Managing legitimacy in tourism: a novel perspective on how destination social responsibility influences residents’ environmentally responsible behavior

Drawing upon legitimacy and signaling theories, this study introduces a novel research framework aimed at elucidating the conditions and mechanisms by which destination social responsibility enhances residents' environmentally responsible behavior. Leveraging data from two survey waves involving 458 residents situated in scenic locales, we conducted an empirical examination of the proposed model. Our findings reveal a positive association between destination social responsibility and residents' environmentally responsible behavior, with this relationship being mediated by residents' perception of destination legitimacy. Moreover, our results underscore the role of residents' community concern in amplifying the positive link between destination legitimacy and destination social responsibility. Furthermore, employing moderated mediation analysis, we ascertained that the indirect influence of destination social responsibility on residents' environmentally responsible behavior through destination legitimacy is more pronounced among residents exhibiting high levels of community concern. Our research extends the applicability of legitimacy theory to the context of tourist destinations.