4.1. Model Interpretation
After three model revisions, according to the optimal fit model obtained, the condition of each hypothesis test is presented in
Table 6. During the model revision process, two very insignificant hypotheses, H2 and H8, were first removed. H2 was assumed to have a significant positive impact on actual behavior as a background factor, and H8 was assumed to have a positive impact on actual behavior as a perceived behavior control. According to the revised results, background factors did not directly affect the actual behavior of tourists choosing green vehicles. Hypotheses H1 and H3 were not valid, indicating that background factors cannot directly affect behavioral intentions but indirectly through behavioral attitudes. Hypothesis H4 was valid, indicating that behavioral attitudes can indeed have a significant positive impact on behavioral intentions. The removed hypothesis H8 indicates that perceived behavioral control cannot have a significant positive impact on actual behavior, while in the planned behavior theory, perceived behavioral control directly affects actual behavior. Therefore, when using the planned behavior theory to explore tourists’ environmental responsibility behavior, further exploration should be conducted on the impact of perceived behavioral control on actual behavior. Hypotheses H5, H6, and H7 were also valid, indicating that individual norms, group norms, and perceived behavioral control all have significant positive impacts on behavioral intentions. However, the positive impact of group norms and perceived behavioral control was relatively small. This conclusion is basically reliable with the theory of planned behavior and the norm activation theory. According to Hypothesis H9, the actual behavior was indeed positively and significantly affected by the behavioral intention. The higher the intention, the greater the possibility of implementing the behavior, so when studying tourist behavior in the future, if it is difficult to measure whether the actual behavior occurs or not, the behavioral intention can be used instead of the actual behavior for measurement. In the model revision process, two additional hypotheses were added: H10 and H11. As shown in
Figure 10, H10: subjective norms had a significant positive impact on behavioral attitudes; H11: subjective norms had a significant positive impact on group norms, and both hypotheses passed the test. This shows that subjective norms play a key role in the choice of tourists’ green transportation modes, which can not only directly affect behavioral intentions but also have a significant impact on behavioral attitudes and groups. By adding these two hypotheses and testing them, it not only compensates for the lack of consideration of individual norms in the theory of planned behavior but also provides a basis for the feasibility of combining normative activation theory with planned behavior theory in the study of tourists’ green transportation mode choice behavior.
4.2. Analysis of the Influencing Mechanism of Tourists’ Choice of Green Transportation Modes
In the structural equation model, if there is only one observation variable or measurement index for the latent variables, all the measurement indexes can explain 100% of the variation in the latent variables, with a measurement error of 0. A structural model among latent variables, each with a single observed variable, is called path analysis. In path analysis, the influence effects between variables include direct effects and indirect effects, and the total effect of the two is called the total effect value of the dependent variable on the independent variable (total effects). The mediating effect refers to the fact that the influence relationship between variables (X→Y) is not a direct causal chain relationship but is produced by the indirect influence of one or more variables (M). In this case, we call M the mediating variable, while the indirect influence of X on Y through M is called the mediating effect. When there is only one mediating variable in the model, the mediating effect is equal to the indirect effect; and when there is more than one mediating variable, the mediation effect is not equal to the indirect effect. In this case, the indirect effect can be a partial mediating effect or the combination of all mediating effects.
According to the effect values between the variables, the influence of tourists’ choice of green transportation can be analyzed. In the model of the influence of tourists’ choice of green transportation, there are seven variables, and there are interactions between the following variables: background factors, behavioral attitudes, subjective norms, group norms, perceived behavior control, behavioral intentions and actual behavior.
First, as shown in
Figure 11, behavioral attitudes, group norms, and perceived behavioral control all directly affect behavioral intentions, with direct effect values of 0.840, 0.153, and 0.164, respectively. This conclusion is in line with the basic model of the theory of planned behavior, and the impact of behavioral attitude on choice intention is far greater than that of group norms and perceived behavioral control. This indicates that in the decision to choose green transportation, the importance of tourists’ attitudes and perceptions towards green transportation is far greater than the others’ opinions. As long as the travel experience brought by green transportation is better, and tourists can realize that choosing such type of transportation has a positive effect on environmental protection and relieve traffic pressure in the destination, the intention of tourists to choose this mode of transportation will be stronger. Group norms and perceived behavioral control will also have a direct impact on behavioral intentions, that is, the opinions of travel companions will play a certain role in whether they choose green transportation as long as their physical condition, money and time, and energy can meet the requirements of taking green transportation; however, the impact of both on the behavioral intention is not significant.
Second, behavioral intention is directly affected by behavioral attitude. The more positive the attitude, the stronger the intention to choose green transportation. However, in addition to the direct impact of behavioral attitude on behavioral intention, behavioral attitude was directly influenced by background factors and subjective norms, which indirectly affected behavioral intention. Background factors refer to the characteristics of the transportation itself, which will have a significant impact on the behavioral attitude of taking this type of transportation. On the one hand, tourists’ positive attitude towards choosing green transportation comes from the low cost, convenience, accuracy, and accessibility of transportation information that can fully meet the travel needs of tourists within the destination. On the other hand, we have the role of subjective norms: if tourists have a certain knowledge of environmental protection, they will be influenced by a sense of responsibility and morality in the context of destination tourism, and this will affect their choice of green transportation.
Third, according to the revised conceptual model diagram and the effect table, it can be seen that subjective norms play a very important role in the entire model of tourists’ green transportation mode choice, and the total effect of subjective norms on behavior intention was the largest, reaching 0.903. This is because subjective norms not only directly affect behavioral intentions but also have an indirect effect on behavioral intentions through behavioral attitudes and group norms. Tourists are more and more inclined to pursue personalization and experience during the tourism process, so their true thoughts play a very important role in their choice behavior. If tourists have environmental protection awareness and pursue sustainable development concepts of energy conservation and emission reduction, these subjective norms will motivate them to choose green transportation, and they will be more likely to agree and reach consensus on the suggestion of choosing green transportation for their travel companions.
Fourth, the actual behavior is the final dependent variable of the model. After several revisions and tests of the model, it was found that only behavioral intention had a direct effect on actual behavior, while the other variables showed indirect effects. With the exception of the background factors, they all affected actual behavior by influencing behavioral intention. This shows that in the behavior of using or not using green transportation, as long as there is an intention, it can be put into practice without many restrictions. This shows that Beijing can basically meet the needs of tourists for green transportation, and tourists can choose green transportation according to their own wishes. If the destination wants to encourage tourists to choose green transportation, improving their choice intention is a very important step.
4.3. Policy Recommendations
4.3.1. Cultivate Tourists’ Positive Attitude towards Green Transportation
Compared to group norms and perceived behavioral control, two variables in the theory of planned behavior, behavioral attitude showed a greater impact on tourists’ intention to choose green transportation modes. The so-called behavioral attitude refers to an individual’s perception of a certain behavior, which is usually expressed as a positive or negative evaluation of such behavior. It is the internal driving force for choosing a certain mode of transportation and has the function of regulating the transformation of behavioral intentions into actual travel behaviors. Therefore, the intention to choose green transportation can be promoted by cultivating tourists’ positive attitudes towards green transportation.
4.3.2. Optimizing Green Transportation Facilities and Services
According to the above research results, background factors can influence the behavioral intention to choose green transportation through behavioral attitudes. Therefore, by optimizing green transportation facilities and services, reducing the cost of green transportation, and improving the convenience for tourists to choose it, can greatly promote the optimal development of green tourism. If there is a means of transportation that can offer the greatest benefit with the least effort (here, effort includes cost, time, experience, and emotion, and the benefit is reflected in viewing, experiencing, feeling joyful emotions, etc.), tourists are naturally willing to go for it. Therefore, in order to enhance tourists’ intention to choose green transportation, it is necessary to optimize tourism transportation facilities and services.
Enhancing the Personalization of Tourism Transportation Facilities
In order to attract tourists to use public transportation within the destinations, it is recommended to build a tourism distribution center integrating tourist transfer, public transportation hub, and tourism information service center at the first station where tourists arrive at their destinations, such as Beijing railway stations and airports. Compared to local tourists, foreign tourists have a major disadvantage of not knowing the specific local traffic conditions. Therefore, establishing a tourist distribution center will help tourists know the route to the destination scenic spot at a glance and make more reasonable and economical travel choices. In addition, the configuration specifications for specialized tourist traffic can be increased, and corresponding professional tour guides or artificial intelligence tour guides can be encouraged. Different themes can also be set for tourism buses according to the content of the connected scenic spots enriching the cultural connotation of the buses. It is, therefore, necessary to pay attention to the design of accessible facilities in station construction and transportation equipment, provide waiting seats, discounted fares, and other services.
Road Construction Provides Supports to Green Travel
Improving the construction of walking systems and greenways between stations and scenic spots, as well as between scenic spots, and creating comfortable and pleasant walking and cycling spaces are also crucial for tourists to choose green transportation. Nowadays, tourists attach great importance to the experience of traveling, and slow traffic seems to take up a lot of time. More and more people would like to walk and ride bicycles during the last miles from the station to the scenic spot, but in Beijing, the public transportation station is often quite far from the scenic spot. Through the construction of a complete walkway and greenway network, the landscape of roads in a scenic spot can be strengthened. This can not only meet the needs of tourists for cycling and walking but also improve the fun and safety in scenic spots while improving the accessibility of the public tourism transportation system and the experience of tourists.
4.3.3. Strengthening the Tourists’ Subjective Norms of Environmental Protection
The improvement of subjective norms for green tourism transportation means, on the one hand, lies in the improvement of personal moral standards, that is, the improvement of personal moral awareness and social responsibility awareness. On the other hand, tourists may also be influenced by the psychological factors of their travel companions, which may prevent them from participating in the practice and experience of green tourism transportation. Cultivating and improving tourists’ sense of social responsibility is a gradual process, which should gradually move from “unconscious vision” to “responsive vision” and then to “principal consciousness vision”.
Enhancing Tourists’ Personal Environmental Protection Awareness
At present, people’s awareness of environmental protection is constantly improving, but there is still a long way to go. lot to do. First of all, the environmental protection awareness of tourists can be improved through alert education. At present, some environmental problems seriously threaten the living environment of human beings, which is expected to arouse great attention and reflection of tourists. Therefore, the government should not only promote and educate the implementation of the concept of green environmental protection but also strive to explain the importance of choosing green transportation to tourists, fundamentally enhancing their sense of environmental protection responsibility and awareness. In this way, tourists’ environmental protection norms will encourage them to prioritize green transportation within their destinations.
Guide Tourists to Become Opinion Leaders in Green Transportation Choices
Under the tourism policy, the government can provide strong guidance and promotion to attract tourists to choose green transportation in their destinations, strengthen tourists’ awareness and recognition of green travel, and create a good atmosphere, enabling the whole of society to consciously choose green transportation. It is also necessary to establish the normative belief that tourists choose green transportation as their priority and also to serve as opinion leaders to guide their peers in choosing this type of transportation when traveling. In order to stimulate and strengthen tourists’ awareness of green transportation and their intention to choose this type of transportation, priority will be given to the normalization of green transportation tourism.