Abstract
Alpine regions are valued for their natural treasures by both tourists and locals alike. In order to preserve their natural resources, higher awareness and practical solutions towards sustainability in general and—especially in the region of Tyrol in Austria—sustainable mobility are in high demand. To foster such awareness, social media offers great possibilities for communication and interaction via online communities, and a strategic employment of such tools could amplify the adoption of a more sustainable travel behaviour among people. A quantitative study, employing the Theory of Planned Behaviour, the influence of attitude, subjective norm and control factors on the behavioural intention to travel more sustainably, moderated by a person’s engagement on social media with sustainability topics, was applied. Results show a positive relation of sustainable attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioural control towards the intention to travel more sustainably. Over and above, the outcome discloses the impact of individuals’ social media engagement on their behavioural intention. Thus, social media strategies can lead to an intended change in behaviour and foster sustainable mobility.
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Notes
- 1.
Verkehrsclub Österreich. (2015). Energieverbrauch des Verkehrs seit dem Jahr 1990 fast verdoppelt - Mobilität mit Zukunft. Retrieved from https://www.vcoe.at/news/details/vcoe-energieverbrauch-des-verkehrs-seit-dem-jahr-1990-fast-verdoppelt.
- 2.
Umweltbundesamt. (2015). Treibhausgase. Retrieved from http://www.umweltbundesamt.at/umwelt/luft/treibhausgase/.
- 3.
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Groth, A., Buchauer, R., Schlögl, S. (2018). Influence of Social Media Engagement on Sustainable Mobility Behaviour in Alpine Regions. In: Stangl, B., Pesonen, J. (eds) Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism 2018. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-72923-7_15
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