Rational and Moral Antecedents of Tourists’ Intention to Use Reusable Alternatives to Single-Use Plastics

Abstract

Though rational and moral antecedents to tourists’ pro-environmental behavioral intentions have been separately established, the literature remains inconclusive on whether tourists’ pro-environmental intentions are underpinned by rational or moral considerations. Based on the theory of planned behavior and the norm activation model, this study examines the competing rational and moral antecedents of intention to use reusable alternatives to single-use plastics using data obtained from 653 tourists and analyzed with the structural equation modeling. The results indicate that though morality better explained the intention to use reusable alternatives to single-use plastics amongst all tourists, rationality underpinned the intention amongst domestic tourists while morality better explained the intentions of international tourists. The implications of these findings regarding future theorization of tourists’ pro-environmental behavior and measures to reduce single-use plastic marine pollution in coastal destinations are discussed.