From responsible values, views and practices to ecotourism intentions: a VBN–TPB model of sustainable tourist behaviour

Grounded in the Value-Belief-Norm (VBN) theory, the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB), and the concept of Environmentally Responsible Behaviour (ERB), this study investigates the direct and indirect effects of responsible tourist values, responsible tourist views, and responsible tourism practices on ecotourism participation intention, with sustainability practices as the mediating variable. Using a quantitative approach, survey data were collected from 512 international and domestic tourists visiting the Tunku Abdul Rahman Park (TARP) islands in Sabah, Malaysia. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) was employed to analyse the hypothesised relationships among the constructs. The results reveal that responsible tourist views and responsible tourism practices significantly influence ecotourism participation intention, whereas responsible tourist values do not. Although sustainability practices did not significantly mediate the relationships between the predictors and participation intention, their inclusion highlights a gap between responsible intentions and perceptions of sustainability at the destination.