The influencing mechanism of moral gaze in rural tourism on pro-environmental behavior

Abstract

The ecological environment of a destination forms the foundation for the survival of rural tourism. Promoting spontaneous pro-environmental behavior among both tourism stakeholders and visitors is critical for the sustainable development of rural tourism. This study designed three experiments based on the emotional evaluation theory to explore the impact of tourists' and residents' moral gazes toward behavior causing environmental damage on the gazers’ pro-environmental behavior and the underlying mechanisms involved. The results demonstrate that residents had higher moral outrage and disappointment than tourists, and moral outrage and disappointment mediate the relationship between moral gaze and pro-environmental behavior. Furthermore, both social norm intensity and emotional contagion susceptibility moderate the relationships of moral gaze with moral outrage, disappointment, and pro-environmental behavior. These findings expand the theoretical literature and research perspectives of tourism gaze theory and provide practical insights for regulating and managing the behavior of tourism stakeholders and visitors.