Coastal Geographies of Willingness to Sacrifice for Sustainability

The ongoing expansion of international tourism drives global socio-economic development, yet it also significantly causes environmental challenges. The Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) of Thailand, with its popular coastal destinations, fosters long-term economic competitiveness while simultaneously raising environmental concerns. Thus, promoting sustainability contributes to attracting tourists to this area. The main objective of this study was to investigate key antecedents affecting tourists’ willingness to sacrifice for sustainability, employing the Value-Belief-Norm theory as an initial framework, and incorporating an extended key determinant; green consumption value within the context of green tourism at coastal destinations. The self-administered questionnaire collected data from targeted participants using purposive and convenience sampling at coastal tourism destinations in the EEC, yielding 603 valid responses. The proposed theoretical framework was developed to illuminate Thai tourists’ pro-environmental behavioral intentions, with structural model analysis confirming the hypothesized relationships within the proposed framework. Notably, value orientations emerged as key factors influencing tourists’ beliefs of ascribed responsibility. This belief subsequently influenced tourists’ green consumption value, which in turn affected willingness to sacrifice, demonstrating a sequential process of forming tourists’ green behavioral intentions. Furthermore, egoistic value moderated the relationship between green consumption value and willingness to sacrifice. These comprehensive findings not only provide theoretical insights but also offer managerial contributions for the adoption of environmentally sustainable tourism at coastal destinations

Nonprobability sampling · Sacrifice · Structural equation modeling · Sustainability · Tourism · Coastal and Marine Management · Diverse Aspects of Tourism Research