Destination Social Responsibility and Residents’ Environmentally Responsible Behavior: Assessing the Mediating Role of Community Attachment and Involvement

Abstract

This study revisited the relationship between destination social responsibility (DSR) and residents’ environmentally responsible behavior (ERB) in conjunction with the stimulus–organism–response (S-O-R) framework to assess the mediating effect of community attachment and involvement. The proposed conceptual research model was empirically examined with 375 residents from the largest tourist destinations in Ghana. A cross-sectional research design was used, and structural equation modeling (SEM) was applied to test the mediating role of community attachment and involvement. The findings of this study confirmed that DSR has a significant and positive relationship with residents’ community attachment, involvement, and ERB. In addition, the findings of this study revealed a positive relationship between community attachment and residents’ ERB. The findings of this study also confirmed the indirect effect of DSR on residents’ ERB through community attachment. Contrary to expectations, the results of this study did not support the direct and indirect effects of community involvement on residents’ ERB. This study responded to the call from previous research to investigate the relationship between residents’ DSR and socio-psychological constructs, such as community attachment and involvement, which in turn enhance and improve their ERB in different cultures and tourism destinations.