From anxiety to action: the role of eco-anxiety and eco-advertisement in promoting pollution escape tourism

Eco-anxiety is a growing psychological phenomenon characterized by chronic fear of environmental doom. Coupled with the rise of eco-advertisement, which promotes environmentally friendly products and lifestyles, it is crucial to understand how these factors influence travel behavior. This study aims to explore the relationship between eco-anxiety, eco-advertisement, and pollution escape tourism. Using a self-administered questionnaire, data were collected online from 311 respondents and analyzed using PLS-SEM with SmartPLS software version 4. The results show a positive and significant relationship between emotional dissonance and eco-tourism, and between escapism and eco-tourism, but not between eco-anxiety and intentions towards eco-tourism. We found that escapism mediates the relationship between eco-anxiety and eco-tourism. Additionally, eco-advertisement moderates the relationship between eco-anxiety and eco-tourism, but not between escapism and eco-tourism, suggesting that eco-ads can enhance the appeal of eco-tourism. However, when consumers seek to escape from their situation, eco-ads do not alter the eco-tourism intentions driven by escapism. This model guides marketers in developing policies for promoting sustainable tourism that address the anxiety consumers feel, which drives their desire to escape to greener places.