An Extended Decision-Making Model of Coastal Recreational Area Use during the COVID-19 through Goal-Directed Behavior and Perceived Benefits Framework

Abstract

Recreational areas have gained significant importance regarding human activities during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially when citizens face challenges. This study aims to examine the behavioral intention of the decision-making approach of the visitors of coastal recreational areas to deal with this situation. The Extended Goal-directed Behavior Model (EGBM) was tested with confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to examine visiting coastal recreational areas to understand how citizens modify their lifestyles. A survey with 41 questions was administered to 311 residents in Izmir province. The results showed that perceived benefits affected attitudes. Attitude, subjective norm, anticipated positive emotion and anticipated negative emotion influenced desire. Desire, past behavior, and perceived behavioral control were also effective for coastal recreational visits. The present study contributes to the growing literature on decision-making processes of the uses of recreational areas and enables focusing on the significance of coastal recreational areas.