How does destination psychological ownership affect tourists’ pro-environmental behaviors? A moderated mediation analysis

Tourists' pro-environment behavior (TPEB) plays a central role in fostering a destination's sustainability. As an essential connection between tourist and destination, destination psychological ownership (DPO) has been found to exert a direct effect on TPEB. Still, a more profound underlying psychological mechanism behind this relationship remains unclear. This study proposed a moderated mediation model to investigate the ways in which DPO influences TPEB by addressing the mediating role of ascribed responsibility and the moderating role of perceived effectiveness. Data collected from 419 tourists at three national tourist resorts in China, through an on-site intercept survey, were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM) and the bootstrap approach. The results indicated that DPO positively impacts TPEB, and ascribed responsibility partially mediates such effect. Furthermore, perceived effectiveness moderates the direct impacts of DPO and ascribed responsibility on TPEB, as well as the indirect effects of DPO on TPEB through ascribed responsibility. The proposed model extends the existing literature by exploring the mediating mechanism of how DPO affects TPEB and the potential boundary condition. Meanwhile, the findings illuminate implications for tourism management to advocate TPEB effectively.