In the era of COVID-19, travel decisions are influenced by social norms, which is a deciding factor between one’s perception of risk and their travel intention. Moreover, serious safety measures, such as increased aircraft cleaning, social distancing during the boarding process, and the use of face masks are critical factors that influence passengers’ trust in air travel. This study examines the direct effects of safety and preventive measures and social norms on passengers’ trust in travelling with airlines. A total of 210 responses were obtained online. Multiple regression analysis was used to test the study hypotheses. Based on the result, social norms are the most influential predictors of passengers’ trust, followed by safety and preventive measures. Furthermore, the study suggests that media coverage and social circle influence can be critical elements in transferring information to passengers, influencing their decision, and instill trust to travel during the pandemic. Notably, apart from exercising social norms, the airline industry also needs to focus on safety and preventive measures consisting of staff safety practices towards the passenger and new standard operating procedures (SOPs) during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study findings assist the airline industry in understanding passengers’ post-pandemic travelling behaviour. Notably, the implementation of health security protocols at airports, supported by the provision of continuous safety information, is indeed an important feature for passengers.

The aviation sector faces increasing pressure to address climate change as its contribution to global CO2 emissions continues to rise. This study investigates how passengers’ awareness of environmental issues and perceptions of sustainable airline practices affect their Green Air Travel Behavior (GTB). Drawing upon the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and extending it with constructs such as Environmental Awareness (EA), Perceived Service Quality (PSQ), and Green Trust (GT), the research examines their impact on GTB. Using a quantitative design, data were collected from 300 airline passengers and analyzed with Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). Results reveal that EA strongly influences PSQ, GT, Attitude (ATT), and Intention (ITN), highlighting its role as a key antecedent. PSQ significantly enhances GT, while both GT and ATT directly predict GTB. However, the effect of ITN on GTB was not significant, indicating an intention–behavior gap. The findings underscore the importance of awareness, trust, and service quality in promoting sustainable air travel, while also pointing to barriers that hinder intentions from becoming actions. Theoretically, the study extends TPB within green aviation, and practically, it provides guidance for airlines and policymakers seeking to advance SDG 13: Climate Action through sustainable air travel strategies.

Purpose Daily commuting trips of higher education (HE) students account for a large proportion of the carbon footprint of a HE institution. Considerations of students underlying their choice of travel mode and their decision to make the trip to campus or to study online are explored as a necessary first step for finding an optimal balance between online and on-campus learning from both a sustainability and an educational perspective. Design/methodology/approach Focus group conversations were held with student groups from different study programmes of a university of applied sciences in the Netherlands. Findings Dutch students’ travel mode choices seem to depend on measures regulating travel demand such as a free public transport card and high parking costs. The findings indicate that students make reasoned choices about making a trip to campus. These choices depend on considerations about their schedule, type, lecturer and content of a course, social norms and their own perceived behavioural control. Alternative online options can provide students with more flexibility to make choices adapted to their needs. Social implications While these findings are useful for sustainable and educational reasons, they also seem helpful in times of COVID-19 which calls for a re-design of curricula to allow for blended forms of online and on-campus learning. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is one of the first studies looking at students’ considerations when deciding whether to travel to campus to learn or stay at home learning online.

Setting air conditioners to unnecessarily low temperatures in summer generates substantial carbon emissions. This study aims to change air conditioner use by tourists—consumers whose sense of moral obligation is reduced, along with their level of pro-environmental behaviour. We test several interventions aimed at encouraging hotel guests to set their air conditioners to comfortable but less energy-intensive temperatures. We compare common interventions (environmental appeals and normative appeals) with anthropomorphised interventions that personify air conditioners to evoke empathy. Intervention effectiveness is assessed across a series of studies: a traditional survey experiment (to measure manipulation of target constructs), two ecologically enhanced survey experiments (measuring behavioural intentions), and a field experiment measuring air conditioner use indirectly via wireless temperature sensors. Results indicate that interventions leveraging social norms and anthropomorphism—specifically those showing negative emotions like exhaustion and anger—significantly enhance sustainable air conditioner use. A basic instructions message, which simply gave participants a suggested temperature setting range, also enhanced sustainable air conditioner use in the field. A comparison reveals that enhanced survey formats cannot replace field experiments in assessing an intervention’s impact on behaviour. Our findings suggest that simple, cost-effective messaging interventions can promote more sustainable air conditioning practices in hotels, ultimately contributing to reduced carbon emissions and operational costs. • Anthropomorphising air conditioners evokes empathy. • Social norms messages enhance normative beliefs. • Social norms and anthropomorphism prompt sustainable air conditioner use. • Simple air conditioner setting instructions prompt sustainable use in the field. • Ecologically enhanced surveys cannot replace field experiments.