Personal norms and pro-environmental binning behaviour of visitors in national parks: The development of a conceptual framework

Abstract

National park tourism is an increasing trend worldwide. Understanding national park visitors’ pro-environmental behaviour is crucial as sustainability is a vital issue in the nature-based tourism industry. The primary objective of this study is to develop a conceptual model for explaining low-cost pro-environmental behaviour (i.e. behavioural choices involving low personal costs); more specifically, binning behaviour in a national park context. In this sense, we delineate low-cost pro-environmental behaviour (i.e. bin use) from high-cost forms of pro-environmental behaviour (e.g. picking up other litter) and further focus on a specific site (i.e. a national park). This study considers pro-environmental binning behaviour as a socially responsible behaviour (e.g. helping others) which is perceived more likely to be morally grounded. By considering binning behaviour as a pro-environmental personal norm and acknowledging it as a potential mediator between attitude, social norms, awareness of consequences, perceived behavioural control, and pro-environmental binning intention, this study develops a conceptual model of pro-environmental binning behaviour. The research’s theoretical contributions, its restrictions and practical implications for national parks are further discussed.

RAS ID

28813

Document Type

Journal Article

Date of Publication

2019

School

School of Business and Law

Copyright

subscription content

Publisher

Taylor & Francis Group

Comments

Esfandiar, K., Pearce, J., & Dowling, R. (2019). Personal norms and pro-environmental binning behaviour of visitors in national parks: The development of a conceptual framework. Tourism Recreation Research, 44(2) 163-177. Available here

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Link to publisher version (DOI)

10.1080/02508281.2019.1580936