Tourists’ pro-environmental behavior decision-making process: Application of norm activation model(NAM) and moderating effect of age

The environmentally negative impacts of tourism industry have become significant issues among scholars and practitioners in tourism fields. The purpose of the current study was to explore tourists’ pro-environmental behavior decision-making process by applying of norm activation model(NAM), which is widely employed in research related to pro-environmental behaviors(PEBs), Additionally, it investigated whether the tourists’ age moderates the effect of their personal norm on PEB intention. To empirically test the proposed model in the study, individuals who have traveled were targeted. A web-based survey was conducted by a marketing survey company, namely DataSpring, in June 2020. A total of usable 402 responses were collected, and the data were analyzed using structural equation modeling analysis. The analysis results revealed that NAM was the model that is well applied to tourists. In addition, we found that the moderating role of age was significant. Specifically, for the tourist group aged 20-39, the effect of personal norm on PEB intention was stronger than the tourist group of more than 40 years old. Based on the analysis results of the current study, both academic contributions and practical implications are provided.