Self-Identity Matters: An Extended Theory of Planned Behavior to Decode Tourists' Waste Sorting Intentions

Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023 Mar 14;20(6):5099. doi: 10.3390/ijerph20065099.

Abstract

Waste sorting is a practical way of handling the garbage and an effective strategy for facilitating sustainable waste management. This research extended the theory of planned behavior (TPB) with self-identity and moral norms to predict waste sorting intentions in a heritage context of tourism. A total of 403 valid self-administrated questionnaires were achieved at a heritage destination in China. The results indicated that: (1) TPB variables (i.e., attitudes toward the behavior, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control), self-identity, and moral norms were all directly and positively linked to tourists' waste sorting intentions, respectively; (2) self-identity indirectly influenced tourists' waste sorting intentions through the mediation of moral norms; and (3) the integrated model exhibited better predictive utility than any single model. This research contributes to the literature on waste management in the context of tourism by extending TPB with identity and personal normative constructs. It also provides practical implications for destination managers to leverage tourists' self-identity and moral norms for sustainable management.

Keywords: heritage tourism; identity theory; moral norms; self-identity; theory of planned behavior; tourists’ waste-sorting intentions.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Attitude
  • Intention*
  • Surveys and Questionnaires
  • Theory of Planned Behavior
  • Waste Management*

Grants and funding

This research was funded by the General Research Project of the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Education (grant number: Y202249114), the Projects of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant number: 72074053), the Top Tourism Talent Cultivation Program in 2019 by Zhejiang Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism (grant number: 2019LYBJ0103) and the Youth Key Project of Premier Humanities and Social Science Program for Higher Educational Institutes of Zhejiang Province, China (grant number: 2018QN015).