Sightseers’ Responsible Behavior Toward the Environment at Rural Destinations: The Moderating Role of Levels of Education

Abstract

This study discusses the impact of the external factors in tourism locations on the environmental conduct of students as sightseers; takes the rural destinations in Indonesia as the case-study place based on 325 questionnaire survey samples of tourists; and adopts the method of structural equation model-multiple group analysis to explore the moderating role of levels of education on the relationship between students’ intention to behave environmental responsibility and their responsible behavior toward the environment. Students’ factors include PBC (Perceived Behavioral Control), AE (attitude to behave toward the environment), SN (subjective norms), and IR (intention to behave with environmental responsibility). Results indicate that among students’ factors, PBC and SN have no significant effect on students’ IR; PBC affects students’ RBE positively, and students’ IR affects their RBE positively. Through analysis of survey data collected from rural sightseers on an island in Indonesia, we conclude that it is important to encourage favorable community formation and good behavioral norms by external factors to support responsible environmental behavior in sightseeing places.