Driving tourists’ pro-environmental behaviour through heritage interpretation messages

Abstract

This study examines the sensual psychological mechanism by which heritage interpretation messages (HIMs) drive pro-environmental behaviours (PEBs) among natural heritage tourists. It explores how HIMs (natural and cultural interpretation) affect tourists’ PEBs based on the stimulus‒organism‒response (SOR) theory and the cognitive-affective‒behavioural (CAB) model. It validates survey data from 510 tourists at the World Natural Heritage Site Danxia Mountain, China. The results are: (1) HIMs significantly and positively influence PEBs. Natural interpretation drives PEBs more than cultural interpretation. (2) Natural interpretation can increase visitors’ environmental sensitivity more than cultural interpretation. Cultural interpretation can enhance visitors’ perceived heritage values more than natural interpretation. (3) Perceived heritage values and environmental sensitivity play chain-mediated roles in the effects of HIMs on PEBs. This study analyses the effects of different HIMs (natural and cultural interpretations) on perception, emotion and environmental behaviour. It enriches studying the relationship between tourist interpretation messages and pro-environmental behaviours.