Sustainable Tourist Behaviour Scale (STBS)

Sustainable tourism is an important goal within the global sustainable development framework. In sustainable tourism, tourists are expected to behave in an environmentally friendly manner and respect the local culture and economy. However, the level of sustainable behaviour among tourists varies across different regions and countries. This study aims to understand the sustainable tourism behaviour of Vietnamese tourists visiting Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. It focuses on (1) the sustainable behaviour of tourists, (2) the correlation between access to sustainable tourism information and sustainable behaviour, as well as participant characteristics and the behaviour; and (3) initial suggestions for promoting changes towards sustainable behaviour among tourists. The study uses a mixed-methods approach, combining both quantitative and qualitative methods. Quantitative data were collected through direct questionnaires from 240 tourists visiting Ho Chi Minh City. Qualitative data were obtained through semi-structured, in-depth interviews with 47 participants. The results indicate three common groups of behaviour related to sustainable tourism during travel: saving electricity and water, choosing public transportation, and food-related behaviour. Specifically, the study found a correlation between access to sustainable tourism information and sustainable behaviour, including the choice of transportation (sig = 0.040) and food-related behaviour (sig = 0.006). Surprisingly, the study did not find a correlation between access to sustainable tourism information and behaviour related to conserving electricity and water at destination accommodations. The findings also revealed that well-educated young Vietnamese travellers (aged 18-35) earning high salaries, living in urban areas, and currently employed by international companies have a better understanding of sustainability, leading to increased sustainable practices within the tourism industry. Finally, the study suggests that strategies should shift towards changing behaviour related to saving electricity and water through improvements in hotel infrastructure and management practices rather than focusing solely on engaging sustainable tourist behaviour through providing sustainable information.

Vietnam’s tourism sector has experienced rapid expansion, yielding significant economic gains, but also escalating environmental and socio-cultural challenges. This necessitates a shift toward sustainable tourism practices. This study develops and tests an integrative model combining the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and Value–Belief–Norm (VBN) theory to investigate the Sustainable Consumption Behavior (SCB) of domestic travelers in Vietnam. Grounded in the country’s collectivist culture—characterized by a strong emphasis on communal values and social harmony—the research examines how rational decision-making and normative pressures jointly drive eco-friendly travel behaviors. Data were collected from 549 Vietnamese tourists through stratified sampling across three major regions, and were analyzed through a robust multi-step methodology, including Exploratory Factor Analysis, Confirmatory Factor Analysis, and structural equation modeling (SEM), supplemented by regression analysis. The SEM results indicate that the proposed model accounts for 60.8% of the variance in SCB, underscoring its explanatory power. Within the TPB framework, Attitude, Subjective Norms, and Perceived Behavioral Control significantly predict Behavioral Intention, which, in turn, mediates their influence on SCB. In the VBN component, Environmental Awareness shapes Altruistic and Biospheric Values, fostering the New Environmental Paradigm and activating Personal Norms, which exert a direct effect on SCB. This direct influence of Personal Norms, bypassing Behavioral Intention, highlights the role of implicit moral obligations in Vietnam’s collectivist cultural context and challenges Western-centric behavioral models. Beyond these frameworks, Destination Attributes and Consumer Innovativeness emerge as critical direct predictors of SCB, with Destination Attributes showing the strongest effect. Mediation analyses confirm Behavioral Intention’s central role, while moderation tests reveal that gender and travel experience modulate TPB-based relationships, suggesting the value of targeted interventions. Theoretically, this study advances TPB–VBN integration by applying it to a collectivist setting, revealing how cultural norms amplify normative influences on sustainable behavior. Practically, it advocates for strategies such as community-driven initiatives leveraging Personal Norms, educational campaigns to enhance Perceived Behavioral Control, and sustainable destination management initiatives in locations like Da Nang and Ha Long Bay. While the cross-sectional design limits causal claims, the findings provide a foundation for future longitudinal studies and cross-cultural comparisons, particularly in other collectivist societies, potentially incorporating digital engagement and policy incentives as novel factors.

Homestay-based tourism is fraught with the challenge of what may prompt tourists to behave sustainably. Current research argues that tourists’ sustainable behaviours can be a function of the psychological ownership they experience towards the homestays. By applying the tenets of psychological ownership theory, this study also theorizes the predictors of psychological ownership towards the homestays. Data collected from homestay tourists in the rural Himalayan region is employed to test the hypotheses. Results reveal that tourists’ perceived control over homestays, their intimate knowledge, and self-investment during interactions with the homestays predict psychological ownership towards homestays which further explains tourists’ loyalty towards the homestays, a sense of localism, and pro-environmental behaviours representing the economic, social, and environmental dimensions of sustainable behaviours, respectively. This study demonstrates psychological ownership towards the homestays as a novel mechanism for sustainable tourist behaviours and establishes the routes to this state while broadening the scope of psychological ownership theory in tourism literature. On practical implications, this research lays down the markers that marketers can employ to design corresponding behavioural interventions aimed at stimulating tourists’ psychological ownership towards the homestays and thereby augment sustainable behaviours.

Norm-nudges are effective in encouraging sustainable consumer behaviour in various settings, by raising the salience of the target behaviour via social norms. Tourism presents a highly hedonic context, in which behaviour is primarily framed by self-oriented goals as opposed to normative ones related to the good of the environment and society. While the existing literature provides insights on the appropriate content of norm-nudges to raise the salience of normative goals, less is known about an appropriate frequency of nudges. It is important to address this gap in tourism because tourists need to be aware of desired sustainable behaviours, while overly obtrusive nudges may backfire. A field experiment was conducted to test the extent to which an increased frequency of norm-nudges has a backfiring effect on sustainable tourist behaviour, using donations for mountain-biking trails as the target behaviour. Results show that increasing the frequency of norm-nudges does not diminish their positive uptake, which suggests that they can be used more to encourage sustainable behaviour and enhance tourists’ experiences. Using actual and self-reported behavioural data, this study provides new empirical evidence on the effectiveness of increased frequency of norm-nudges in a real tourism setting, contributing to knowledge on norm-nudges and backfiring effects.

In the contemporary organizational context, sustainability has expanded beyond ecological concerns to include the psychological and social wellbeing of employees. Emotional Intelligence, defined as the ability to perceive, understand, regulate, and utilize emotions constructively, has gained prominence as a critical determinant of sustainable organizational practices. This study investigate the role of EI in shaping employee wellbeing and sustainable workplace behavior, with a particular focus on how emotional competencies contribute to resilience, collaboration, and alignment with organizational values. Drawing on Goleman's 5-component model of EI: self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skills—this research develops and validates a conceptual framework that links EI to workplace sustainability outcomes. A quantitative, cross-sectional design was employed, and data were collected from 200 full-time employees working in both public and private sectors in Karnataka, India. Using a structured questionnaire, measures were obtained for Emotional Intelligence, employee wellbeing, and sustainability-oriented behaviors. The analysis was conducted using SPSS v25 and the PROCESS macro to test direct and mediating effects. Results demonstrated that EI significantly predicts employee wellbeing (β = 0.68, p < 0.001), and both constructs show strong positive associations with sustainable workplace behavior (β = 0.63, p < 0.001). Mediation analysis further revealed that employee wellbeing partially mediates the relationship between EI and sustainable behavior, indicating that wellbeing enhances but does not fully explain the impact of EI on workplace sustainability. The findings highlights the pivotal role of emotional competencies in promoting not only psychological safety and workplace harmony but also behaviors aligned with organizational sustainability and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This study advances the discourse on "human sustainability" by integrating emotional intelligence with sustainable organizational practices, an area that remains underexplored in existing literature. Practical implications include the need for HR managers and policymakers to design EI-based training, employee wellness programs, and emotionally supportive leadership interventions as strategies for building resilient, future-ready workplaces. By establishing a direct and indirect pathway between EI, employee wellbeing, and sustainable workplace behavior, this research contributes to both theory and practice. It underscores the potential of EI as a strategic lever for achieving sustainable growth through enhanced human capital.

Sustainable tourism research has attracted wide interest from scholars and practitioners. While several heritage sites are mandated to provide optimum visitor satisfaction with increasing competition in the market, managers of heritage sites face growing challenges in striking a balance between consumption and conservation. This calls for promoting more sustainable behaviours among consumers of heritage. This study proposes a conceptualization of sustainable behaviour for heritage consumers. Using the attitude–behaviour relationship underpinned by the Theory of Reasoned Action, it develops and proposes a conceptual framework that integrates visitors’ heritage experiences, their attachment to heritage sites, and their general and site-specific sustainable heritage behaviour and presents their interrelationships as proposed hypotheses. Theoretical contributions and practical implications for heritage site managers are discussed.

PurposeConsumers’ environmental behaviours are not only the result of their positive attitudes towards environments, but also different reasons and motivations exist. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to find out important factors affecting sustainable apparel buying behaviour. Applying the theory of planned behaviour (TPB), this study further examines how knowledge about sustainable apparel, perceived money availability, and perceived accessibility to the store influence sustainable apparel consumption.Design/methodology/approachUsing a purposive college student sample, 235 usable responses were collected to answer the questions. An exploratory factor analysis with principal component analysis was first performed followed by confirmatory factor analysis, and a structural equation modelling analysis.FindingsResults revealed that the TPB was successfully applied in the context of sustainable apparel buying behaviour. Furthermore, it was found that consumers’ perceived money availability and perceived store accessibility are important factors that affect control beliefs and sustainable consumption.Research limitations/implicationsThis study found the needs of educating college students for contexts of environmental apparel and textiles issues.Originality/valueEven though previous literature often found the gap between the behavioural intentions and the actual behaviour, this study found the respondents of this study walk their talk. This study successfully applied the TPB to explain consumers’ sustainable apparel buying behaviour.

<title>Abstract</title> The objective of this study is to develop a valid and reliable measurement instrument to assess the motivational barriers individuals encounter in the process of exercising and participating in physical activity. A comprehensive understanding of the barriers to exercise motivation is imperative for enhancing participation in physical activity and fostering sustainable healthy lifestyle behaviours. Consequently, the Exercise Motivation Barriers Scale (EMBAR) was developed, and its psychometric properties were examined.The study was conducted in two phases. In the initial phase, a 20-item pool was generated through a comprehensive literature review and a thorough examination of theoretical foundations. The content validity of the instrument was evaluated through the opinions of four subject-matter experts. The content validity ratio (CVR) and content validity index (CVI) were subsequently calculated, with all items being deemed appropriate. Subsequently, Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was performed on a pilot sample of 343 participants. Items with factor loadings below .40 were eliminated, and the scale was reduced to a single-factor structure consisting of six items.In the second phase, the factor structure of the scale was tested through Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) on a main sample of 540 participants. The obtained fit indices indicated a satisfactory model fit (χ²/df = 3.009; CFI = .994; TLI = .985; RMSEA = .061; GFI = .989). The measurement invariance of the scale was examined across age and gender using multigroup confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), which demonstrated that the scale functions similarly across different groups. The reliability of the scale was evaluated using Cronbach's alpha coefficient, yielding a high internal consistency (α = .90).In conclusion, the Exercise Motivation Barriers Scale is proposed as a valid and reliable instrument for measuring the motivational barriers individuals face in the process of participating in physical activity.

Achieving sustainable tourism is a process that focuses on numerous goals and faces many challenges. The advent of disruptive technology like blockchain could help to tackle some challenges in sustainable tourism development and address its goals. This conceptual paper aims to discuss how blockchain technology could contribute to sustainable tourism. Precisely, the authors investigate the potential benefits of blockchain technology to disrupt tourism operations and boost local economy, manage food supply chain and mitigate food waste, achieve tourists’ satisfaction, affect the tourists’ sustainable behaviour, and address awareness rise issues. The authors conclude that blockchain technology has a potential to contribute to sustainable tourism development as well as the SDGs and propose the directions for future research.

Social and sustainable: exploring social media use for promoting sustainable behaviour and demand amongst Indian tourists

The current study develops a second order measurement instrument for sustainable tourist behaviour through confirmatory factor analysis from tourists' responses based on three prominent destinations in India namely, Goa, Munnar and Manali. Factorial validity, invariance analysis and nomological validity were also assessed. Results showed that STB is a second order reflective factor consisting of destination specific pro‐environmental, socially responsible, environmental learning, cultural and economically favourable behaviours. Furthermore, while environmental engagement is a significant enabler for STB, the latter contributes significantly in the development of memorable experiences and tourist satisfaction.

Addressing growing environmental and economic pressures requires a better understanding of how younger consumers engage in sustainable consumption. This study examines sustainable consumption behavior among Generation Z in Croatia, focusing on the effects of unneeded consumption, saving orientation, and product reusability on environmentally sustainable behavior (ESB). A quantitative survey was conducted on a sample of 334 respondents, and the data were analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis and linear regression. The results reveal that unneeded consumption has no statistically significant effect on ESB, while saving orientation and product reusability positively influence pro-environmental behavior. These findings suggest that Croatian Gen Z consumers adopt sustainable practices primarily when they provide tangible economic or practical benefits. By integrating the Theory of Planned Behavior and the Value-Belief-Norm framework, the study contributes to understanding the role of economic pragmatism and moral motivation in shaping youth sustainability, offering context-specific insights for post-transition EU economies.

Evaluating the content structure of intelligent tutor systems—A psychological network analysis

Background/Objectives: Sustainable nutrition is essential for human and planetary health. The Transtheoretical Model-based Sustainable Nutrition Behavior Scale (TTM-SNBS) was developed to assess sustainable nutrition behaviors and the dynamic processes of behavior change in adolescents. Methods: The item pool was generated through literature review and expert consultation using the Delphi technique (10 experts, three rounds). Construct validity was assessed using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. Reliability was evaluated through Cronbach's alpha and test-retest methods. External validity was examined through correlations with the Sustainable and Healthy Eating Behaviors Scale (SHEBS), following COSMIN standards. The study included 512 adolescents aged 14-18 years (54% female) from public high schools in Ankara, Türkiye. Results: Initially, 75 items were developed through expert evaluation. After preliminary testing, two items with low and negative correlations were removed; 73 were retained for validation. Factor analyses and refinement produced a 45-item final validated scale comprising one stage of change item and five subscales: cognitive processes (14 items), behavioral processes (18 items), decisional balance-pros (4 items), decisional balance-cons (4 items), and self-efficacy (4 items). Items showed good discrimination (>0.27). Cronbach's alpha values ranged from 0.67 to 0.93, and fit indices were acceptable (χ2/df = 2.8-4.2; RMSEA = 0.045-0.065). External validity was supported by significant positive correlations with the SHEBS. Conclusions: The TTM-SNBS is the first psychometrically validated, theory-based instrument to assess sustainable nutrition behaviors in adolescents. It offers a reliable and valid instrument to support future research and interventions promoting sustainable dietary practices.

Purpose: This study aims to determine the sustainable tourism management of Monkey Forest Ubud, Bali, Indonesia, in the presence of the Covid-19 pandemic which has resulted in a tourism crisis.&#x0D; Research methods: This study uses a qualitative method to describe the condition of Monkey Forest Ubud in the presence of the Covid-19 pandemic. It is explained in a descriptive manner to show the sustainability management applied by its management during the pandemic.&#x0D; Results and discussion: The management of Monkey Forest Ubud carries out operations by paying attention to economic, ecological and socio-cultural aspects, which aims to create sustainable tourism in the pandemic situation, so as to create harmonization of relations between the surrounding community and the manager of such an attraction.&#x0D; Implication: The management must pay attention to economic, ecological and socio-cultural aspects which shows that Monkey Forest Ubud supports sustainable tourism.