IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v13y2020i1p56-d467413.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Travelers’ Responsible Environmental Behavior towards Sustainable Coastal Tourism: An Empirical Investigation on Social Media User-Generated Content

Author

Listed:
  • Mohammad Tipu Sultan

    (School of Media and Communication, Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU), Shanghai 200240, China
    Mohammad Tipu Sultan and Farzana Sharmin equally contributed as the first author to this work.)

  • Farzana Sharmin

    (School of Media and Communication, Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU), Shanghai 200240, China
    Mohammad Tipu Sultan and Farzana Sharmin equally contributed as the first author to this work.)

  • Alina Badulescu

    (Department of Economics and Business, University of Oradea, 410087 Oradea, Romania)

  • Elena Stiubea

    (Department of Economics and Business, University of Oradea, 410087 Oradea, Romania)

  • Ke Xue

    (School of Media and Communication, Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU), Shanghai 200240, China)

Abstract

There has been increasing interest in coastal tourism, sparking a debate on the responsible environmental behavior of travelers visiting sustainable destinations. To mitigate this issue, destination marketing organizations (DMOs) and environmental activists are trying to develop strategic approaches (i.e., by using digital technologies) to enhance the sustainable behavior of travelers. Environmental responsiveness and its impact on sustainable destinations is gaining attention by companies, scholars, and institutions. However, the relevant literature has not addressed social media user-generated content regarding sustainable destinations. Sharing stakeholder knowledge, activities, and experience on social media could accomplish this goal. Hence, this paper aims to explore travelers′ responsible environmental behavior towards coastal tourism within the social media user-generated content paradigm. To measure the effect of user-generated content (UGC), i.e., cognitive triggers and affective triggers, on the responsible environmental behavior of travelers, a survey questionnaire was used to collect data ( n = 506) from the world’s longest sandy sea beach, Cox’s Bazar, located in the Southern part of Bangladesh. The data were examined by structural equation modeling (SEM). The results revealed that cognitive and affective triggers of user-generated content influence travelers’ environmental concerns and attitudes, making a significant contribution to shaping responsible environmental behavior. Additionally, the findings show that environmental concerns and attitudes play a significant role in producing commitment towards a sustainable coastal tourism practice. This study contributes to the effectiveness of user-generated content for persuasive interactions with destination marketing organizations to develop sustainable tourism practices.

Suggested Citation

  • Mohammad Tipu Sultan & Farzana Sharmin & Alina Badulescu & Elena Stiubea & Ke Xue, 2020. "Travelers’ Responsible Environmental Behavior towards Sustainable Coastal Tourism: An Empirical Investigation on Social Media User-Generated Content," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-19, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2020:i:1:p:56-:d:467413
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/1/56/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/1/56/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ko Koens & Albert Postma & Bernadett Papp, 2018. "Is Overtourism Overused? Understanding the Impact of Tourism in a City Context," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-15, November.
    2. Ryan, Anthony M. & Spash, Clive L., 2008. "Measuring “Awareness of Environmental Consequences”: Two Scales and Two Interpretations," MPRA Paper 101868, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Hardeman, Gerben & Font, Xavier & Nawijn, Jeroen, 2017. "The power of persuasive communication to influence sustainable holiday choices: Appealing to self-benefits and norms," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 484-493.
    4. Anne-Mette Hjalager & Grzegorz Kwiatkowski, 2019. "Relational Environmentalism in Coastal Recreation and Tourism," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(21), pages 1-17, October.
    5. Verma, Vivek Kumar & Chandra, Bibhas & Kumar, Sumit, 2019. "Values and ascribed responsibility to predict consumers' attitude and concern towards green hotel visit intention," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 206-216.
    6. Marzetti, S. & Disegna, M. & Koutrakis, E. & Sapounidis, A. & Marin, V. & Martino, S. & Roussel, S. & Rey-Valette, H. & Paoli, C., 2016. "Visitors' awareness of ICZM and WTP for beach preservation in four European Mediterranean regions," Marine Policy, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 100-108.
    7. Roberts, James A., 1996. "Green Consumers in the 1990s: Profile and Implications for Advertising," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 217-231, July.
    8. Blignaut, James & Mander, Myles & Inglesi-Lotz, Roula & Glavan, Jane & Parr, Stephen, 2016. "The amenity value of Abu Dhabi's coastal and marine resources to its beach visitors," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 19(C), pages 32-41.
    9. Kilbourne, William & Pickett, Gregory, 2008. "How materialism affects environmental beliefs, concern, and environmentally responsible behavior," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 61(9), pages 885-893, September.
    10. Muhammad Mohsin Zahid & Bakhtiar Ali & Muhammad Shakil Ahmad & Ramayah Thurasamy & Naila Amin, 2018. "Factors Affecting Purchase Intention and Social Media Publicity of Green Products: The Mediating Role of Concern for Consequences," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 25(3), pages 225-236, May.
    11. Ajzen, Icek, 1991. "The theory of planned behavior," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 179-211, December.
    12. Woo-Hyuk Kim & Kyung-Sook Kim, 2018. "Pro-Environmental Intentions among Food Festival Attendees: An Application of the Value-Belief-Norm Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-13, October.
    13. Yeajin Joo & Hwayoon Seok & Yoonjae Nam, 2020. "The Moderating Effect of Social Media Use on Sustainable Rural Tourism: A Theory of Planned Behavior Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-14, May.
    14. Bilgihan, Anil & Barreda, Albert & Okumus, Fevzi & Nusair, Khaldoon, 2016. "Consumer perception of knowledge-sharing in travel-related Online Social Networks," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 287-296.
    15. Kevin Kane & Codrin Chiru & Stela Georgiana Ciuchete, 2012. "Exploring the Eco-attitudes and Buying Behaviour of Facebook Users," The AMFITEATRU ECONOMIC journal, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 14(31), pages 157-171, February.
    16. Fuller, Christie M. & Simmering, Marcia J. & Atinc, Guclu & Atinc, Yasemin & Babin, Barry J., 2016. "Common methods variance detection in business research," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(8), pages 3192-3198.
    17. Wynne W. Chin & Abhijit Gopal & W. David Salisbury, 1997. "Advancing the Theory of Adaptive Structuration: The Development of a Scale to Measure Faithfulness of Appropriation," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 8(4), pages 342-367, December.
    18. Juvan, Emil & Dolnicar, Sara, 2014. "The attitude–behaviour gap in sustainable tourism," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 76-95.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Julia R. Branstrator & Christina T. Cavaliere & Jonathon Day & Kelly S. Bricker, 2023. "Civic Reporting Indicators and Biocultural Conservation: Opportunities and Challenges for Sustainable Tourism," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-20, January.
    2. Farrukh Rafiq & Mohd Adil & Mohd Sadiq, 2022. "Does Contextual Factor Influence Travelers’ Towel Reuse Behavior? Insights from Circular Economy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-16, May.
    3. Yiyang Sun & Guolin Hou, 2021. "Analysis on the Spatial-Temporal Evolution Characteristics and Spatial Network Structure of Tourism Eco-Efficiency in the Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomeration," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(5), pages 1-29, March.
    4. Azhar, Mohd & Hamid, Sheeba & Akhtar, Mohd Junaid & Subhan, Mohammad, 2022. "Delineating the Influence of Social Media Use on Sustainable Rural Tourism: An Application of TPB with Place Emotion," Journal of Tourism, Sustainability and Well-being, Cinturs - Research Centre for Tourism, Sustainability and Well-being, University of Algarve, vol. 10(4), pages 292-312.
    5. Yuqing Geng & Mukasar Maimaituerxun, 2022. "Research Progress of Green Marketing in Sustainable Consumption based on CiteSpace Analysis," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(3), pages 21582440221, August.
    6. Mohd Azhar & Sehar Nafees & Sujood & Sheeba Hamid, 2023. "Understanding post-pandemic travel intention toward rural destinations by expanding the theory of planned behavior (TPB)," Future Business Journal, Springer, vol. 9(1), pages 1-17, December.
    7. Ruochen Yang, 2023. "Use and Experience of Tourism Green Spaces in Ishigaki City before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic Based on Web Review Data," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-24, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mohammad Tipu Sultan & Farzana Sharmin & Alina Badulescu & Darie Gavrilut & Ke Xue, 2021. "Social Media-Based Content towards Image Formation: A New Approach to the Selection of Sustainable Destinations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-22, April.
    2. Jana Hojnik & Mitja Ruzzier & Tatiana S. Manolova, 2020. "Sustainable development: Predictors of green consumerism in Slovenia," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(4), pages 1695-1708, July.
    3. Nketiah, Emmanuel & Song, Huaming & Obuobi, Bright & Adu-Gyamfi, Gibbson & Adjei, Mavis & Cudjoe, Dan, 2022. "Citizens' willingness to pay for local anaerobic digestion energy: The influence of altruistic value and knowledge," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 260(C).
    4. Farzana Sharmin & Mohammad Tipu Sultan & Alina Badulescu & Dorin Paul Bac & Benqian Li, 2020. "Millennial Tourists’ Environmentally Sustainable Behavior Towards a Natural Protected Area: An Integrative Framework," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(20), pages 1-24, October.
    5. Waris, Idrees & Hameed, Irfan, 2019. "Using Extended Model of Theory of Planned Behavior to Predict Purchase Intention of Energy Efficient Home Appliances in Pakistan," MPRA Paper 109612, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Jana Hojnik & Mitja Ruzzier & Maja Konečnik Ruzzier, 2019. "Transition towards Sustainability: Adoption of Eco-Products among Consumers," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(16), pages 1-29, August.
    7. Xi Chen & Chunlan Jiao & Ran Ji & Yu Li, 2021. "Examining Customer Motivation and Its Impact on Customer Engagement Behavior in Social Media: The Mediating Effect of Brand Experience," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(4), pages 21582440211, October.
    8. Adnan Butt, 2017. "Determinants of the Consumers Green Purchase Intention in Developing Countries," Journal of Management Sciences, Geist Science, Iqra University, Faculty of Business Administration, vol. 4(2), pages 217-236, October.
    9. Camilla Carpinelli & Einar Torfi Einarsson Reynis & Anna Sigríður Islind & Hlynur Stefánsson & María Óskarsdóttir, 2022. "Green Intentions: Field Research and Data-Driven Analysis of Customers’ Purchasing Patterns," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-17, August.
    10. Hyung Min Lee & Jinwoo Park & Yoonjae Nam, 2020. "A Sustainable Solution to Overtourism in the Social Media Era: An Exploratory Analysis on the Roles and Functions of Place–Visitor Relationship (PVR)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-15, April.
    11. Barbara Borusiak & Andrzej Szymkowiak & Bartłomiej Pierański & Katarzyna Szalonka, 2021. "The Impact of Environmental Concern on Intention to Reduce Consumption of Single-Use Bottled Water," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-16, April.
    12. Kumar, Sumit & Prakash, Gyan & Gupta, Bhumika & Cappiello, Giuseppe, 2023. "How e-WOM influences consumers' purchase intention towards private label brands on e-commerce platforms: Investigation through IAM (Information Adoption Model) and ELM (Elaboration Likelihood Model) M," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 187(C).
    13. Jesús Manuel López-Bonilla & María del Carmen Reyes-Rodríguez & Luis Miguel López-Bonilla, 2019. "Interactions and Relationships between Personal Factors in Pro-Environmental Golf Tourist Behaviour: A Gender Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-18, December.
    14. Andreas Falke & Nadine Schröder & Claudia Hofmann, 2022. "The influence of values in sustainable consumption among millennials," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 92(6), pages 899-928, August.
    15. Grégoire Wallenborn & Catherine Rousseau & Karine Thollier, 2006. "Détermination de profils de ménages pour une utilisation plus rationnelle de l’energie," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/192217, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    16. Nketiah, Emmanuel & Song, Huaming & Cai, Xiang & Adjei, Mavis & Adu-Gyamfi, Gibbson & Obuobi, Bright, 2022. "Citizens’ intention to invest in municipal solid waste to energy projects in Ghana: The impact of direct and indirect effects," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 254(PC).
    17. Chen, Shih-Chih & Hung, Chung-Wen, 2016. "Elucidating the factors influencing the acceptance of green products: An extension of theory of planned behavior," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 155-163.
    18. Hsu, Chia-Lin & Chang, Chi-Ya & Yansritakul, Chutinart, 2017. "Exploring purchase intention of green skincare products using the theory of planned behavior: Testing the moderating effects of country of origin and price sensitivity," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 145-152.
    19. Ahmed Moustapha Mfokeu & Elie Virgile Chrysostome & Jean-Pierre Gueyie & Olivier Ebenezer Mun Ngapna, 2023. "Consumer Motivation behind the Use of Ecological Charcoal in Cameroon," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-22, January.
    20. Dang Vu, Hoai Nam & Nielsen, Martin Reinhardt, 2022. "Understanding determinants of the intention to buy rhino horn in Vietnam through the Theory of Planned Behaviour and the Theory of Interpersonal Behaviour," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 195(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2020:i:1:p:56-:d:467413. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.