International Tourist’s Perspective of Environmentally Responsibility Behaviour

Abstract

This study aims to determine the factors forming an intended general and site-specific environmentally responsible behavior intention (ERBI) and actual environmentally responsible behavior (ERB). The proposed conceptual framework of this study was drawn from the knowledge-belief-norm (KBN) Model.  Using a convenient sampling technique, a survey of 560 international tourists in Bali was conducted. The data were analysed following Anderson and Gerbing’s two-step approaches to confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The results of Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) demonstrate that beliefs are critical in enriching personal norms and lead to a strong intention toward both general and site-specific ERBI.  Further, the findings emphasize the positive influence of intended site-specific and general ERB on actual ERB. Specifically, Ascribed responsibility has a strong influence on personal norms. The influence of personal norms on specific ERBI was the strongest. However, among the thirteen proposed hypotheses, only the impact of biospheric value on awareness of consequences was not supported. These results can guide effective strategies and policy-making processes relevant to environmental protection in tourism destinations. Also, it would be a valuable asset for tourism destination managers in reducing tourist’s footprint. This study is one of the few studies using the Knowledge Belief Norm Model to explore this issue in the context of international tourists in Bali. Besides this work's theoretical and practical contribution, this also provides a limitation that provides suggestions for future study.