Determinants of green tourism literacy and pro-environmental behavioral intention: A mediation and multi-group analysis

Abstract

This study examines how three contextual predictors environmental educative communication (EEC), environmental attitude (EA), and institutional commitment (IC) are associated with green tourism literacy (GTL) and pro-environmental behavioral intention (PEBI) among the academic community of Politeknik Negeri Bali (PNB). The primary objectives are to test predictor–outcome associations, examine the mediating role of GTL, and explore subgroup differences. A quantitative cross-sectional survey was administered to 374 respondents (252 students, 90 lecturers, 32 administrative staff) selected through purposive sampling with proportional coverage across departments. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) with 5,000 bootstrap subsamples was used to estimate the model; mediation was assessed via bootstrapped indirect effects; and multi-group analysis (MGA) was conducted as an exploratory subgroup examination with Bonferroni correction for multiple testing. Results indicate that EA is the strongest correlate of GTL (β = 0.433) and GTL is the strongest correlate of PEBI (β = 0.442). Indirect-only mediation was observed for EEC→PEBI and IC→PEBI, while complementary mediation was observed for EA→PEBI. The model explained 63.1% of GTL variance and 71.8% of PEBI variance. After Bonferroni correction, none of the 21 subgroup comparisons reached statistical significance, though one raw-p difference (EEC→PEBI: students vs lecturers) merits exploratory attention. Findings suggest that GTL functions as a central cognitive mechanism linking contextual factors to behavioral intention, with implications for differentiated environmental communication strategies in vocational tourism higher education, tempered by the cross-sectional, single-institution design.