Reinterpreting the theory of planned behavior and its application to green hotel consumption intention

The main aim of this paper was to understand a guest’s decision to stay at a green hotel by using the theory of planned behavior (TPB) developed by Ajzen (1991). The population for this study was green hotel customers in Taiwan. A total of 425 usable responses were received from the willing participants around the parking area of green hotels. This study performed a PLS-SEM to examine the proposed model. The results of this study showed that social pressure has very little direct impact on behavioral intention to stay at a green hotel. The results of the estimated standardized regression coefficients and t-values indicated that perceived behavioral control has a slightly higher impact on behavioral intention than attitude. This study also verified the proposed mediating relationships between the first-order and second-order antecedents. This study provided theoretical and managerial implications for understanding respondents’ decision to stay at a green hotel.     

Predicting congregate meal program participation: Applying the extended theory of planned behavior

Authorized under Title III-C of Older Americans Act, congregate meal programs provides individuals 60 years of age and older nutritious meals in senior centers. Declining participation in recent years underscores the need to understand factors that affects participation. This study applies the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to explain the intention of community-dwelling older adults to participate in congregate meal programs. One additional variable, past behavior, was added to increase the prediction power of participation intention. A total of 238 participant surveys were collected and analyzed. Seven hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling. The data fits the TPB model well. All predictor variables (attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavior control and past behavior) had a significant positive effect on participation intention. Perceived behavior control (PBC) had the greatest prediction power on intention. Based on the research findings suggestions were made to increase congregate meal program participation.     

Emerging bicycle tourism and the theory of planned behavior

In this study, we investigated the process of travelers’ decision formation for bicycle touring as a form of sustainable tourism activity. We extended the theory of planned behavior (TPB), using personal norm and past behavior as predictors and the attractiveness of unsustainable alternatives as a moderator. Results of the modeling comparison showed that our extended TPB model was superior to the original TPB in predicting intention. Our results from the structural analysis revealed that the hypothesized paths linking attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, personal norm, and intention were supported; and personal norm significantly mediated the impact of subjective norm on intention. Moreover, our proposition that bicycle travelers’ decision-making process would differ based on their level of the attractiveness of unsustainable alternatives was generally supported. Overall, our results help us clearly understand the role of volitional and non-volitional processes, personal norm, past behavior, and the attractiveness of unsustainable alternatives in explaining the intention formation of bike traveling.     

Investigating beliefs,attitudes, and intentions regarding green restaurant patronage: An application of the extended theory of planned behavior with moderating effects of gender and age

This study aims to identify customer belief structures underlying the cognitive process of green restaurant patronage by applying the extended theory of planned behavior (TPB). The extended TPB model includes two additional predictors (past behavior and dining frequency) and two moderators (gender and age) to predict customers’ intention to visit green restaurants. This study followed recommended two-phase survey procedures. Salient beliefs of the target population were elicited in the first phase, and the relationships between those beliefs and other TPB constructs were analyzed in the second phase. Perceived behavioral control emerged as the most significant determinant followed by attitude and subjective norm in the Korean green restaurant context. The findings support the inclusion of past behavior as an additional predictor and confirm the moderating effects of gender and age. This study provides useful implications for effective marketing strategies for green restaurants.     

Modeling a green supply chain in the hotel industry: An evolutionary game theory approach

Despite extensive discussion of environmental management for hotels, little research has been done on the hotel industry’s green supply chain management. This study uses the evolutionary game approach to examine the generation of green behaviors and a green supply chain by hotels. Results show that most hotels do have an incentive mechanism for green growth; hotels with green behaviors are more profitable than those that are not. Furthermore, governments and hotel customers are critical in the “greening” of traditional hotel supply chains. The findings can assist governments in formulating effective environmental policies, provide a theoretical avenue in governing green practice, and guide stakeholders to understand the formation and evolution of green development in the hotel industry.     

Drivers of customer decision to visit an environmentally responsible museum: merging the theory of planned behavior and norm activation theory

The main goal of this research was to merge the theory of planned behavior and the norm activation theory into one model and test its applicability in an environmentally responsible museum context. A filed survey was conducted at museums. Structural equation modeling was used to test research hypotheses. Results of the structural model comparisons revealed that the prediction power of our integrated model was superior to that of the theory of planned behavior and the norm activation theory. The proposed relationships among research constructs were generally supported. The mediating role of study variables was established. Additionally, the salient role of personal norm and attitude in generating museum travelers’ pro-environmental intention was identified. Overall, there was a strong support for the proposed theoretical model.     

Exploring the visitors' decision-making process for Airbnb and hotel accommodations using value-attitude-behavior and theory of planned behavior

Accommodation purchase decision is a complex field that makes predictions of revisit intentions hard to examine. Our work explores psychological factors motivating visitors' decision-making concerning accommodation purchases by integrating the theory of planned behavior and value-attitude-behavior model. Using a group of multiple informants in Swiss universities, we performed partial least squares structural equation modeling to assess the impacts of subjective norm, attitude and perception of quality on visitors' revisit intention and loyalty in Airbnb and hotel contexts. Although the influence of said factors on purchase decisions varies in the two contexts, results suggest that subjective norm has an indispensable role in prompting revisit intention towards Airbnb and hotel accommodations. This paper's findings advance our understanding of visitors' decision-making processes concerning traditional hotels and accommodation establishments operating in sharing economy platforms.     

Application of the Theory of Planned Behavior to green hotel choice: Testing the effect of environmental friendly activities

The present study proposed and tested Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) model to explain the formation of hotel customers' intentions to visit a green hotel. The findings showed the TPB model has a good fit to the data and better predictive power for intention than the Theory of a Reasoned Action model. Based on theoretical support and suggested modification indices, a refined TPB model was developed. Consistent with the theory, the results of a structural equation analysis revealed that attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control positively affected intention to stay at a green hotel. Further investigation indicated the paths between these predictors and intention did not statistically differ between customers who actively practice ecofriendly activities and those who are not often engaged in environmentally conscious behaviors in their everyday lives. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

Risk,uncertainty and the theory of planned behavior: A tourism example

The differential impacts risk and uncertainty have on travel decision-making were explored by examining the constructs' influence on the antecedents of intentions to visit Australia using the theory of planned behavior. Respondents were obtained from online consumer panels in South Korea, China and Japan. The South Korean and Chinese samples were general population samples, while the sample from Japan was an international travelers' sample. The extended model fitted the data well, explaining between 21 and 44 percent of the variance in intentions. Subjective norms and perceived behavioral control significantly impacted on intentions in all country samples, whereas attitudes toward visiting Australia were only significant in Japan. Subjective norms influenced attitudes and perceived behavioral control in all country samples. Finally, perceived risk influenced attitudes toward visiting Australia in South Korea and Japan, while perceived uncertainty influenced attitudes toward visiting Australia in South Korea and China and perceived behavioral control in China and Japan.     

基于扩展计划行为理论的乡村旅游经营者从众行为研究——西安市上王村实证

乡村旅游是实现巩固拓展脱贫攻坚成果同乡村振兴有效衔接的重要路径选择。乡村旅游经营者的从众行为能够促进旅游地的规范化与规模化发展,但一味地盲从也必然会给旅游地造成不可挽回的损失,理性对待乡村旅游经营者的从众行为对旅游地的可持续发展意义深远。本文基于扩展的计划行为理论基本框架,引入精英影响感知和模糊情境感知两个变量,对乡村旅游经营者从众行为意向的影响因素进行实证研究,并构建乡村旅游经营者从众行为形成机制的理论模型。研究发现,行为态度、指令性规范、知觉行为控制、精英影响感知和模糊情境感知与从众行为意向呈显著正相关关系。另外,乡村旅游经营者的受教育水平对从众行为意向存在显著影响,且呈现受教育水平越高从众行为意向越低的趋势。为了进一步发展乡村旅游,助推乡村振兴,建议提升乡村旅游经营者的经营能力;发挥乡村旅游精英的信息传递与示范带动作用;落实政府的引导与监管职能;防范政府决策层的盲从行为。     

Theory of planned behavior and intention to attend a fan convention

We examined the variables predicting fans' intention to attend a fan-related convention. The theory of planned behavior posits that individuals' attitudes, norms, and behavioral control predict individuals' intended behaviors. Bronies—adult fans of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic—rated items regarding theory of planned behavior, past convention attendance, ingroup identification, and intention to attend a brony convention. Results showed that attitudes, norms, perceived control, past behavior, and ingroup identification all uniquely predicted intention to attend. Results and study limitations are discussed within the context of the existing literature, with implications for future research on the topic.     

Testing the sufficiency of the theory of planned behavior: a case of customer dissatisfaction responses in restaurants

This study tested the sufficiency of both the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and the extended TPB models by adding the variable of past behavior. In addition, the present study examined the mediating role of the TPB variables on the relationships between past behavior and customers’ intentions to engage in different types of dissatisfaction responses (i.e., voice, negative word-of-mouth communication, and exit). Results of the study demonstrated the strong predictive power of the original TPB mode but the inclusion of past behavior did not significantly improve the predictability of the three dissatisfaction response intentions. Furthermore, the mediating analyses indicated that the influence of past behavior was mediated by TPB variables. In the contexts of negative word-of-mouth communication, the effect of past behavior on intention was mediated by attitude. Meanwhile, both subjective norm and perceived behavioral control mediated the relationship between past behavior and the intention to engage in voice behavior.     

The effect of environmentally friendly perceptions on festival visitors’ decision-making process using an extended model of goal-directed behavior

This study examined the effect of environmentally friendly perceptions on the behavioral intention of visitors at the Boryeong Mud Festival in South Korea. The results of the on-site survey (N = 400) reveal that three environmentally friendly perceptions formed positive and significant causal relationships with the constructs in the extended model of goal-directed behavior (EMGB). Attitude, subjective norm, and positive anticipated emotion affected desire, which, in turn, influenced the behavioral intention. Three elements, volitional, non-volitional, and emotional aspects, were proven to be crucial in comprehending the perceptions and behaviors of the nature-based festival attendees. The findings of this study will shed light on a better understanding of the decision-making processes of festival visitors when environmental issues are incorporated.     

Non-compliance in national parks: An extension of the theory of planned behaviour model with pro-environmental values

Non-compliance at national parks is a major problem around the world. This study focused on visitors' intentions to venture off-trail at the Blue Mountains National Park, Australia (BMNP). An extension of the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) with the new ecological paradigm of pro-environmental values (NEP) was developed and tested to understand visitors’ off-trail intentions. We surveyed 325 BMNP visitors through convenience sampling. Subjective norm was the strongest predictor followed by attitudes. The role of perceived behavioural control was not significant. The proposed extended TPB model had a marginal relationship between pro-environmental values and intentions using regression analysis. The overall study results suggested that the role of pro-environmental values is more suitable for predicting general environmental worldviews as compared to the TPB being more suitable for predicting specific behavioural intentions.     

The role of authenticity in forming slow tourists' intentions: Developing an extended model of goal-directed behavior

Despite the rapid growth in the slow tourism industry, research on slow tourists' behavior is rare. This study develops an extended model of goal-directed behavior to more comprehensively explain the formation of tourists' intentions to visit a slow tourism destination. Specifically, the extended model incorporates the critical constructs (i.e., perception of authenticity, knowledge, and information search behavior) into the original model of goal-directed behavior (MGB). The results of an on-site survey (N = 387) revealed that the model provides a satisfactory fit with the data and explains greater amounts of variance in behavioral intention. Three authenticity-related variables formed positive and significant causal relationships with the constructs in the extended model of goal-directed behavior. All the constructs in the original MGB were significant predictors of both desire and intention. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.     

Perceptions of determinants of job selection in the hospitality and tourism industry: The case of Korean university students

ABSTRACT

This study explores the key factors influencing potential employees in the hospitality and tourism industry and examines whether causal relationships between behavioral attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control influence students' job selection. The study suggests that the career decision-making process is related to job selection. A total of 307 responses were analyzed. The results explain individual students' attitudes toward a behavior and perceived behavioral control in the context of their job selection. Attitudes toward a behavior and job selection had significant effects on career decisions. On the other hand, opinions of significant others had no significant effect. Perceived behaviors required to decide on jobs had a significant effect on job selection intentions. Students with internship experience were likely to form positive attitudes toward the hospitality and tourism industry, suggesting internships to be a useful source of a stronger relationship between the industry and job aptitudes of students in hospitality and tourism programs. The results have important implications.     

Empirical investigation of the roles of attitudes toward green behaviors, overall image, gender, and age in hotel customers’ eco-friendly decision-making process

This study examined hotel customers’ eco-friendly decision-making processes. Specifically, the current study tested the relationships among attitude toward green behaviors (ATGB), overall image (OI), visit intention (VI), word-of-mouth intention (WOMI), and willingness to pay more (WPM) by considering the effects of gender and age in a green hotel context. The results of structural equation analyses showed that OI is a positive function of ATGB and that OI significantly affects VI, WOMI, and WPM. Additionally, the findings from a structural modeling comparison revealed that OI completely mediates the effect of ATGB on components of behavioral intentions. Subsequent tests for metric invariances demonstrated that the relationships among study variables were generally stronger among females and high age groups. However, only the paths from OI to VI, WOMI, and WPM in the gender group and from OI to WPM in the age group were statistically significant. Implications and future research issues were discussed.     

The impact of green practices in coastal tourism: An empirical investigation on an eco-labelled beach club

The environmental impact of marine and coastal tourism is gaining the attention of firms, scholars and institutions. Coastal tourism facilities play a crucial role in the sustainable management of coastal tourism areas in Mediterranean countries. One way by which tourism facilities can preserve these resources is to adopt on a voluntary basis the ecolabels, which ensure compliance with specific environmental performance criteria. The research presents the results of a survey addressed to the guests of an ecolabel-awarded Italian Beach Club. In order to reduce a research gap in the context of coastal tourism, the aim is to evaluate how guests perceive the green practices implemented by the Beach Club and to test if they significantly influence guests’ satisfaction and loyalty. Partial Least Square Structural Equation Model (PLS-SEM) was employed to test a series of research hypotheses. Findings show that (a) guest environmental concern positively influences guest attitude toward green practices and guests’ evaluation of green practices; (b) guest environmental concern isn’t a significant antecedent of guest satisfaction; (c) guest attitude toward green practices positively influences the evaluation of green practices; (d) guest attitude towards green practices doesn’t influence guest satisfaction and loyalty; (e) the performance of Beach Club green practices positively influences guest satisfaction and loyalty toward the Beach Club; (f) customer satisfaction is a significant antecedent of guest loyalty. Research findings are relevant for practitioners, as beach club green practices are positively recognized by guests that consider them as part of the service quality, showing that environmental commitment plays a significant role in generating added value for coastal tourism.     

The influence of values and attitudes on green consumer behavior: A conceptual model of green hotel patronage

This study develops a comprehensive conceptual framework of consumer behavioral intentions in green hotels. Based on Schwartz’s values theory, using Stern’s nomenclature, in conjugation with value-attitude-hierarchy, ecocentric and anthropocentric ethic, and green signaling theory, this study identifies values (biospheric, altruistic, and egoistic) and attitudes (ecocentric and anthropocentric) that influence consumers’ green hotel visit intention, willingness to pay more, and willingness to sacrifice. This study adds to the extant literature by incorporating the consumers’ environmental concern perspective, the social-altruistic perspective, and the personal benefits and status perspectives in embracing green products. Understanding the interplay of biospheric, altruistic, and egoistic values and ecocentric and anthropocentric attitudes on green hotel behavioral intentions will provide insights to better understand the green consumer and to better manage the green hotel.