Place Attachment and Attitude Towards Tourism Development and Promotion of Environmental Responsible Behavior, Case Study: Babolsar city

Tourism has many positive and negative effects on economic, social, cultural and environmental fields. Today, the beach is the destination of many tourists and due to the high social demand, these areas are constantly exposed to destruction. One of the effective factors to prevent this issue is people's environmental behavior. The environmental behavior of coastal destination’s residents is strongly affected by tourism activities because they understand better its harmful effects. This study examines the factors affecting the responsible environmental behavior of the residents of the coastal city of Babolsar. The research is practical based on purpose and descriptive-analytical based on nature for which 308 residents of Babolsar were selected as a statistical sample through Morgan's table. The research tool was a researcher-made questionnaire in which validity and reliability were checked through SmartPLS3 software. The findings showed that the perceived benefit has no effect on compliance of environmental responsible behavior that significant level is 0/154, but it has an effect on promotion of environmental responsible behavior that significant level is 0/011. Also perceived cost doesn’t affect on both promotion of environmental responsible behavior that significant level is 0/123 and compliance of environmental responsible behavior that significant level is 0/719. Place dependence affects both perceived benefit that significant level is 0/000 and perceived cost that significant level is 0/001. In addition, place dependence has an effect on the compliance of environmental responsible behavior that significant level is 0/027, and vice versa, it has no effect on the promotion of this behavior that significant level is 0/411. Also, the place identity has an effect on the promotion of environmental responsible behavior that significant level is 0/003, and vice versa, it has no effect on compliance of this behavior that significant level is 0/135. The place identity has an effect on the compliance of environmental responsible behavior through place dependence that significant level is 0/028. In addition, place dependence is effective in promotion of environmental responsible behavior through perceived benefit that significant level is 0/037. Finally, the results showed that education, birthplace, length of stay, age and current and past economic participation of residents cause their different perceptions.

      The tourism industry has many effects on the economic, social-cultural and environmental fields. Due to the high demand for coastal tourism destinations and activities, these types of areas are exposed to destruction. Environmental responsible behavior includes behaviors that contribute to the sustainability and prosperity of destinations by reducing negative environmental effects and sustainable using of resources. Residents of coastal areas observe closely the harmful environmental effects, and they have a higher level of awareness about tourism. If their attitude leads to their support of tourism activities, the simultaneous satisfaction of the tourist and the host community will realize the sustainable development of tourism. Place attachment which is an emotional relationship between people, communities and place motivates people to pay attention about the environment and encourage others to do the same. During recent years, the Babolsar was exposed to many environmental problems that could be seen even in the seasons of tourism decline. Therefore, it is important to examine the sustainable behavior of its residents. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of residents' attitude and place attachment on their environmental responsible behavior.

      The research is descriptive-analytical based on nature and practical based on purpose. The statistical population of the research are the residents of Babolsar city. After estimating the sample size through the Morgan method and considering the limitations caused by the outbreak of the coronavirus epidemic at the time of the research, it was possible to reach 308 people. The documentary-library method was used to study the past evidence and to compile the theoretical foundations and literature review. Then the conceptual model was designed. The tool of data collection was the researcher made questionnaire, and its validity was confirmed by the experts. The items of the questionnaire were extracted from past studies, and its reliability was confirmed by calculating Cronbach's alpha coefficient after the final designing. SPSS and PLS software were used to analyze the data.

T-test was used to estimate the correlation between variables. Based on this test, if the absolute value of the t-statistic between two variables becomes greater than 1.96 and its significance level becomes less than 0.05, there is a significant relationship between the two variables at the 95% confidence level. The results showed that the perceived benefit has no effect on compliance of environmental responsible behavior, but it has a significant effect on promotion of environmental responsible behavior. Perceived cost has effect neither on compliance of environmental responsible behavior nor on promotion of environmental responsible behavior.  Place dependence has a significant effect on both perceived benefit and perceived cost. Place dependence has the effect on compliance of environmental responsible behavior while there is no relationship between place dependence and promotion of environmental responsible behavior. The place identity has no effect on compliance environmental responsible behavior, but it has a significant effect on promotion of environmental responsible behavior. The place dependence can play a mediating role in the relationship between place identity and compliance of environmental responsible behavior, but it can’t play a mediating role in the relationship between place identity and promotion of environmental responsible behavior. Perceived benefit doesn’t play a mediating role between place dependence and compliance of environmental responsible behavior, but this variable plays a mediating role between place dependence and promoting environmental responsible behavior. Perceived cost plays mediating role neither in the relationship between place dependence and compliance of environmental responsible behavior nor in the relationship between place dependence and promotion of environmental responsible behavior. Finally, the goodness of fit index of the model (0.342) showed that the model has strong predictive power. The eta correlation coefficient was used to prove the relationship between the education, birthplace, length of life, age and economic participation in tourism with the attitude of residents. The results of the relationship of each of the variables with the attitude showed a number higher than 0.3 which shows that there is a significant relationship between each of these demographic characteristics with the attitude of the residents.

      In examining the relationship between the perceived benefit and the dimensions of environmental responsible behavior, there is only a significant relationship between the perceived benefit and the promotion of environmental responsible behavior. There is no relationship between perceived cost and dimensions of the environmental responsible behavior. It is suggested to provide useful information about the benefits of tourism to the residents through the media. Citizens' rights should be taken into account in planning, and integrated planning should be made with their participation. Place dependence affected both perceived benefit and perceived cost. More attention should be paid to citizens' suggestions regarding various problems in the city. In examining the effect of place dependence on the dimensions of the environmental responsible behavior, only the relationship between place dependence and compliance of environmental responsible behavior is proven. It is suggested to consider events with the participation of residents in which rewards are given to people who are supporters of the environment. In examining the effect of place identity on the dimensions of environmental responsible behavior, only a positive relationship between place identity and promotion of environmental responsible behavior is proven. In examining the mediating role of place dependence in the relationship between place identity and environmental responsible behavior, only this relationship is proved that place identity through place dependence has an effect on compliance of environmental responsible behavior. It is suggested that the urban elements that express the identity of the residents should always be preserved and improved. In examining the mediating role of attitude in the relationship between place attachment and environmental responsible behavior, only the mediating role of perceived benefit between place attachment and the promotion of environmental responsible behavior is confirmed. It is suggested to provide educational programs in which the importance of environmental behaviors is clarified for people. Finally, the results of the surveys showed that each of education, birthplace, length of life, age and economic activity has a great impact on people's attitude toward tourism development. Therefore, it is suggested that the effect of these factors should also be investigated as a moderating variable in future researches.