Consumption for conservation: determinants of purchasing local products by ecotourists to conserving protected forests

Ecotourism holds significant potential to reduce local communities' dependence on forest resources for their livelihoods while directly contributing to forest conservation by purchase of locally produced goods, particularly in protected forest areas. Understanding the factors that shape tourists' intentions to buy these products, as well as their actual purchasing behaviors, is crucial for promoting sustainable consumption patterns. This study addresses a critical research gap by extending the theory of planned behavior to incorporate two additional variables: the perceived impact of purchasing on conservation and environmental knowledge. Data were collected from 445 ecotourists through a structured questionnaire and analyzed using structural equation modeling. The inclusion of these additional variables enhanced the model's explanatory power for intention, increasing from 0.48 to 0.65, and improved its predictive accuracy for behavior from 0.43 to 0.50. Hypothesis testing confirmed that tourists' attitudes, perceived social norms, perceived behavioral control, environmental knowledge, and the perceived conservation impact of purchasing all had significant positive effects on their behavioral intentions, which, in turn, positively influenced purchasing behavior. However, the findings also revealed a gap between intention and actual behavior, as not all expressed intentions to buy local products translated into action. These insights offer valuable implications for both management and policy. Strengthening tourists' environmental knowledge, fostering positive attitudes, ensuring the availability of local products, and enhancing confidence in their conservation impact can effectively encourage both purchasing intentions and actual behaviors, ultimately supporting sustainable ecotourism practices.