Towards sustainable tourism: an empirical investigation

Abstract

Purpose Looking at the paucity of research examining behaviour in reference to sustainable tourism in India, the study aims to propose a framework for predicting the mediating role played by personal norms in determining the intention to adopt sustainable tourism in India. Design/methodology/approach The study is cross-sectional in nature and has gathered responses from 275 valid respondents with diverse socio-demographic profiles. EFA was conducted, followed by CFA and structural model analysis to test the hypothesized relationships. Findings The results indicate that all the hypotheses were found to be significant, thus confirming the direct and indirect effect of consumer knowledge and consumer perceived effectiveness on an intention to adopt sustainable tourism. Research limitations/implications The study has not just added a different perspective to sustainable tourism but has also attempted to capture the attention of all academicians and practitioners who have sidelined this relevant concept in Indian context. Practical implications Marketers aiming to alter tourist’s behaviour with respect to sustainability must understand that they need to redesign their strategies within the context of personal norms or values. Originality/value While some of the literature has attempted to explore the attitudinal dimension of environmentally conscious behaviour, there is much scope to examine the factors motivating the formation of intention towards sustainable tourism in Indian context. The confined use of constructs from value-belief-norm model and theory of planned behaviour in sustainable tourism, has led to the development of the proposed research framework in the study.