The Impacts of Place Attachment on Environmentally Responsible Behavioral Intention and Satisfaction of Chinese Nature-Based Tourists

Increasing visits to protected areas in China have drawn public attention on the negative impacts on ecologically sensitive areas. Understanding potential determinants of the environmentally responsible behavioral intention of nature-based tourists has become a common focus in tourism studies. Scholars seek to explore potential determinants of visitors’ behavior, and the findings can be referenced by the managers of protected areas to formulate visitor management strategies. On the basis of a sample of 402 questionnaires collected in protected areas in South China, namely, Nanling National Forest Park and Dinghu Mountain National Nature Reserve, we explore the association between visitors’ place attachment and their satisfaction and environmentally responsible behavioral intention. The results show that place dependence and place identity are positively correlated with the satisfaction and environmentally responsible behavioral intention of visitors; thus, our results differ from those of previous studies on Western visitors. The lack of significant results regarding place social bonding revealed the shortcomings associated with visitor management in China’s protected areas. Chinese culture has a great influence on various findings in this study. All of the findings provide significant insights for management and policy-making regarding protected areas worldwide to accommodate the rising number of nature-based visitors to China. Keywords: place attachment; environmentally responsible behavioral intention; satisfaction; nature-based tourism; Chinese tourists; South Chin

How do uses of and gratifications from social media platforms drive responsible birdwatching behaviour

As the use of social media becomes prevalent, nature-based activities like birdwatching are being widely discussed online. In response to the paucity of research investigating the seemingly distant connection between social media and birdwatching, this study drew on uses and gratifications (U&G) theory to examine the relationships between the uses and gratifications of social media and responsible birdwatching behavior. A total of 292 questionnaires were collected from birdwatchers visiting a Ramsar site in Hong Kong. The structural equation modelling results indicated that the gratification of information seeking positively predicted responsible birdwatching behavior. Alternatively, status-seeking and socializing gratifications discouraged people from engaging in responsible behavior, mediated by social media use habit. These findings highlight the opportunities social media may provide to promote environmentally responsible behavior, particularly on birdwatching. However, the threats of social media use that emerged should not be overlooked. Relevant suggestions were made to help ameliorate impacts of birdwatchers

Predictor of the environmentally responsible behaviiour of participants: An empirical investigation of interprative dolphin-watching tours

The Chinese white dolphin (Sousa chinensis) in Hong Kong is on the verge of extinction, as it has been facing multiple human-induced threats. Dolphin-watching tours have provided great opportunities for raising public awareness of the conservation of the species; however, such tours may inevitably cause disturbances to dolphins if tourists do not behave responsibly. This study aims to assess the drivers of the environmentally responsible behaviour (ERB) of tourists in terms of motivation, interpretative knowledge enhancement (IKE) and satisfaction. A questionnaire survey was administered to participants of dolphin-watching tours in Tai O, a popular dolphin-watching destination in Hong Kong. A total of 745 questionnaire samples were collected, and structural equation modelling was performed for the analysis. The results show that motivation, IKE and satisfaction were all positively and significantly correlated with ERB, whereas IKE and satisfaction were found to mediate the relationship between motivation and ERB. IKE was found to be a stronger predictor of ERB than satisfaction. The following practical implications for ecotourism are drawn: 1) it is important to include interpretation for management and education in ecotourism; and 2) the content of interpretation should include conservation messages and suggestions for behavioural changes