Factors influencing the tourists’ intention to select sustainable tourism destination: a case study of Penang, Malaysia

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors of environmental attitude, motivation, destination image, word-of-mouth, and perceived service quality to predict the tourists’ intention to select sustainable tourist destination. It also aims to investigate the moderating effect of knowledge on the relationship between environmental attitude and the tourists’ intention to select sustainable tourist destination. Design/methodology/approach Using survey design, 300 self-administrated questionnaires (both online/hard copy) were distributed to both local and international tourists at different tourism locations in Penang state in Malaysia. A total of 161 questionnaires were returned and analysed by using SPSS and smart PLS software. Findings The findings found that environmental attitude, motivation, and word-of-mouth significantly influenced the tourists’ intention to select sustainable tourism destination, while destination image and perceived service quality have not a significant influence in this study. Furthermore, this study proved that knowledge negatively moderates the positive effect of the environmental attitude on tourists’ intention to select sustainable tourism destination. Research limitations/implications The findings offer important managerial implications for managers of tourism destinations and decision makers in understanding what motivates influence tourists’ intention in selecting sustainable tourism destination. The research scope was limited to convenient sampling and one city (Penang). Thus, the results could not be generalised to all Malaysia or other countries. Originality/value This research contributes to extending knowledge in sustainable tourism destination in the context of emerging markets, especially Malaysia. Moreover, this study found a way to examine the relationship between the environmental attitude and tourists’ intention to select sustainable tourism destination.

Factors Influencing on Job Preference among Shariah Banking Student

“…This result of hypothesis testing is in line with the previous studies, namely, the intention is predicted by attitude (Duffett, 2015;Mohaidin et al, 2017;Rahman et al, 2017;Shah & Soomro, 2017;Teng & Wang, 2015). The study of intentions is very important for stakeholders because the intention is one of the strongest predictors to form behavior, in this case, the behavior to be a sharia banker.…”

“…Mediation test in this study also gives the meaning that attitude is an important study to be carried out because this affects greatly both to the intention and in the formation of behavior. Previous studies stated that attitude is a predictor in the formation of intention (Mohaidin et al, 2017;Rahman et al, 2017;Shah & Soomro, 2017), so, sharia banking program marketers not only share information but also ensure that shared knowledge shapes attitudes.…”

“…Attitudes towards an object have a positive effect on an intention (Duffett, 2015;Mohaidin, Wei, & Murshid, 2017;Rahman, Ebrahim, & Rahman, 2017;Shah & Soomro, 2017;Teng & Wang, 2015). An intention is an excuse, and that reason also forms an attitude (Goetz, 2015).…”

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“…Sustainability principles refer to the environmental, economic, and socio-cultural aspects of tourism development, and a suitable balance must be established among these three dimensions to guarantee its long-term sustainability [ 1 ]. In addition to international organizations, we also find many authors who have defined the concept of sustainable tourism [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ]. Conversely, despite the fact that sustainable tourism has been recognized in business practice, the volume of academic research has not been as relevant as might be expected [ 7 ].…”

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“…PLS-SEM was used to assess complex models which consist of mediating and moderating variables (Ghozali and Latan, 2015;Hair, Hult, Ringle and Sarstedt, 2017;Sarwono and Narimawati, 2015). Further, this software is also used by several tourism and hospitality journals (Mohaidin, Wei and Ali Murshid, 2017;Rajaratnam, Nair, Sharif and Munikrishnan, 2015).…”