Mapping the Landscape and Evolution of Research on Pro-Environmental Behavior of Tourists

Abstract

The pro-environmental behavior of tourists (PEBT) can reduce the impact of tourism activities on the environment, which has attracted more and more attention from scholars. Based on the 159 articles of the PEBT from 2003 to the present in the “Web of Science” database, analyzing the overall characteristics, core knowledge, and knowledge evolution of this field with the help of CiteSpace and Vosviewer software, to systematically grasp the development panorama and find the future direction of the research on PEBT. The results show that economics, ecology, and psychology have a strong knowledge spillover effect for research on PEBT. Three regional research circles, eight-core scientific communities, and four core prior knowledge groups have formed for research on PEBT. The research content mainly focuses on exploring the measurement, forming mechanism, and influencing factors of PEBT. The effect of attitude or place attachment to PEBT has once been the research hotspot in this field. The research focus is to explore PEBT under multiple scenarios from the perspective of multi-disciplinary in recent years. Finally, a series of directions for future research on PEBT were put forward, aiming to bring some useful references to scholars.