Understanding pro-environmental behaviours of National Park visitors

Visitors’ inappropriate behaviour (e.g. littering) will impact nature-based tourism sites such as National Parks which play critical roles in mitigating climate change. This study examines what are the antecedents of national park visitors’ pro-environmental behaviours? Is there any difference between individualistic and collectivistic nations in terms of PEB amongst national park visitors? This study proposes using “An Integrated Pro-environmental personal norms Model (IPM) as the proposed research model based on Schwartz’s NAM to examine the above questions.https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ecuposters/1014/thumbnail.jp

Model of Binning Behaviour: Assessing cognitive and normative influence in the national park context

There is a lack of research on people\u27s decision‐making for pro‐environmental binning behaviours while visiting national parks. Understanding the factors that affect visitors’ binning behaviour help in managing the environment of nature-based tourist sites. This study considers binning behaviour as a combination of self-interest (i.e. cognitive process) and others’ interest/pro-social motives (i.e. normative process). In particular, by considering binning behaviour as a pro-social moral activity, we developed a conceptual model of pro-environmental binning behaviour and acknowledge ‘personal norm’ as a mediator between attitude, social norms, awareness of consequences, perceived behavioural control, and binning behaviour. We included the cognitive and normative processes related to pro-environmental behaviour and considered their interrelations in the prediction model of visitors’ binning behaviour in two culturally different national parks namely Sorkh-e-hesar National Park in Iran and Yanchep National Park in Australia. Using SEM-PLS, we estimated the proposed theoretical framework and compared the path analyses of the two study sites

Entrepreneurial Intentions of Tourism Students: An Integrated Structural Model Approach

Abstract Tourism and entrepreneurship have mutually established a fertile ground for developing destinations economy notably creating job opportunities and innovation in tourism and hospitality industry. The present investigation aims to examine constructs ability of Krueger’s (2009) model, an empirically untested integrated model of entrepreneurial intention, in explaining tourism students’ intention of starting up a business. The statistical population consisted of undergraduate and graduate Iranian tourism management students as potential group of entrepreneurs. Using the SEM- PLS method, the current study’s findings contribute to the improvement of entrepreneurial intentions models literature by examining an untested integrated and structural model in the field. The study findings reveal that there is a statistically significant relationship between entrepreneurial intention and the antecedents except the perceived social norms. Also, the findings provide policymakers, academics and tourism practitioners insights into how to cultivate tourism students’ entrepreneurial thinking. Keywords: Entrepreneurial intention, Tourism students, Intentions model, SEM-PLS

Developing a weighted model to measure knowledge diffusion in a tourism destination network

Efficient knowledge transfer enhances tourism destination competitiveness. Multiple factors, however, affect knowledge transfer, making it a complex process to quantify. To address this complexity, we developed a quantitative tool by integrating a diffusion model with the major antecedents of knowledge transfer identified in the knowledge management literature. We applied this model in the Western Australian tourism industry and demonstrated its practicality. The proposed model provides a quantitative tool for destination management organizations to monitor, assess and improve the efficiency of knowledge diffusion within their tourism destinations. Such improved knowledge diffusion is critical in strengthening a destination\u27s innovative capabilities and competitiveness

Understanding entrepreneurial intentions: A developed integrated structural model approach

The primary objective of this study is to develop the pioneering version of Krueger’s (2009) integrated model of entrepreneurial intention (EI) and to empirically test the new model in explaining individuals’ intentions of entrepreneurial activities. The data were collected by the self-reported in-person and electronic questionnaires from a population of tourism students from several universities in Iran. The results of partial least squares estimations indicate that desirability is the main determinant of entrepreneurial goal intention (EGI), followed by self-efficacy, feasibility, opportunity, attitude, and collective-efficacy, while social norms do not influence EGI. Also, EGI strongly influences entrepreneurial implementation intention. Concerning the modification effect, the impact of perceived opportunity on EGI tends to increase when an individual has a high propensity to act. The findings provide policy makers with important insights into how to nurture tourism students’ EIs through educational programs

Understanding pro-environmental binning behaviour of National Park visitors: A cross-cultural study

The growing importance of people’s pro-environmental behaviours (PEBs) in relation to reducing their negative impacts and/or increasing their positive impacts in natural areas has attracted considerable research interest. Visitor engagement in pro-environmental activities is one of the key elements in maintaining and improving a national park’s ecological and biological resources. These resources are often the main components of tourism products developed in nature-based destinations. A specific concern for many national park managers is the generation of litter by visitors. A PEB to solve the problem of litter management in national parks is binning i.e. putting litter in a bin. As such, it is essential to identify what leads visitors to bin their litter. Binning is defined in this thesis as a type of private low-cost PEBs where a visitor puts his or her own litter in a bin if provided, otherwise, in a bag or a pocket for placing in a bin later. Based on this definition, this thesis is the first study to explore such behaviour in the context of a national park. Drawing on theories that include self-interest/rational (i.e. theory of planned behaviour) and other-interest/pro-social (i.e. norm-activation model) motives, an integrated structural model of binning behaviour was developed. The proposed model was tested among national park visitors in Iran and Australia. The direct and indirect associations among the proposed model constructs were examined using the partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLSSEM) approach on a sample of 240 visitors to Sorkh-e-hesar National Park in Iran and 219 visitors to Yanchep National Park in Australia. Multi-group analysis was also employed to explore the differences in binning behaviour between samples. The PLS-SEM results revealed the association between awareness of consequences and personal norms was the strongest, and personal norms was the most influential determinant of pro-environmental binning behaviour. Further, the PLS-SEM results revealed a good fit of the model within each sample, with minimal variations in the measurement parameters across cultures. However, the results of the multi-group analysis show that the relationships between the antecedents of binning behaviour did not differ significantly between the Iranian and Australian groups. This supports the cross-cultural generalisability of the measurement and structural parameters of the theory of planned behaviour and its extension by the norm activation model. From a practical perspective, the results of this doctoral research indicate that national park management agencies should strengthen the saliency of visitors’ personal norms and raise awareness of littering problems and social norms to increase visitors’ bin use while they are visiting a national park. The thesis contributes to the existing theories of PEB and to improving national park managers’ understanding of visitors’ motivations towards PEB in relation to nature-based tourism activities. The thesis concludes with a research agenda, suggesting that PEB research opportunities in the context of nature-based tourism are numerous; however, its specific domains, theoretical advancement, measurability and cultural influences require significant rethinking for future research

Risk perception and tourism experiences among pilgrims

This chapter examines destination risk perceptions of domestic pilgrims in Mashhad, Iran. Self-reported questionnaires were distributed to visitors of Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad through a time-based systematic random sampling method. Partial least squares structural equation modeling was used for data analysis. Results indicate that perceived risk was associated negatively with the quality of past visits, nonvictimization experience, and destination loyalty. Having past visit experiences did not moderate the strength of the model’s structural links except for the perceived risk to loyalty. The findings provide insights into distinct risk perceptions that can be leveraged by destination planners to tailor business strategies to meet quality expectations

To shop or not to shop while traveling? Exploring the influence of shopping mall attributes on overall tourist shopping satisfaction

The shopping experience may impact tourists’ overall dis/satisfaction and, subsequently, the destination's local economy. To address this importance, the current study focused on six important criteria–environmental performance, geographical location, human resources, marketing, services and welfare recreational facilities–that also include twenty-four sub-criteria that had been identified and proposed after a comprehensive review of relevant literature. Combining fuzzy set theory and Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) method, the causal relationship of each criterion and its sub-criteria and the key influencing factors for the quality of tourists’ shopping mall satisfaction were identified. Also, the links between the main criteria and sub-criteria were uncovered, and their weights were determined. The results indicate that the ‘marketing’ criterion has had the most substantial influence on the quality of shopping mall satisfaction, while the additional variables include ‘services’, ‘human resources’, ‘welfare recreational facilities’, ‘environmental performance’ and ‘geographical location’. The study provides a list of implications for both the literature and practice