The Relative Importance of Social and Personal Norms in Explaining Intentions to Choose Eco-Friendly Travel Options

Abstract

Changes in current travel patterns are important in order to move towards a more sustainable future of tourism. This paper reports findings from a study (N=762) investigating the relative importance of social and personal norms in explaining intentions to choose eco-friendly travel options. Personal norms showed the strongest association with behavioural intentions and further mediated the link between injunctive social norms and behavioural intentions. Overall findings indicate that social and personal norms seem both related to travel choices but that a particular emphasis should be given to the role of personal norms. Further implications of these findings are discussed.