Sports and pro-environmental behaviors of visitors to public parks

Abstract

Recently, in the field of destination management in tourism, there is a growing trend towards encouraging individuals to engage in environmentally supportive behaviors. In this study, the dimensions of visitors' environmental engagement (affection, activation, and cognitive processing) are considered as mediating roles in the relationship between perceived environmental quality and pro-environmental behavior, forming a model. Additionally, the moderating role of visitor type (sport and non-sport) in these relationships has examined. The research population consisted of visitors to a nature-based public park in Sari, Mazandaran Province. Data from 394 questionnaires were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The results confirm the mediating role of cognitive processing (t=3.55, β=0.107) and disconfirm the mediating roles of affection (t=1.03, β=0.048) and activation (t=0.006, β=0). It has also been identified that there is no significant difference between sport and non-sport visitors in the relationship between perceived environmental quality and pro-environmental behavior due to environmental engagement dimensions.

Keywords

• nature-based destinations
• sport visitors
• affection
• activation
• cognitive processing