Determinants Of Tourist Behaviour Towards The Marine Environment In Perhentian Island, Terengganu, Malaysia
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Date
2018-05
Authors
Ramdas, Murugadas
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Universiti Sains Malaysia
Abstract
An increase in development and tourism activities in small islands have caused degradation to the islands’ marine environment. Tourists’ behaviour has been identified as a factor that influences conservation of marine environment in small islands. This study investigates the direct and indirect effects of determinants related to tourist behaviour towards the marine environment. Socio-psychological factors such as environmental knowledge, Environmental Attitude, Personal Norm, and Subjective Norm were identified as determinants of tourist behaviour. The gap in knowledge that has been identified is the combination all these determinants in study in one study related tourist behaviour. Besides that, Environmental Knowledge was identified as an antecedent to determinants. On the other hand, Personal Norm was recognized as a mediator between determinants and tourist behaviour. Socio-demographic factors such as gender, age, education level, and travelling frequency were tested as factors that significantly differs between determinants and tourist behavior. To address the research questions, a snapshot cross-sectional study was conducted to obtain quantitative data. A self-administered questionnaire that was adapted from various behavioural studies was used for data collection in Perhentian Island, Terengganu, Malaysia. Stratified sampling was utilised to ensure both local and foreign tourists (by gender) were represented in the sampled population. An instrument was designed to measure environmental knowledge, Environmental Attitude, Personal Norm, Subjective Norm, and tourist behaviour towards the marine environment. Environmental Attitude comprised of two constructs, namely environmental concern and verbal commitment.
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Keywords
Tourist behaviour towards the marine environment , Perhentian Island, Terengganu, Malaysia