National forest park visitors' connectedness to nature and pro-environmental behavior: The effects of cultural ecosystem service, place and event attachment

This study models the effect of visitors' connectedness to nature (CTN) on their pro-environmental behavior (PEB), which has not been well understood in the extant literature on outdoor recreation and nature-based tourism. Through the modeling process, the study investigates how CTN influences PEB by a chain mediation model, in which cultural ecosystem services (CES), place attachment, and event attachment are the sequential mediating variables. The model is tested in the context of nature-themed events staged in national forest parks. The data used in the study to test the model were collected during the 10th China Flower Expo staged in Dongping National Forest Park in China. Four hundred twenty-nine valid questionnaires were obtained by using convenient sampling. The results indicated visitors' CTN influenced their PEB not only directly but also indirectly through their perceived value of CES, place attachment, and event attachment. Visitors' perceived value of CES is found to be the most important construct in the model. Both theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.