Contingent effects of social norms on tourists’ pro-environmental behaviours: the role of Chinese traditionality

Social norms are critical drivers of pro-environmental behaviours (PEBs) yet vary in their influences across individuals or cultures. This study investigates the contingent effects of social norms on tourists’ PEBs by examining the moderating role of an individual cultural value, i.e. Confucian-based Chinese traditionality, on the mediated relations via personal norm. Using survey data collected from Kulansu island and with structural equation modelling and bootstrap analyses, it revealed that both injunctive and descriptive norms did not exert a direct effect on tourists’ PEBs but an indirect one via personal norm, i.e. personal norm fully mediated the relationship between social norms and PEBs. It also confirmed that Chinese traditionality moderated the mediated relationship between injunctive, but not descriptive, norm and PEBs through personal norm, such that the mediation was stronger for tourists higher, rather than lower, in Chinese traditionality. This study contributes to the literature on the norm-behaviour relationship in a Confucian-based cultural context and offers practical insights into crafting normative appeals in environmental campaigns.