The Environmental Attitudes and Behaviours of European Golf Tourists

16 Pages·2017·0.54 MB·English

sustainability
Article
The Environmental Attitudes and Behaviours of
European Golf Tourists
JesúsManuelLópez-Bonilla*,MaríadelCarmenReyes-Rodríguezand
LuisMiguelLópez-Bonilla
DepartmentofBusinessAdministrationandMarketing,UniversidaddeSevilla,41018Sevilla,Spain;
[email protected](M.d.C.R.-R.);[email protected](L.M.L.-B.)
* Correspondence:[email protected];Tel.:[phone]
(cid:1)(cid:2)(cid:3)(cid:1)(cid:4)(cid:5)(cid:6)(cid:7)(cid:8)(cid:1)
(cid:1)(cid:2)(cid:3)(cid:4)(cid:5)(cid:6)(cid:7)
Received:25May2018;Accepted:26June2018;Published:28June2018
Abstract: Environmentalattitudesandbehaviourshavereceivedrelativelylittleattentioningolf
tourism,comparedtoothertourismresearchareas. Golftourismprovidesproductsandservices
basedonnature,andtheyshouldfocusontheenvironment. Golfhasbecomeincreasinglyimportant
inthedevelopmentofEuropeantourismwithinthelastdecade. Moreover,golfisoneoftheprimary
motivations for European tourists in the sports tourism sector. This study is based on a sample
of431golftourists,fromdifferentnationalities,whovisitAndalusia,Spain. Thisresearchexamines
therelationshipbetweenenvironmentalattitudesandbehaviouralintentionsforthreesubsamples
of European nationalities: British, German, and Spanish. This relationship was corroborated in
thethreesubsamples.However,thenationalcitizenshipofEuropeangolftouristswasnotamoderator
effectontherelationshipbetweenenvironmentalattitudesandbehaviouralintentions.
Keywords: environmentalconcern;environmentalintention;golf;touristbehaviour;cross-cultural
analysis;nationality
1. Introduction
Sincetheendofthe1960s,theMediterraneancoastshavebeenpopularvacationdestinations.
However,playinggolfhasbecomeincreasinglyimportantinthedevelopmentofEuropeantourism
within the last decade [1]. There has been increased popularity of golf among tourists, due to
motivationsforgolf-relatedtripsorleisureopportunitiestosharewithbusinesscolleagues,friends,
orfamily[2]. Usually, thosetourists, whoincludeplayinggolfintheirtrips, makeahighaverage
expenditure,whichiswhythissporthasbecomeaverydesirabletypeofdemandfortouristareas.
However,thegolfsupplyshouldbedonerationally,respectingtheenvironmentwhereitislocated,
tomaintainitssocial,economic,andenvironmentalbalanceinthefuture.
Golf tourism provides products and services based on nature, and they should focus on the
environment. Specifically,therequestforasustainableenvironmentalmanagementofgolfcoursesin
Andalusiaisincreasing. Recently,thegovernmentofAndalusiahastightenedthecurrentlegislation
ontheenvironmentalconditionsthatgolfcoursesmustmeet. Likewise,theconceptof“touristgolf
courses”,whichrequiresspecificenvironmentalqualificationstobedeclaredassuch,wascreatedin
thisSpanishregion.
Sustainabledevelopmentisanimportanttopicforgolfcourseandgolfresortdevelopment[3].
The expansion of golf development has been very fast in recent decades in the world, but the
golf courses are highly controversial in environmental terms [4]. However, Kim and Ritchie [5]
suggestedthatgolftouristsareattractedbyextrinsicmotivators,suchasthe“naturalenvironment”.
Theknowledgeofthebehaviouralpatternsandprocessesthatmotivateanddefinethechoicesofgolf
touristscanhelpimmenselyintheenvironmentalmanagementofgolfcourses.
Sustainability2018,10,2214;doi:10.3390/su10072214 www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability
Sustainability2018,10,2214 2of16
The main objective of this paper is twofold: (1) to examine the influence of environmental
attitudesonenvironmentalintentionsingolftourists; and(2)toanalysewhetherculture,through
nationality,moderatestherelationshipbetweenenvironmentalattitudesandenvironmentalintentions
ingolftourists.
Andalusiangolfcourseshaveadoptedanenvironmentalregulationmorerigorousinrecentyears.
ThegolfcoursescanbedeclaredoftouristinterestbytheAndalusianGovernmentiftheycomplywith
theprinciplesofsustainabledevelopment. Thisproceduretoobtainthedeclarationoftouristinterest
aimstopromotetheimprovementandrespectfortheenvironmentandtherestorationandprotection
ofthelandscape[6–8]. Forthis,thegolfcoursemanagersshouldobservetheenvironmentalattitudes
andbehavioursofgolfplayers. Inparticular,thegolfcoursesthatarelocatedintouristzonescanbe
morevulnerablebecausetheyarefrequentedbyagreaterheterogeneityofindividualscomingfrom
differentplacesofSpainandothercountries,especiallyfromEuropeancountries. Theenvironmental
concernofthesegolferscanhaveawideimpactontheattractivenessandcompetitivenessofgolf
tourisminAndalusia. Hence,thispaperallowsexploringtheenvironmentalattitudesandbehaviour
from a tourist’s perspective. Following Wilhelm-Richmann, Cowling and Difford [9] and Minoli,
GoodeandMetcalfe[10],aninsightfulgraspofenvironmentalattitudesandbehavioursofgolftourists
is imperative to enable conservation practitioners to interpret better the barriers to carrying out
environmentalmanagementprogrammes.
Whilegolfdoestakeplaceoutdoors,itisinaheavilyalteredenvironment. However,golfcourses
havepositiveandnegativeenvironmentalimpacts[11].Itisimportanttounderstandthatsustainability
isnotjustanenvironmentalissue.Inthissense,asCompletoandGustavo[12]pointedout,theresearch
ongolfisessentiallylimitedtoenvironmentalaspects,andsocioeconomicandculturalonesareusually
neglected. AccordingtoWoodside[13],golfcanplayanimportantroleintheprocessofenvironment
qualification, in the sustainable economic development and in the increasing of the quality of life
ofthehostcommunities. Thus, golfplayersmayrepresentakeyelementtopromoteandsupport
apro-environmentalbehaviour. Therefore,itisnecessarytoexplorethecurrentmindsetsofgolfers
towardsustainability.
Thestudyofgolftourismhasemergedasaninterestingresearchfield[1],asveryrecentstudies
havedemonstrated[14–19]. Thepresentworktriestocontributetoliteratureontheenvironmental
attitudesandbehavioursofgolftourists.AsHan,YoonandWoods[17]noted,theroleofenvironmental
consciousness, in the decision-making process, has not been examined for the golf industry.
Furthermore,thereisvirtuallynoliteraturethathasexploredcross-culturaldifferencesinattitudes
towardsenvironmentallyresponsibletourism[20]. Morerecently,Li[21]carriedoutameta-analysis
oncross-culturaltouristresearch. Inthisstate-of-the-artjournalpublication,anextensiverangeof
researchtopicsinquiredinacross-culturalcontext,butonlysevenstudiesconductedwithinthecontext
ofattitudeandbehaviouralintention. Therefore,thispaperaddressesthisgapintheliteratureand
contributesknowledgeonenvironmentalattitudesandbehavioursinthespecificareaofgolftourism.
Moreover,theresultsfromthisstudycanassistdestinationmarketersindevelopingmarketingand
managerialstrategies.
2. ResearchModelandHypothesesTesting
Golftourismgeneratessignificantprofits,butgolfcoursesarefrequentlyquestionedabouttheir
closerelationshipwiththeenvironmentand,consequently,theirpossibleadverseimpactonit. Inthis
regard,Correiaetal.[22]arguedthatbothmanagersandtouristsneedtobeawareoftheimportance
ofsustainabletourismpractices. Researchonsustainabilityingolfhasincreasedinrecentyearsfrom
theperspectiveofgolfcourses[15,23–28].Hence,thereisasubstantialliteratureongolfcoursesontheir
negativeenvironmentalimpacts,especiallywithrespecttoexcessivewateruse[29,30],environmental
pollution[31],chemicalinputs[32,33],andeffectsonwildlifeandhabitat[34,35].
Environmentalattitudesandbehaviourshavebeenextensivelystudiedintheoutdoorrecreation
literature[36–42]aswellasinsustainabletourismliterature[20,43–47]. However,thesustainabilityof
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golffromtheconsumer’sperspectivehasbeenverylittlestudied[10,18,48,49]. Inthiscase—fromthe
visitor’sperspective—thestudieshavefocusedonthebehaviourofgolftourists,especiallybasedon
themotivationofvisitors[5,50,51],intentionstoreturntothegolfdestination[2,52,53],destination
selection [54], determinants of golf tourists satisfaction [55,56], image of the golf destination [57],
price [16], golf supply and demand [58], gender [59–61], and profile of golf travellers [19,62–64].
Nevertheless, environmental attitudes and behaviours have received relatively little attention,
comparedtoothertourismresearchareas. Moreover,asKangandMoscardo[20]suggested,therehas
been very little research into tourists’ awareness of, and interest in, responsible travel behaviours.
Verylimitedknowledgeexistsaboutwhotheseecologicallyfriendlypeopleare[65].
Lee and Moscardo [66] pointed out that environmentally aware consumers might be more
likelytohavepro-environmentalconductsthanotheruserswhoareonlyexposedtogreenfriendly
practices by businesses at the destination. However, having a positive attitude does not develop
as a good indicator of making environmentally sustainable vacation choices [43]. In this sense,
RobertsandBacon[67]suggestedthatthepastresearchhadsufferedfrompoorattitude-behaviour
consistency. Currently,researchersarealsochallengedbythegapbetweenecologicalattitudesand
correspondingbehaviours[68–72]. Hence,theusualfindingsrevealeitheramoderaterelationship
betweenenvironmentalattitudeandbehaviour[73–77], oraweakrelationship[78–81]. Moreover,
thereareseveralstudiesthatreportnosuchrelationshipatall[82–85].
Nevertheless, recent tourism studies have supported the firm correlation between attitudes
and behaviours [86–90]. However, other studies have not supported this association [91,92] nor
demonstratedthatthislinkisrelativelyweak[93–95].
Environmentalattitudeisusedaseitheramultipleorsinglecomponentapproach.Kinnear,Taylor,
andAhmed[96]showedthatecologicalconcernwassimilarincontexttoenvironmentalresponsibility
andwascomposedoftwodimensions: (i)anattitudethatmustshowaconcernfortheenvironment;
and(ii)apurchasingconductthatshouldbeconsistentwiththecareoftheenvironment. Theyfurther
indicatethatthelevelofecologicalconcernisafunctionofbothattitudesandbehaviours.
Asanalternativetothemultiplecomponentapproaches,DunlapandVanLiere[97]developed
thenewenvironmentalparadigm(NEP).Thisscaleisasinglecomponentmeasureofenvironmental
attitude. However,Kaiser,WölfingandFuhrer[98]indicatedthattherelationshipbetweentheNEP
and ecological behaviour ranges from strong, through moderate to weak or no relationship at all.
TherearealsotheclearresultsfromthestudyofJackson[99]wherecorrelationsbetweenthescales
varyforseveralgroupsofstakeholdersintheUnitedKingdom(UK)tourismsector. AsWolf-Watz,
SandellandFredman[100]suggested,itsusefulnessisquestioned,becauseoftheconcernsregarding
aweaklinkwithenvironmentalconducts.
Therefore, a simple model is proposed, linking environmental attitudes and behavioural
intentions,sothattheenvironmentalconcernofthegolftouristexertsdirectinfluenceonhisorher
ecologicalorientationtowardchoosingagolfcoursethatissustainableandrespectstheenvironment.
ThepresentstudywasbasedonacomparisonamongEuropeangolftourists. Theconceptualmodelis
showninFigure1. Hence,thismodelincludedtwofundamentalhypotheses:
Hypothesis1(H1). Theenvironmentalattitudesmayinfluencetheenvironmentalbehaviourintentionsin
golftourists.
Hypothesis2(H2). Thenationalculturemayactasamoderatorontherelationshipbetweenenvironmental
attitudesandenvironmentalbehaviourintentionsingolftourists.
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Sustainability 2018, 10, x FOR PEER REVIEW 4 of 16
BRITISH BRITISH
H1a
Environmental Environmental
attitudes intentions
H2a
GERMAN H1b GERMAN H2b
Environmental Environmental
attitudes intentions
H2c
SPANISH H1c SPANISH
Environmental Environmental
attitudes intentions

Figure 1. Conceptual model.
Figure1.Conceptualmodel.
It intended to confirm whether there are significant differences in the environmental attitudes
Itintendedtoconfirmwhethertherearesignificantdifferencesintheenvironmentalattitudesand
and behaviours of German, British, and Spanish golf tourists. As Wolf-Watz, Sandell and Fredman
behavioursofGerman,British,andSpanishgolftourists. AsWolf-Watz,SandellandFredman[100]
[100] indicated, environmental attitude refers to an awareness of environmental problems and
indicated,environmentalattitudereferstoanawarenessofenvironmentalproblemsanddedication
dedication to protection—often including self-reported behaviour—whereas, environmental
toprotection—oftenincludingself-reportedbehaviour—whereas,environmentalbehaviourmeans
behaviour means the actions taken based upon particular attitudes. Thereby, this study associated
theactionstakenbaseduponparticularattitudes. Thereby,thisstudyassociatedtheenvironmental
the environmental concern with the attitudes of the golf tourists, whereas the environmental
concernwiththeattitudesofthegolftourists,whereastheenvironmentalcommitmentwaslinkedto
commitment was linked to the intention of using a sustainable golf course.
theintentionofusingasustainablegolfcourse.
The environmental responsibility of golf tourists was measured by two scales: (a) the RNEP
The environmental responsibility of golf tourists was measured by two scales: (a) the RNEP
(Revised New Ecological Paradigm) scale; and (b) the TEO (Tourist Ecological Orientation) scale. The
(Revised New Ecological Paradigm) scale; and (b) the TEO (Tourist Ecological Orientation) scale.
relationship between both scales has already been empirically checked. According to Kinnear, Taylor
Therelationshipbetweenbothscaleshasalreadybeenempiricallychecked. AccordingtoKinnear,
and Ahmed [96], these two scales can represent two consecutive stages in the process of choosing a
Taylor and Ahmed [96], these two scales can represent two consecutive stages in the process of
golf course that is committed to the environment. These authors indicated two dimensions in
choosingagolfcoursethatiscommittedtotheenvironment. Theseauthorsindicatedtwodimensions
environmental responsibility: (1) attitude; and (2) buying behaviour. In this work, the concept of
in environmental responsibility: (1) attitude; and (2) buying behaviour. In this work, the concept
attitude was understood as an evaluative judgment [101,102]. The definition given by Eagly and
ofattitudewasunderstoodasanevaluativejudgment[101,102]. ThedefinitiongivenbyEaglyand
Cheiken [101] (p. 1) was of particular interest: “attitude is a psychological tendency, which is
Cheiken[101](p.1)wasofparticularinterest:“attitudeisapsychologicaltendency,whichisexpressed
expressed by evaluating a particular entity with some degree of favour or disfavour”.
byevaluatingaparticularentitywithsomedegreeoffavourordisfavour”.
According to Fishbein and Ajzen [103], the cause closest to the buying behaviour is the intention
AccordingtoFishbeinandAjzen[103],thecauseclosesttothebuyingbehaviouristheintention
to do it; in addition, attitudes influence behaviours through their influence on intentions. An
todoit;inaddition,attitudesinfluencebehavioursthroughtheirinfluenceonintentions. Anintention
intention represents a personal motivation, as for having a plan that involves the realisation of an
representsapersonalmotivation,asforhavingaplanthatinvolvestherealisationofanefforttocarry
effort to carry out a behaviour [104]. Therefore, in this research, it can test whether the environmental
out a behaviour [104]. Therefore, in this research, it can test whether the environmental attitudes
attitudes have a significant influence on the intention of using a golf course that is sustainable or
haveasignificantinfluenceontheintentionofusingagolfcoursethatissustainableorrespectsthe
respects the environment by nationality. Hence, it formulates the following specific hypotheses:
environmentbynationality. Hence,itformulatesthefollowingspecifichypotheses:
Hypothesis 1a (H1a). The environmental attitudes directly influence the environmental behaviour intentions
Hypothesis1a(H1a). Theenvironmentalattitudesdirectlyinfluencetheenvironmentalbehaviourintentions
in British golf tourists.
inBritishgolftourists.
Hypothesis 1b (H1b). The environmental attitudes directly influence the environmental behaviour intentions
Hypothesis1b(H1b). Theenvironmentalattitudesdirectlyinfluencetheenvironmentalbehaviourintentions
in German golf tourists.
inGermangolftourists.
Hypothesis 1c (H1c). The environmental attitudes directly influence the environmental behaviour intentions
in Spanish golf tourists.
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Hypothesis1c(H1c). Theenvironmentalattitudesdirectlyinfluencetheenvironmentalbehaviourintentions
inSpanishgolftourists.
Furthermore,culturaldifferencesarestudiedasamoderatoreffectontherelationshipbetween
environmental attitudes and behavioural intentions. The analysis of culture related research in
marketing extensively focuses on cultural differences between countries [105]. Cultural distance
influenceinternationalmarketingmixdecisions[106]. FollowingKim,WenandDoh[107],“countries”
wereusedasaproxyforculture.Cross-culturalcomparativeresearchusuallyinvolvesthecomparisons
of different countries [108]. Minkov and Hofstede [109] suggested that, while the use of nation
hasmanysupportersasunitofmeasureincross-culturalstudies[110],ithasalsoreceivedseveral
criticisms[111]. Thisstudywaslimitedtothedominantcultureofparticipants,becausetheremaybe
largesub-cultureswithinindividualcountries[112].
Theliteraturereviewshowedthattherearediversestudiesonthepro-environmentalbehaviour
inwhichculturaldifferencesarefoundbetweennations[20,113–115]. Therefore,specifichypotheses
arestatedasfollows:
Hypothesis2a(H2a). CulturaldifferencesbetweenBritishandGermangolftouristsmoderatetherelationship
betweenenvironmentalattitudesandbehaviouralintentions.
Hypothesis2b(H2b). CulturaldifferencesbetweenBritishandSpanishgolftouristsmoderatetherelationship
betweenenvironmentalattitudesandbehaviouralintentions.
Hypothesis2c(H2c). CulturaldifferencesbetweenGermanandSpanishgolftouristsmoderatetherelationship
betweenenvironmentalattitudesandbehaviouralintentions.
3. MaterialsandMethods
3.1. ParticipantsandDataCollection
Asampleof431golftouristsfromthreenationalities(British,German,andSpanish)completeda
questionnaireontheirenvironmentalattitudesandbehaviours. Theseplayersaretouristsvisitingthe
destinationwherethegolfcourseinwhichtheyhaverespondedtothesurveyislocated. AllSpanish
respondentswerealsotourists,relativetothelocationofthestudy. Thesampleisclearlydiversified,
regardingthevariablesofage,gender,andeducationlevel.
Thequestionnairewashandedouton15golfcoursesinAndalusia,byateamofinterviewers.
Aprofessionalsurveyconsultantconductedtheinterviews. AndalusiaistheSpanishregionwiththe
largestnumberofgolfcourses—approximatelyonehundredgolfcourses. Fifteengolfcourseswere
selectedusingaconveniencesamplingmethod. These15golfcourseswereconsideredtoberelevant
becauseallofthemwerelocatedincoastalzoneswiththegreatesttouristinfluxinAndalusia,suchas
theCostadelSolinMálagaandAlmería,Spain,andtheCostadelaLuzinCádizandHuelva,Spain.
3.2. Variables
Therelationshipbetweenenvironmentalattitudesandbehaviouralintentionswasmeasuredby
twoscalesinthisstudy: (1)theRNEPscale;and(2)theTEOscale. TheRNEPscale,developedby
Dunlap,VanLiere,MertigandJones[116],consistsof15items. TheTEOscale,developedbyUriely,
ReichelandShani[117],alsoconsistsof15items. Inthepresentstudy,RNEPreferstothegeneral
environmental attitudes that the golf tourist may have. In contrast, TEO indicates the ecological
orientationofthevisitortowardthegolfcoursehe/shedecidedtoplay.
TheitemsusedineachscaleofthisstudyaredescribedinTable1. Theseitemswereselectedby
apaneloffouracademicexpertsforthispurpose. Theexpertscarriedoutthetaskofanalysing,asa
discussiongroup,thecontentofthetwoscales. TheyselectedfiveandeightitemsfromtheRNEP
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andtheTEOscales,respectively. López-BonillaandLópez-Bonilla[18,48]haveanalysedthevalidity
andreliabilityofbothscales,andtheyhavecalledBriefEcologicalParadigmscale(BEP)andRevised
TEOscale(RTEO).Ontheonehand,thefiveitemsfromtheBEPscaleprovidedabalancedmeasure
of the following four facets identified in the RNEP scale of Dunlap et al. [116], from an ecocentric
orpro-environmentalperspective: (1)thepossibilityofaneco-crisis(Items1and5);(2)rejectionof
exemptionalism(Item2);(3)therealityoflimitstogrowth(Item3);and(4)thefragilityofnature’s
balance (Item 4). On the other hand, López-Bonilla and López-Bonilla [18,48] suggested that the
RTEOscaleshouldconsistoffourelements,whichcorrespondtoitemsonenvironmentalconcern,
recycling,regulations,andeducation. Afive-pointLikertscalewasusedtomeasureourvariables,
where: stronglydisagreeis1andstronglyagreeis5. Bothscalesareareliableandfastformapproach
to measuring environmental attitudes and behaviours [18,48]. In this sense, the use of short-form
measurecanachieveagreaterefficiencyforresearchers[118,119].
Table1.Itemsofthetwoscales.
Variables Items Statements
BEP1 Humansseverelyabusingtheenvironment
BEP2 Despiteourspecialabilities,humansarestillsubjecttothelawsofnature
Environmentalattitudes BEP3 Theearthislikeaspaceshipwithverylimitedroomandresources
(BEPscale) BEP4 Thebalanceofnatureisverydelicateandeasilyupset
Ifthingscontinueontheirpresentcourse,wewillsoonexperienceamajor
BEP5
ecologicalcatastrophe
RTEO1 Environmentalconcernoftheirmanagers
Environmentalintentions RTEO2 Recycleswaste
(RTEOscale) RTEO3 Legalregulationsoftheenvironmentalaremet
RTEO4 Educatestopreservethequalityoftheenvironment
3.3. AnalyticalProcedure
Theauthorsofthisresearchconductedthepsychometricanalysisthroughlatentstructuralanalysis
andinternalconsistencyanalysis. Thismethodologywasfollowedtoimproveindicatordebuggingto
obtainagreaterguaranteeofrobustnessintheabsolutescale.
Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) is a variance based Structural
Equation Modelling (SEM). PLS-SEM is a limited estimation method denominated in this way by
dividingthelistofparameterstobeestimatedintovarioussubsets,usingmultiplelinearregressions,
which employ the algorithm of the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) [120]. The primary objective of
PLS-SEMistoexplainthevariancesoftheendogenousvariables,whichiswhyittendstobeauseful
toolforfindingthecausethatsignificantlydeterminesthebehaviourofthesevariables. ThePLS-SEM
doesnotneedanyparametricconditions,whicharecompulsoryincovariance-basedSEManalysis
(CB-SEM);thus,thistechniqueisparticularlyappropriateinthecaseofsmallsampleswithnon-normal
data[121]. Foreachnationality(i.e.,British,German,andSpanish),thestructuralmodelisanalysedas
follows: UseIntention=β0+β1Attitude+ε.
4. Results
Table 2 details the descriptive data of the two scales. It lists the mean values and standard
deviations by country. The average values of the three nationalities analysed are also included.
Ingeneral, thescoresarehighonbothscales(abovethree), exceptforBritishtourists, whoscored
slightlybelowthree(3). Likewise,theBEPscaleoutscorestheRTEOscaleinallnationalities. Onthe
otherhand,SpanishplayersscoreabovetheBEPscale’smeanvalue,whileonlyBritishplayersscore
belowtheRTEOscale’smeanvalue.
The analysis of the proposed relationships starts from the study of the measurement scales.
Thereby,therelationshipsbetweenthetwoscales(BEPandRTEO)andtheiritemsareanalysedto
testtheconvergentanddiscriminantvalidity. Threemetrictestswereassessedtotesttheconvergent
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validity: indicatorsreliability(IR),compositereliability(CR)andtheaveragevarianceextracted(AVE)
fromthetwoscales.
Table2.Descriptivestatisticsofthevariables:MeansandStandarddeviations(SD).
GolfTourists
Variables British German Spanish Mean(SD)
(n=67) (n=77) (n=287) 3Countries
Environmentalattitudes 3.72 3.53 4.08 3.79
(BEPscale) (0.97) (1.13) (0.88) (0.23)
Environmentalintentions 2.96 3.27 3.32 3.23
(RTEOscale) (1.23) (1.19) (1.20) (0.19)
First,theIRwasassessed,basedonthetwoobservedscales. AsshowninTable3,mostofthe
loadings are greater than 0.707, according to Chin [121]. Only one item (BEP2) was removed for
Spanishplayers. Likewise,twoitems(BEP1andBEP2)wereremovedintheBritishsample,according
toChin[121]andKeiletal.[122]. Theseauthorsarguedthatareliabilitygradeoflessthan0.707can
beacceptable,ontheconditionthatitremainsabove0.5,andthattheotherindicatorsoftheconstruct
havehighscores. Inthisstudy,thesecircumstancesexist;hence,thisitemremainedanindicatoronthe
BEPscale.
Table3.Loadingsoftheindicatorsofthelatentvariables.
Variables Items British German Spanish
BEP1 0.687 0.832 0.844
BEP2 0.677 0.845 —
Environmentalattitudes
BEP3 0.860 0.888 0.781
(BEPscale)
BEP4 0.899 0.895 0.887
BEP5 0.808 0.829 0.857
RTEO1 0.909 0.885 0.902
Environmentalintentions RTEO2 0.911 0.896 0.834
(RTEOscale) RTEO3 0.950 0.944 0.912
RTEO4 0.906 0.940 0.863
Table4detailstheothertwomeasurementsfortheconvergentvalidity: thecompositereliability
(CR)andtheaveragevarianceextracted(AVE).ItcanbeconsideredthatthevaluesoftheCRevidently
exceedtherecommendedminimumof0.7ineachofthenationalities. Atthesametime,thevaluesof
theAVEappeartoexceedtherecommendedminimum,sincetheyaregreaterthan0.5[123].
Table4.Averagevarianceextracted(AVE)andCompositereliability(CR).
Variables Coeff. British German Spanish
Environmentalattitudes AVE 0.626 0.737 0.616
(BEPscale) CR 0.892 0.840 0.886
Environmentalintentions AVE 0.845 0.840 0.771
(RTEOscale) CR 0.956 0.940 0.931
Thisanalysiswascompletedwiththetestingofthediscriminantvalidity.AsChin[121]suggested,
the discriminant validity consists of making sure that each item correlates more strongly with the
itemsofthesameconstructthanwithotheritemsofotherlatentvariables. Table5gathersthesedata,
withwhichthediscriminantvaliditybetweenthemeasurementscaleswasproven.
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Table5.Discriminantvalidityofthelatentvariables.
Variables BEPScale RTEOScale Nationalities
0.791 0.396 British
Environmentalattitudes
0.858 0.540 German
(BEPscale)
0.785 0.470 Spanish
0.919 British
Environmentalintentions
0.917 German
(RTEOscale)
0.878 Spanish
Theempiricalstudyconcludedwiththestructuralanalysisoftherelationshipbetweenattitudes
and behavioural intentions. These results are detailed in Table 6. It observes that the BEP scale
significantly influence the RTEO scale in all the nationalities; that is, environmental attitudes
significantlyinfluenceonenvironmentalbehaviourintentions. Hence,HypothesesH1a,H1b,H1c,
andH1dwereconfirmed.Tocompletethisstructuralanalysis,itcanbeobservedthatthevariances(R2)
ofthedependentvariablesareexplainedbytheindependentvariablesineachofthethreenationalities.
German tourists present the strongest relationship between attitudes and intentions of using golf
courses that respect the environment (R2 = 0.292), followed by Spanish tourists (R2 = 0.220) and
Britishtourists(R2=0.157). AlloftheseresultsexceedtheminimumvaluerecommendedbyFalkand
Miller[124],thatis,anR2valueequaltoorgreaterthan0.1.
Table6.Relationshipbetweenenvironmentalattitudesandbehaviouralintentions.
Relationship Coeff. British German Spanish
Path 0.396 0.540 0.470
Environmentalattitudes→Environmentalintentions
t 3.255 6.706 10.203
(BEP→RTEO)
R2 0.157 0.292 0.220
Finally,thedifferencesbetweentouristsfromdifferentnationalitiesbycomparingthepathswere
checked. Thebootstrapre-samplingmethodwasused,applyingthefollowingformula:
Path −Path
sample_1 sample_2
= (cid:20)(cid:113)(m−1)2 ∗SE2 +(cid:113)(n−1)2 ∗SE2 (cid:21)∗(cid:20)(cid:113)1 + 1(cid:21) (1)
m+n−2 sample_1 m+n−2 sample_2 m n
wheremandnarethenumbersofelementswithineachgroup,andSEisthestandarderrorestimates
from each cluster. The significance of the difference was obtained by a t-test, that is, through the
comparison between the values of the formula with the t-value of a t-Student distribution with
m+n−2freedomdegrees. TheresultsareshowninTable7.
Table7.Culturedifferencesbetweennationalities.
PathValue PathValue Differencebetween
Comparisons t-Statistic p-Value
Sample1 Sample2 PathValues
British–German 0.540 0.396 0.144 1.040 0.300
British–Spanish 0.470 0.396 0.073 0.669 0.504
German–Spanish 0.540 0.470 0.071 0.726 0.469
No significant cultural differences were observed between golf tourists when comparing,
two-by-two, the path values of each one of the nationalities. Hence, the invariance of the model
anditsindependenceoncitizenshipwasproven(atleastinthesethreegeographicalEuropeanareas).
Therefore,HypothesesH2atoH2carerejected. Figure2illustratestheresults.
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BRITISH 0.396** BRITISH
Environmental Environmental
attitudes intentions H2a
H1a 0.144
GERMAN 0.540*** GERMAN
H2b
Environmental Environmental
attitudes intentions 0.071
H1b
H2c
SPANISH 0.470*** SPANISH 0.073
Environmental Environmental
attitudes intentions
H1c
Note: * p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001

Figure 2. Results of the structural model analysis.
Figure2.Resultsofthestructuralmodelanalysis.
5. Discussion and Conclusions
5. DiscussionandConclusions
5.1. Theoretical Implications
5.1. TheoreticalImplications
There are still few studies about the relationship between environmental attitudes and
Therearestillfewstudiesabouttherelationshipbetweenenvironmentalattitudesandbehaviours
behaviours of golf tourists. The present study compared the environmental attitudes and behaviours
of golf tourists. The present study compared the environmental attitudes and behaviours of golf
of golf tourists from different nationalities who visit Andalusia (Spain). This region is one of the most
touristsfromdifferentnationalitieswhovisitAndalusia(Spain). Thisregionisoneofthemostfamous
famous golf destinations in Europe. The demand for golf tourism in Andalusia comes from very
golfdestinationsinEurope. ThedemandforgolftourisminAndalusiacomesfromverydifferent
different countries. This study focused on the most frequent golf tourists currently in Andalusia:
countries. This study focused on the most frequent golf tourists currently in Andalusia: German,
German, British, and Spanish tourists. Thereby, the comparative analysis performed, regarding those
British, andSpanishtourists. Thereby, thecomparativeanalysisperformed, regardingthosethree
three European cultural areas, is clearly differentiated.
Europeanculturalareas,isclearlydifferentiated.
The BEP scale and the RTEO scale were adapted to this study and were composed of five and
TheBEPscaleandtheRTEOscalewereadaptedtothisstudyandwerecomposedoffiveandfour
four items, respectively. The reliability of both scales, within the three subsamples of tourists, was
items,respectively. Thereliabilityofbothscales,withinthethreesubsamplesoftourists,waschecked.
checked. The BEP scale was considered as the environmental attitude of the visitor, whereas the
TheBEPscalewasconsideredastheenvironmentalattitudeofthevisitor,whereastheRTEOscale
RTEO scale represented the intention of using a golf course that is sustainable or respects the
representedtheintentionofusingagolfcoursethatissustainableorrespectstheenvironment.
environment.
TheBEPscalehashigherscoresthantheRTEOscale. Thedifferencesinscoresbetweenboth
The BEP scale has higher scores than the RTEO scale. The differences in scores between both
scalesmaybebecausetheenvironmentalintentionisclosertotheactualbehaviouroftheindividual.
scales may be because the environmental intention is closer to the actual behaviour of the individual.
In contrast, the environmental attitudes are based upon a more idealised perspective. However,
In contrast, the environmental attitudes are based upon a more idealised perspective. However,
Germantouristshaveverysimilarscoresonbothscales,whichmightrepresentacloserrelationship
German tourists have very similar scores on both scales, which might represent a closer relationship
betweentheemotionalandconativeaspectsinthesetourists.
between the emotional and conative aspects in these tourists.
TheresultsindicatethatSpanishtouristshavethehighestscoresontheBEPscale,followedby
The results indicate that Spanish tourists have the highest scores on the BEP scale, followed by
Britishtourists. However,SpanishtouristshavethehighestscoresontheRTEOscale,followedby
British tourists. However, Spanish tourists have the highest scores on the RTEO scale, followed by
Germantourists. ItispossiblethatSpanishtouristshaveagreaterenvironmentalresponsibilityon
German tourists. It is possible that Spanish tourists have a greater environmental responsibility on
golfcourses,duetoreasonsofcultureandtradition,sincetheyfeelmoreidentifiedwiththeircountry
golf courses, due to reasons of culture and tradition, since they feel more identified with their country
andtheenvironmentalpolicyofpublicadministrationsforgolfcourses. Theseresultsareconsistent
and the environmental policy of public administrations for golf courses. These results are consistent
withthestudyofCarrus,BonaiutoandBonnes[125],whichindicatedthatregionalidentityplaysa
with the study of Carrus, Bonaiuto and Bonnes [125], which indicated that regional identity plays a
significantroleinenvironmentalbehaviours. AsDolnicar,CrouchandLong[65]suggested,itislikely
significant role in environmental behaviours. As Dolnicar, Crouch and Long [65] suggested, it is
likely that identification levels are low in the tourism context, in general, particularly when tourists
visit for the first time.
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thatidentificationlevelsarelowinthetourismcontext,ingeneral,particularlywhentouristsvisitfor
thefirsttime.
Acausalanalysisconfirmedtherelationshipbetweenenvironmentalattitudesandbehavioural
intentions.Previousresearchonthiscontexthasbeeninconclusive.Inthepresentstudy,thisrelationship
betweenbothconstructswasconfirmedinthethreesubsamplesofnationalities,whichisconsistent
withsomestudies[86–90]. Therefore,incontrasttofindingsfromotherstudies[82,91,92],thereisa
strongassociationbetweenenvironmentalattitudeandecologicalbehaviourinallgroupsofstudy.
Asanexplanationforthisfinding,followingSternandOskamp[126],environmentalconcern—i.e.,
anattitudetowardsfacts—correlateswithanenvironmentallyresponsiblebehaviour,onlyif: (1)the
attitudeandbehaviourmeasureatthesamelevelofspecificity; and(2)ifthebehaviouriseasyto
perform.AsChoi,RitchieandFielding[86]pointedout,theconceptualdifferentiationbetweengeneral
andspecificmeasuresofpsychologicalcharacteristicshelpsresearchersunderstandwhythereare,
sometimes,weakrelationshipsbetweengeneralattitudesandbehaviouralintentions.
NoculturaldifferenceswereobservedinthisstudybetweenEuropeangolftourists,incontrast
withsimilarstudiesintheareaoftourism[20,115]. Thisresultmaybebecausegolftouristsusually
haveeducationandincomelevelshigherthantheaveragepopulation.Theeducationandincomelevels
ofindividualsaretwofactorsthatinfluencetheirenvironmentalorientationdirectly[65]. However,
itcouldbeinterpretedthattheEuropeancultureisalsoincreasinglyhomogeneousinsomeaspects,
suchasenvironmentalattitudesandbehaviours. Incontrast,thestudiesofHudsonandRitchie[115]
andKangandMoscardo[20]werecarriedoutwithsamplesofcountriesfromdifferentcontinents.
Inanycase,theEuropeanUnionmustreinforcethisfavourablementalityofEuropeancitizenstoward
theenvironment. Inthissense,VenaikandBrewer[105]proposedauniversalculturemodelthatis
basedonsimilaritiesamongpeopleacrossnations.
5.2. ManagerialImplications
Asegmentoftheconsumerpopulationisinclinedtomakedecisionsinanenvironmentalmanner.
Itislikelythattheecologicalawarenessofindividualsreflectstheirpurchasingbehaviours. Tobe
more competitive, golf courses must incorporate ecologically friendly management that provides
pleasurableopportunitiesforgolfplayersandtourists.
AsRobertsandBacon[67]pointedout,ifpublicpolicymakersandmarketersaretobesuccessful
in encouraging ecological consumers, among their target markets, it will be essential that they
have a clear understanding of the antecedents of such behaviour. The marketing of golf course
managersandtheAndalusiangovernmentthatpromotesgolftourisminEurope,mustconsiderthis
culturalhomogeneityinthosetargetmarketsthataremorerelevanttoSpain. FollowingVenaikand
Brewer [105], managers should always remain vigilant, regarding meaningful cultural differences
relatingtotheirproductsorservices,buttheyshouldalsobeawareofsimilaritiesamongpeopleacross
countries. These similarities can provide significant opportunities to develop a more globalised
marketing strategy for the organizations. However, the possibility that there are differences in
non-Europeancountries,suchastheUnitedStatesandJapan,shouldbeanalysedtoo,astheyarealso
verycrucialtourismemittercountriesintheentireworld.
5.3. LimitationsandFutureResearchDirections
Thisstudyhassomelimitations,whichpointtosomeavenuesforfutureresearch. Thepresent
studyhasanalysedtherelationshipbetweenenvironmentalattitudesandbehaviouralintentionsfor
threesubsamplesofEuropeannationalities: British,German,andSpanish. Thesizesofthesamplesfor
BritishandGermantouristsaresmall,butPLS-SEMisveryusefulingeneratingestimates,evenwith
averysmallsamplesize. PLS-SEMhasmorepowerthanothertechniquesatasmallsamplesize[127].
AccordingtoHair,RingleandSarstedt[128],thePLS-SEMminimumsamplesizeshouldbeequal
to ten times the largest number of a structural path directed at a particular latent construct in the
structural model. In this sense, the British and German sample sizes are congruent with the rule