Motivation, Environmental Awareness, and Pro-Sustainable Tourism Behaviors of Visitors in a Mangrove Eco-Park
Keywords:
environmental awareness, mangrove ecotourism, pro-sustainable tourism behavior, push-pull motivation, Suyac IslandAbstract
This study examined motivation, environmental awareness, and pro-sustainable tourism behavior among 168 adult visitors to Suyac Island Mangrove Eco-Park, Sagay City, Negros Occidental. A quantitative descriptive-comparative and correlational design used purposive sampling and an adapted 30-item questionnaire. Fifteen jurors reviewed 32 draft items; the mean content validity ratio across the draft items was .94, and two items below .60 were removed. Cronbach’s alpha was .889 for motivation, .935 for environmental awareness, and .934 for behavior. Descriptive statistics, Mann–Whitney U tests, Kruskal–Wallis tests, Bonferroni-adjusted Dunn comparisons, and Spearman correlations were used. All dimensions had very high mean scores. Motivation showed omnibus differences by age and educational attainment; awareness and behavior differed by educational attainment. No age pair remained significant after adjustment. Supported education contrasts varied across outcomes. Purpose of visit differentiated motivation (U = 2476, p < .001, rᵣᵦ = −.385), awareness (U = 2408, p = .001, rᵣᵦ = −.347), and behavior (U = 2323, p = .006, rᵣᵦ = −.300). Sex, marital status, and visit frequency yielded no significant differences. Motivation correlated positively with awareness (rₛ = .648) and behavior (rₛ = .633), as did awareness with behavior (rₛ = .661; all p < .001). These findings support accessible ecological interpretation and community-supportive visitor opportunities at the eco-park.
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