Social-psychological determinants of Serbian tourists' choice of green rural hotels

Abstract

The significance of green rural tourism for sustainable development is widely recognized. In addition, a number of researches attempt to explain the green choice among tourists. Hereby, different theoretical approaches are used. The dynamic approach to the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) is implemented in this study. The approach considers that the influence of different elements of TPB (attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control) on intention to visit green rural hotels is tested in the context of different phases in behavior change of the respondents (pre-decision, pre-action, action). According to the authors' knowledge, this is the first implementation of the dynamic approach to the TPB in understanding green rural choice. During data analysis, multigroup structural equation modelling (SEM) was used. The results indicate that the existence and the strength of the influences of the elements of TPB are different in different phases of behavior change. Managerial implications for the studied market (Serbia) are also provided within the paper.