The influence of eliciting awe on pro-environmental behavior of tourist in religious tourism

Abstract

Awe is an expected experience in tourism; it influences intention to revisit, satisfaction, and tourists' behavior. This study establishes a framework from which to discuss how awe encourages pro-environmental behavior of religious tourists by integrating awe into the VBN model. We use this model to explore whether the pro-environmental behavior of tourists persists in their daily life. The results indicate that perceived religious ambience is a factor that encourages awe, which potentially influences tourists' pro-environmental behavior through mediators (i.e., NEP, AC, AR, and PN). The study is an empirical exploration of tourism ritual theory from the perspective of tourists’ pro-environmental behavior. Finally, the theoretical contribution and practical implications are discussed.