Effects and functional mechanisms of serious leisure on environmentally responsible behavior of mountain hikers: Mediating effect of place attachments and destination attractiveness

Mountain hiking can bring abundant benefits while increasing environmental stress in mountain areas. Thus, this paper examined the relationship and functional mechanisms between serious leisure and environmentally responsible behavior by surveying 318 mountain hiking participants in Shaanxi and Guizhou provinces. Bootstrapping and hierarchical regression analysis were used to examine the relationships and the mediating effects among variables. Results confirmed that participants' serious leisure is positively associated with destination attractiveness, place attachment, and environmentally responsible behavior. Destination attractiveness and place attachment mediated the effect of serious leisure on environmentally responsible behavior, respectively, while serious leisure also positively affected environmentally responsible behavior through the chain mediation path of destination attractiveness and place attachment. The effects of serious leisure sub-attributes on environmentally responsible behavior varied significantly. Management implications and recommendations for local governors and serious hikers are provided. Implications for the environmental governance of destinations are as follows: First, employees of relevant regional government departments, representatives of the local community, and other managers involved in planning, management, and regulations of the destination are required to emphasize and cultivate the serious leisure attributes of participants. Complicated as the management's difficulties are, the best means to protect the mountain environment is participants' intentions. Second, it is suggested to enhance participants' emotional attachment by strengthening the destination's capacity to respond to visitors' demands. Participants with serious leisure attributes will develop a place attachment to the destination due to its attractiveness and further facilitate their environmentally responsible behavior. Third, hikers should balance the relationship between career achievement and personal effort with environmental responsibility.