How environmental emotions link to responsible consumption behavior: Tourism Agenda 2030

Purpose The aim of this study was to investigate the themes related to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12 in relation to tourism, and specifically to explore how the emotional psyche affects tourists’ environmentally responsible behaviors. Design/methodology/approach Based on the value-belief-norm theory, a research framework was developed to examine the serial mediation effects of environmental emotions in predicting tourists’ environmentally responsible behaviors. A total of 741 responses was collected from an online survey. Data were analyzed by the partial least squares structural equation modeling. Findings Environmental concern does not directly predict tourists’ environmentally responsible behaviors. Instead, environmental awe and environmental worry serially mediate the relationship between environmental concern and tourists’ environmentally responsible behaviors. Originality/value This study extends the value-belief-norm theory by integrating environmental emotions and empirically tests the effect of multiple psyches on responsible consumption, contributing to the achievement of SDG 12 in UN Agenda 2030.