Environmentally responsible behavior and Knowledge-Belief-Norm in the tourism context: The moderating role of types of destinations

In the past decade, Indonesia’s Special Region of Yogyakarta has attracted steadily more visitors annually. However, this growth also degrades the quality of the tourism environment and nature’s health due to irresponsible behaviors. The region’s tourist attractions, including nature-based, cultural heritage sites, and city/urban destinations, are some of the most popular destinations in the country. This work compares the behavior of tourists toward the environment in nature-based, cultural heritage, and urban tourism destinations. This conceptual framework draws from the Knowledge-Belief-Norm to understand domestic tourists’ norm-driven, environmentally responsible behavior. A random survey of 346 domestic tourists in Indonesia (nature-based = 118, cultural heritage = 107, and urban = 121) demonstrated that the model explains 30% of the environmentally responsible behavior intention variance. The structural equation model shows the linear relationship between environmental knowledge, new environmental paradigm, awareness of the consequences of their actions, personal responsibility, normative behavior, and environmentally responsible behavior. Biospheric value also was found to contribute to the model. However, differences among groups were validated in the relationship of this study model. The study provides original insight into the development and implication of Knowledge-Belief-Norms in the context of domestic tourism. It established the moderating role of types of destination. It provides a practical insight into reducing the environmental impact of tourists’ activities for tourism managers and policymakers when designing effective strategies and campaigns. It also gives direction for future research on the relevant topic