Exploring tourists’ pro-environmental behavior: a bibliometric analysis over two decades (1999–2023)

Traditionally, the success of tourism has been evaluated based on the economic results obtained by the industry and growth indicators for the region, such as employment generated, tourist arrivals and business creation (Koh et al., 2022; Fakfare and Wattanacharoensil, 2023). Although these measures have been commonly accepted by tourism professionals as a benefit (Fakfare and Wattanacharoensil, 2023), in recent years different negative externalities around this industry have been highlighted, such as overcrowding in traditional destinations (World Travel and Tourism Council, 2021), excessive energy consumption (Shakouri et al., 2017) or the emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere (Mishra et al., 2022). Specifically, the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) (2021) in its “net zero” report, estimate that tourism has emitted in 2019 a range of 8%–11% of total carbon outputs in the last decade, which means 3.9 to 5.4 billion tons of CO₂ emissions. Furthermore, the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and the International Transport Forum (ITF) in their latest report, which analyze the transport-related CO₂ emissions of the tourism sector, forecast a 25% increase in emissions in 2030 and, specifically, a 45% increase in international travel (UNWTO, 2019). It is noteworthy that the responsibility for the negative impact of tourism cannot only be addressed by public authorities and tourism destination managers, as the responsibility of tourists also comes into play (Juvan and Dolnican, 2016). Therefore, inciting tourists to behave in an environmentally friendly manner has attracted the attention of researchers in recent decades (Han et al., 2021; Lin et al., 2022), as it can help environmental conservation and enable a balance between tourism development and the sustainable capacity of environmental protection (Gao et al., 2021c).

Due to the influence that tourists’ behavior has on the environment, tourists’ pro-environmental behavior (PEB) has attracted increasing interest in recent years (Han and Hyun, 2018; Gao et al., 2021c). In general terms, PEB refers to those behaviors of individuals that minimize the negative effects of human activity on the environment (Kollmuss and Agyeman, 2002). It consists of “any actions that protect the environment or minimize the negative impacts of human activity on the environment in either general daily practice or specific outdoor settings” (Miller et al., 2015, pp. 28). The term “pro-environmental behavior” encompasses a broad range of actions and other terms are also used in the literature (Kiatkawsin and Han, 2017). Thus, due to the nonexistence of a unified concept in the literature, in our study we will apply the following terms as synonyms (Lin et al., 2022). Thus, terms such as “pro-environmental intention” (Han and Hyun, 2018), “environmental responsibility behavior” (Confente and Scarpi, 2021), “environmentally friendly behavior” (Du et al., 2020), “environmental protection behavior” (Lin et al., 2022) or “sustainable environmental behavior” (Wu et al., 2020) are used interchangeably in the literature to identify human behaviors that benefit the natural environment.

Specifically, in the tourism and hospitality field, tourists who have a PEB are those who try to reduce negative impacts on the environment by striving for its preservation and conservation during their tourism activities (Lee et al., 2013). Moreover, tourists’ PEB not only refers to the protection of the ecological environment of the destination (Gao et al., 2021c), but also includes nonmaterial elements of the destination such as respect for local people and local culture (Kock et al., 2019). Research on tourists’ PEB is complex, as situational factors can reduce their motivation to behave responsibly (Liu et al., 2014). Thus, tourists behave differently than they do at home, which may contribute to lower PEB in the tourism context (Untaru et al., 2016). This has led to an interest in recent years by researchers in analyzing factors influencing consumer pro-environmental behavioral intentions in the tourism and hospitality context (Han and Hyun, 2018; Gao et al., 2021c).

Bibliometrics is a statistical analysis of those publications in a specific field of knowledge, which allows the information contained in a particular database to be analyzed (Van Raan, 2005; Leung et al., 2017). The results obtained from a bibliometric analysis are key to evaluating the knowledge of a scientific field from the observation of its growth, maturity and future lines of research (Agramunt et al., 2020). It is used in numerous researches in tourism (Pelit and Katircioglu, 2022), such as in co-creation (Liu et al., 2022), tourism ethnocentrism (Orts-Cardador et al., 2023), smart tourism (Chen et al., 2022), management (Fauzi, 2023), tourism crisis (Jiang et al., 2019), gastronomy (Sánchez et al., 2017), social media (Leung et al., 2017) or medical tourism (de la Hoz-Correa et al., 2018), among others. However, the number of bibliometric studies focused on the PEB of tourists is scarce. First, the study by Zhang and Quoquab (2022) does not show the most influential articles through citation analysis. Furthermore, these authors recommend that future studies expand the scope of research by adding more keywords. In this regard, we added other words, such as environmental responsibility behavior, environmentally friendly behavior, environmental protection behavior or sustainable environmental behavior. Other studies (Lu et al., 2021; Farrukh et al., 2023; Goyal and Goyal, 2024) that analyze PEB through bibliometrics do not analyze the same clusters as this manuscript. Specifically, this studies do not exhibit the PEB in the specific field of tourists, being general analyses of PEB. For example, the results of the study of Goyal and Goyal (2024) shows that future studies analyze new topics which are intrinsic related with PEB, such as sustainable hotels, which we have analyzed below. Moreover, Farrukh et al. (2023) recommends that future studies would realize a bibliometric analysis to provide an in-depth analysis of the themes and trends of the field, contrary to these articles which perform a superficial analysis of the clusters. Finally, contrary to these articles, this study shows the co-citation analysis of keywords, which appears in other relevant bibliometric analyses (Khanra et al., 2021; Ogretmenoglu et al., 2022) and helps researchers to show the theoretical underpinnings of PEB. Finally, Farrukh et al. (2023) recommend that future studies integrate theories and factors that can explain PEB in tourism. However, to the best of our knowledge, to date there is a dearth of review papers which analyze the theories and factors that have been used to study PEB in the context of tourism. In doing so, we provide a systemic and objective overview of these theories and factors on PEB in tourism. Aiming to have an in-depth understanding of the factors and theories influencing tourists’ sustainable pro-behavior, this bibliometric analysis is an opportunity to synthesize previous knowledge on this topic and suggest future research topics future research topics. Thus, this study makes an important contribution to the literature for researchers, scholars and tourism managers to understand tourists’ PEB and changing mindset over the last decade.

PEB is a topic that requires in-depth research in the tourism field in a context in which CO₂ emissions, environmental pollution and climate change have become important issues in society (O'Connor and Assaker, 2021). It is expected that scientific production will continue to grow in recent years due to two reasons: firstly, tourists are more demanding and aware of environmental values in tourism; and, secondly, tourism destinations see sustainability as a competitive advantage (Budeanu, 2007; Su et al., 2020). Therefore, the present study attempts to understand the problem in depth using knowledge mapping through VOSviewer. The main objective of this article is to analyze the structure and trends of PEB of tourist’s research between 1999 and 2023. The choice of 1999 as the start of the search period is due to the fact that the first article that relates both concepts is that of Root and Schintler (1999). Specifically, this article analyzed the role which has the women in the protection of the environment through the sustainable transport. From the collection of documents in WoS, VOSviewer has made it possible to visualize citation networks, co-citation reference networks, keyword co-occurrence networks and relevance boundaries and longitudinal analysis. These analyses make it possible to achieve the following intermediate research objectives:

The contribution of this study is twofold. First, from the citation and co-citation analysis, we present results that enable a better understanding of the development of research on tourists’ PEB. Second, the results identify future lines of research that will allow a better understanding of tourists’ behavior due to the keyword co-occurrence analysis.

The concept of PEB emerged in the 1960s as a result of scholars’ reflections on the environmental problems caused by humans (Maloney et al., 1975) and the growing interest in environmental studies in academic and scientific communities (Ellen et al., 1991). Maloney et al. (1975) posited that irresponsible behavior with the environment is a consequence of maladaptive behavior and urged stakeholders, politicians and scholars to analyze human behavior and encourage individuals to perform in an environmentally responsible manner (Lu et al., 2021). According to Shafiei and Maleksaeidi (2020), the first studies analyzing PEB in the mid-1960s were related to measuring public concern about environmental quality (Li et al., 2019). Gradually, by increasing public interests for studying environmental behaviors and the growing societal concern about society’s negative impact on the environment, questions about factors triggering the acceptance of environmentally friendly behaviors occupied the researchers’ mind (Casaló and Escario, 2018).Therefore, PEB is defined as purposeful actions that can be undertaken to minimize the negative impact of human behavior on the environment (Kollmuss and Agyeman, 2002; Wu et al., 2021a). This active participation is captured in the literature by the term PEB, which refers to “any action that protects the environment or minimizes the negative impact of human activities on the environment, either in general daily practice or in specific outdoor environments” (Miller et al., 2015). The concept is broad and encompasses a wide range of behaviors such as saving resources including energy or raw materials, using alternative energy, avoiding car travel, using alternative transportation, reusing paper, plastic or water and properly disposing non-recyclable waste (Shen et al., 2024).

Climate change is a major challenge for the development of tourism, as it will determine its economic activity in the coming years (Cho et al., 2016; Zha et al., 2019), especially when tourism is one of the main industries producing greenhouse gas emissions and contributing to climate change (Hall et al., 2013; Gössling et al., 2016). From a business management perspective, different tourism services (hotels, cruises, aircraft …) have implemented different environmental strategies with the aim of being in line with sustainability (Kularatne et al., 2019; Nepal et al., 2019). However, sustainable practices by tourists are equally important and should not be ignored (Wang et al., 2020b). Therefore, the active participation of tourists in environmental activities is a key factor in the implementation of sustainable practices (Kiatkawsin and Han, 2017). O´Conner and Assaker (2021) defined PEB in tourism: “PEB refers to pro-environmental behavior with respect to traveling less, traveling closer to home, traveling less by plane, choosing a destination, selecting transportation, choosing accommodations, making attractions and activity choices, and making more sustainable choices of tourism products in general.”(P. 8). Furthermore, tourists’ PEB not only refers to the protection of the destination’s ecological environment through practices such as water and electricity consumption, use of public transport, littering, waste recycling and reusing plastic bottles (Gao et al., 2021c), but also includes nonmaterial elements of the destination such as respecting local people and local culture (Kock et al., 2019). In this regard, the ongoing debates in the academia in order to analyze how policymakers and destination managers can influence in the awareness of the tourists have concluded that the attachment to a place have a positive relationship in the protection of the environment (Lin et al., 2022). Finally, another current issue is the sustainable mobility in tourism because has an important role to promote PEB among tourists, such as the use of electric, public or zero emission vehicles. The results of the study by Zamparini and Vergori (2021) show that the introduction of new infrastructures or their improvement have a relevant impact on the sustainability of mobility in tourism in the short term and an improvement in tourist demand in the long term.

Research on tourists’ PEB is complex because situational factors can reduce their motivation to behave responsibly (Liu et al., 2014). For example, tourists behave differently than they do at home, which may contribute to lower PEB in the tourism context Untaru et al., (2016). However, the results of Wu et al. (2021a) show that tourists have a higher PEB in the tourist context than at home because there are more facilities than in their everyday home environment. As a result, in recent years researchers have been interested in analyzing the different antecedents that influence consumers’ PEB in the context of tourism and hospitality. In this regard, different authors have analyzed these antecedents based on different theories or of different normative, affective or habitual factors.

Different researchers have explored the notion of PEB in tourism based on different theories. One of the most influential theories has been the theory of planned behavior (TPB) (Ajzen, 1991), which modifies the theory of reasoned action (Ajzen and Fishbein, 1980); TPB states that behavior can be predicted by intention to act, where intention is determined by attitude toward the behavior, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control. For example, Liu et al. (2020) suggested that environmental attitudes and environmental behavioral intentions may play a mediating role in the relationship between environmental knowledge and PEB. Green consumer values (GCVs), which build on the foundation of consumer value theory, are defined as a person’s tendency to express their own environmental protection values through their purchasing and consumption behavior (Haws et al., 2014). For example, Ribeiro et al. (2023) showed how green consumer values moderate the relationship between attitudes to pro-environmental travel and willingness to sacrifice in relation to PEB.

The norm activation model (NAM) was developed by Schwartz (1977), which states that personal norms predict behavior and are determined by three factors: the awareness of performing a particular behavior; the feeling of responsibility for performing that particular behavior and personal norms. For example, Han et al. (2018b) showed that NAM is an appropriate theory to analyze tourists’ PEB, where awareness of consequences and attribution of responsibility are two prerequisites for personal norm activation and PEB. The value-belief-norm (VBN) theory was developed by Stern et al. (1999) and is based on three components: values, beliefs and norms. Values are represented by the altruism value, the biospheric value and the egoistic value; beliefs are represented by the new ecological paradigm, awareness of consequences, ascription of responsibility; and norms are represented by the pro-environmental personal norm.

The classical expectancy theory of motivation (ETM), developed by Vroom (1964), is a theory that has been widely used in the field of tourism with the aim of analyzing tourists’ motivation when choosing the type, destination and activities of their holidays (Hsu et al., 2010). Both theories were integrated into Kiatkawsin and Han’s (2017) model to predict tourists’ PEB intention, with both integrated theories having a higher predictive power of 12.8% than using VBN alone as a predictive theory. Another theory is that of moral disengagement (MD), which was first proposed by Bandura et al. (1996), whereby people are able to justify their behaviors without suffering from guilt and distress. People tend to engage in prosocial behavior because it is consistent with their internal moral standards. In consequence, people with higher MD levels are less inclined to engage in prosocial behaviors (Bandura et al., 1996). In relation to this theory, Wu et al. (2021b) find a negative relationship between MD and PEB. This is due to the fact that some tourists argue that their personal behavior has little impact on the environment (Gössling et al., 2009), or use benefit comparison to minimize the negative impact they cause and to console themselves (Juvan and Dolnicar, 2014). Finally, the contingent valuation model (CVM) was introduced by Ciriacy-Wantrup (1947) to estimate nonuse values and can be used to estimate both use and nonuse values. This model was used by Linnes et al. (2022) to analyze whether local tourists would be willing to pay a higher price to buy locally grown food. Table 1 allows us to organize and synthesize the different theories in order to organize the main themes in which the literature has analyzed PEB in tourism:

These theories normally are generally identified in the literature through internal factors, external factors or personal factors (Li et al., 2019). Among existing studies, the most investigated dimension is internal factors (Wu et al., 2021a): normative factors (e.g. descriptive norms, moral norms, imperative norms, injunctive norms, religiosity), cognitive factors (environmental concern, environmental value, environmental awareness, willingness to sacrifice, self-efficacy or environmental knowledge), affective factors (e.g. anticipated pride and guilt) and habitual factors (e.g. water saving and towel reuse in daily life) – as important motivators for tourists to engage in PEB (Nilsson and Küller, 2000; Han and Hyun, 2018; Wang et al., 2020a, b; Ribeiro et al., 2023). However, there are researchers who analyze these factors isolated without related with any theory (Han and Hyun, 2018; Wang et al., 2020b).

For example, Wang et al. (2020a) examined the effects of intrinsic and extrinsic religiosity and environmental concern on tourists’ pro-environmental behavioral intentions. In intrinsic religiosity, individuals engage in religion because of the internal goals of their religious tradition (Allport, 1966; Chang et al., 2019). However, in extrinsic religiosity, individuals engage in religion to achieve their own goals (Allport, 1966; Raggiotto et al., 2018). The results show that environmental concern and intrinsic religiosity had an effect on pro-environmental behavioral intentions. Han and Hyun (2018) proposed a general model in which they analyzed normative factors (moral norms, descriptive norms and injunctive norms), affective factors (anticipated pride and anticipated guilt) and habitual factors (water conservation and towel reuse in everyday life) on pro-environmental behavioral intention in the context of hotels (towel reuse and water conservation in hotel). The results show that all factors influence PEB intentions, with the exception of descriptive norms and injunctive norms in water conservation. Finally, other authors combine the different factors and theories to analyze tourists’ PEB. For example, the results of the study by Onwezen et al. (2013) show that anticipated pride and guilt mediate the effects of personal norms (norm activation model) on PEB.

Table 2 shows how the literature has analyzed the different theories or factors that influence tourists’ PEB. Additionally, we can observe the measurement of PEB through the methodology and different scales that have been used in the literature. We have selected each publication on the basis of the most publication of each period. The articles following qualitative methodological approaches mostly conducted single survey data to collect cross-sectional data to analyze PEB in tourism (Onwezen et al., 2013; Liu et al., 2020; Wang et al., 2020b; Wu et al., 2021b). Accordingly, this method tends to collect data at a single point in time by asking tourism and hospitality consumers to report their feelings or perceptions (Lin et al., 2022). This method is effective in identifying correlations between constructs. However, this method has several problems, such as testing theories or analyzing changes in patterns over time. In this sense, there are few studies which use experimental or longitudinal studies to reduce this common-method bias (He et al., 2023).

Bibliometric analysis is widely used by researchers to evaluate articles published in a particular scientific field (Ding and Yang, 2020). Bibliometrics uses a quantitative approach and allows a visual representation to be obtained of the bibliography of a field of study through scientific mapping in the form of authors, journals, words or documents (Boyack and Klavans, 2010). This analysis allowed us to present the state of the intellectual structure, emerging trends, and hot topics by providing a systematic and comprehensive knowledge of PEB in tourism (Zhang and Quoquab, 2022). Moreover, it is the ideal analysis when faced with a broad scope of review and a large data set (Donthu et al., 2021). On the other hand, the scientific mapping was completed with the performance analysis, which is another aspect of bibliometric method, which allowed us to perform a descriptive analysis of the main publications, authors and institutions, which is the most used in all bibliometric studies in order to measures the productivity and effect in terms of the number of publications and citations (Donthu et al., 2021; Gao et al., 2021a). The VOSviewer program has been used to analyze the data obtained and to obtain visual networks (Fauzi, 2023). This program creates maps in relation to citation analysis, co-citation and co-occurrence of keywords (van Eck and Waltman, 2022; Pelit and Katircioglu, 2022). VOSviewer to facilitate pragmatic data analysis through its robust graphical interface. This interface enables the creation of maps that allows the building and visualization of hotspots, emerging trends, intelligent networks and the analysis of its evolution over time (Van Eck and Waltman, 2022; Gao et al., 2021b). The Web of Science (WoS) Core Collection database was used to obtain the documents that will allow us to perform the bibliometric analysis. This database is chosen because it has been widely adopted in bibliometric analyses (e.g. Leung et al., 2017; González-Serrano et al., 2020; Pelit and Katircioglu, 2022 or Rojas-Lamorena et al., 2022) due to its impact factor and its acceptance as the most recommended index available by the scientific academy (González-Serrano et al., 2020; Fauzi, 2023). WOS is ideally suited for our research because of its reliability and trustworthiness in the complete citation network within a research domain, its longevity with over 100 years of scientific coverage, and its reach with over one billion cited reference connections (Kim and So, 2022; Zulfiqar et al., 2024).

Citation analysis allows the identification of the most influential articles in a given scientific field by reflecting the intellectual links between publications that are formed when one publication cites another (Gundolf and Filser, 2013; Appio et al., 2014). Co-citation analysis reveals the intellectual structure of a given research field (Rossetto et al., 2018), the underlying themes (Liu et al., 2022) and changes in the literature over time (Pelit and Katircioglu, 2022). This analysis performed in conjunction with the citation analysis, provides an overview of the most influential topics in the field of PEB research by tourists (Hota et al., 2020). However, both analyses should be complemented by co-word analysis with the aim of assessing the current subject matter of the field of study (Zupic and Čater, 2015). Keyword co-occurrence analysis or co-word analysis is a scientific mapping technique that allows the exploration of the interaction of keywords in the sample publications (de la Hoz-Correa et al., 2018). The main objective is to suggest the currently most prominent influential topics in the field of study of PEB by tourists. In addition, the analysis has been completed with measurements of the relative contribution of the themes to the research field over the years from longitudinal analysis (López-Herrera et al., 2012; Munoz-Leiva et al., 2015; del Barrio-Garcia et al., 2020).

Identifying the right keywords is a critical stage in the selection of articles (Paul and Criado, 2020). Firstly, according to Rodríguez-López et al. (2020), Molina-Collado et al. (2022) and Pelit and Katircioglu (2022), we analyze the articles with a higher number of citations in PEB in the WoS database, with the aim of analyzing which are the keywords with the greatest impact in this field of study (Budeanu, 2007; Goldstein et al., 2008; Han et al., 2010; Ballantyne et al., 2011; Ramkissoon et al., 2013a, b; Chen and Tung, 2014; Han, 2015; Miller et al., 2015; Kim et al., 2019; Tian and Robertson, 2019). In this case, it is interesting to note that pro-environmental intention and PEB are used interchangeably in the literature. This is due to the fact that, as Han et al. (2010) argue on the basis of the TPB (Ajzen, 1991), most human behaviors are predictable on the basis of intention because such behaviors are volitional and under the control of intention. Secondly, we selected the keywords found in the topic, (title, abstract or keywords, following the recommendations of Paul and Criado (2020), with the aim of analyzing the articles most closely related to the topic. On the basis of this precedent, we used the following search query in order to obtain the most relevant research papers related to the PEB of tourists. The keywords chosen and the search query used were (pro-environmental intention OR pro-environmental behavior OR environmental responsibility behavior OR environmentally friendly behavior OR environmental protection behavior OR sustainable environmental behavior) AND (touris* OR hospitality OR hotel OR restaurant OR travel). It yielded a total of 2,534 documents.

These documents were then reviewed in depth using the appropriate filters, following the recommendations of Liu et al. (2022), Bhukya and Paul (2023) and Shin et al. (2023). First, only English-language articles were included, excluding book chapters, review articles, editorial material, conference proceedings, books, etc. for the period between 1999 and 15 December 2023, coinciding with the first article relating the two concepts (Root and Schintler, 1999). Second, in order to remove any bias from the study, we carefully reviewed all articles and eliminated those studies that were not related to the topic analyzed. All members of the research team read the title, keywords and abstract of each article and assessed its relevance and appropriateness. Finally, we used Excel software to check for duplicate records. Consequently, applying these filters we obtained a sample of 2005 documents (Figure 1).

In our analysis, a total of 2005 articles were obtained from 403 journals as shown in Table 3. There is an upward trend in the number of publications over time, with a maximum production in 2023 of 342 publications and with a higher number of citations in 2010 with 5,407 citations (Figure 2).

Table 4 shows the most productive authors in the field analyzed. Researchers from South Korea and Australia stand out in terms of scientific production and number of citations. Specifically, Heesup Han from Sejong University (South Korea) and Sara Dolnicar from the University of Queesland (Australia) are the authors with the highest number of citations and the highest number of publications. However, in relation to citations per article, Haywantee Ramkissoon of the University of South Australia (Australia) and Tsung Hung Lee of Yunlin University (Taiwan) stand out. Finally, eight of the authors have a successful scientific career (h-index>20). This complementary indicator is widely used with the aim of measuring the greater or lesser degree of success in the professional career of the authors (Hirsch, 2005; Díaz, 2014).

Table 5 shows the most influential and productive institutions in the field analyzed. As with the authors, Australian and South Korean universities stand out for their scientific production. In terms of productivity by number of articles published, Sejong University (South Korea) and the University of Queensland (Australia) stand out. However, the institutions with the greatest influence in terms of citations per article are Dong-A University (South Korea) and Monash University (Australia). It is noteworthy that most of the universities are in a high position in the Scimago Institution Rank (SIR) in the ranking related to business, management and accounting, which indicates the thematic relevance of the field analyzed. In addition, the institutions have published in the last year, which indicates that the subject matter is current.

In our analysis we present the citation analysis of documents with the objective of observing the most cited documents with the greatest influence in the field of PEB of tourists. In Table 6 we present the 10 documents with the highest number of citations in the analyzed field of study. The documents have a high number of citations, indicating the relevance of the thematic field. The links refer to the relationship forged between the papers in the analyzed sample (van Eck and Waltman, 2022).

The most cited article is by Ewing and Cervero (2010), who analyzed the existing literature through a meta-analysis based on the articles that had investigated the impacts of travel on the environment. The results show that frequency of travel and length of stay are the most important factors to consider when analyzing the impact of travel in the literature. The second most cited article is by Goldstein et al. (2008) who analyze the impact of warning signs by hotels in relation to the sustainable behavior of tourists. The results show that descriptive messages explaining negative environmental effects have a greater impact than mandatory messages. The third most cited paper is Han et al. (2010), based on Ajzen’s theory of planned behavior (TPB) model (Ajzen, 1991), with the aim of explaining how tourists’ intention to visit a green hotel is formed. The results show that the model consists of three constructs: attitude; subjective norms and perceived behavioral control.

Figure 3 shows how the citation analysis produces five clusters from the most representative publications.

Cluster 1 (red) is called “place attachment.” Place attachment refers to the relationship that a person has with a tourist destination, based on the experiences that are forged with the place and the emotional bond that is created (Hidalgo and Hernandez, 2001; Kyle et al., 2003). Place attachment is composed of two components: place identity, which is a symbolic or affective attachment to a place; and place dependence, related to place functionality (Vaske and Kobrin, 2001; Lee, 2011). Numerous studies have addressed place attachment as an antecedent of tourism PEB (Lee, 2011; Ramkissoon et al., 2012, 2013a, b; Lee & Jan, 2019) because the place attachment that tourists have about a destination causes them to engage in more environmentally responsible behaviors with the goal of its conservation (Kato, 2006).

Cluster 2 (green) is called “responsible tourist behavior.” This cluster focuses on analyzing the antecedents that make tourists behave responsibly while on vacation. Miller et al. (2015) argue that understanding the factors that affect PEB is a complex area because it affects prosocial and self-interest motivations. In this regard, the authors analyzed the antecedents that make a tourist have PEB in the context of TPB. The TPB is used by the author in order to analyze whether the attitude of responsible behavior translates into actual responsible holiday behavior. The results show that attitude is not a good predictor of sustainable holiday behavior because environmental attitudes can be very strong, but when exposed to greater challenges and difficulties in a tourism context, they are less likely to materialize in a real behavior.

Cluster 3 (blue) is called “formation of customers’ PEB.” In this cluster, the authors analyze how different tourism service managers can promote PEB among tourists. First, Bergquist and Nilsson (2016) propose normative behavior theory (Cialdini et al., 1990) as a theoretical framework to analyze the promotion of PEB among tourists. This theory proposes that normative influence can be enhanced by focusing people’s attention on social norms. The results show that instructions written in a demanding (e.g. negative) manner (prescriptive norms) lead to lower compliance than less demanding instructions (proscriptive norms). Second, Han (2015) used the value-belief-norm theory and the theory of planned behavior to explain the formation of travelers’ pro-environmental intentions in a green lodging context. Results indicate that customers with greater awareness of harmful outcomes, social pressure and moral norms were more likely to intend to choose an eco-friendly lodging property.

Cluster 4 (yellow) is called “the influence of the hotels in pro-responsible behavior.” In recent years, the detrimental impact of hotels on the environment has attracted the attention of tourists (Chen and Peng, 2012; Jones et al., 2014). Therefore, those hotels, which are introducing measures that reduce damage to the environment and are becoming more eco-friendly (Han et al., 2010; Jones et al., 2014), are experiencing a higher demand. Consequently, numerous studies have shown how green and sustainable hotels develop and implement sustainability business strategies (Han et al., 2010).

Cluster 5 (purple) is called “cognitive dissonance theory.” Tourists generally have a positive attitude towards the environment and do not wish to behave negatively toward it (Dolnicar, 2004; Wurzinger and Johansson, 2006). However, in the context of environmentally responsible behavior in tourism, having a positive attitude does not necessarily translate into making environmentally responsible choices while on vacation (Becken, 2004; Bergin-Seers and Mair, 2009). In this regard, the literature has identified possible reasons for finding the existing attitude–behavior gap in the context of environmentally responsible tourism (Hu et al., 2010; Choi et al., 2015; Juvan and Dolnicar, 2014; Kiatkawsin and Han, 2017). Juvan and Dolnicar (2014) used the TPB to analyze how positive attitudes in everyday life influence actual behavior. The results show, in the first place, that although tourists were generally concerned about environmental attitudes at home, they did not show such responsible behavior during the holiday, generally because they justified the holiday as an exception to relax and enjoy themselves. Second, tourists show a tension between enjoying a holiday and knowing that it has negative environmental consequences. To explain this tension, the authors used the cognitive dissonance theory (Festinger, 1957), which postulates that people experience psychological discomfort when there is an inconsistency between cognitions (attitudes, beliefs, values, opinions and knowledge) and their real behavior.

The co-citation analysis of documents allows us to study the intellectual structure of our scientific field (Leung et al., 2017). In Table 7 we highlight the documents with the highest number of citations and total link strength. Total link strength indicates the number of times a paper has been co-cited with other papers within the set of papers analyzed (van Eck and Waltman, 2022). The paper with the highest number of citations is Ajzen’s (1991), which shows that an individual’s behavioral intentions are composed of attitude toward the behavior, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control. This theory, called the theory of planned behavior (TPB), has been widely adopted in predictive studies on consumer intention and behavior (Linnes et al., 2022). The second article with the highest number of citations is Fornell and Larcker (1981). This article is widely used to establish methodology in structural equation modeling with the aim of establishing cause–effect relationships in the context of tourists’ PEB (Fakfare and Wattanacharoensil, 2023; Esfandiar et al., 2020).

Figure 4 shows how the co-citation analysis produces three clusters from the most representative publications.

We call the red cluster “antecedents of tourists’ pro-environmental behavior.” The studies are focused on analyzing what are the causes that produce sustainable behavior in tourists (place attachment, satisfaction, place dependence, place identity, place affect, residents’ support, community attachment, community involvement, among others). For example, Ramkissoon et al. (2013b) analyzed tourists visiting the Dandenong Ranges National Park (Australia). The results show that those who had higher place attachment and satisfaction with the tourist destination had more responsible environmental behavior with the destination. Chiu et al. (2014) analyzed tourists visiting the Sicao Ecological Area in Taijiang National Park (Taiwan). The results show that perceived value, tourists’ active participation and satisfaction positively influenced environmentally responsible intention.

The green cluster is called “Tourists’ behavior in relation to sustainability.” The studies are focused on analyzing how to encourage tourists to behave responsibly while on vacation. In the context of vacations, those tourists who have a positive environmental behavior in house do not translate this into actual vacation behavior (Becken, 2004; Bergin-Seers and Mair, 2009). Therefore, Juvan and Dolnicar (2014) systematically identify the reasons why tourists do not behave in the same way both at home and on holiday as follows: denial of consequences; denial of responsibility; denial of control due to financial or time constraints or belief of damage compensation.

We call the blue cluster “The role of green hotels in the pro-environmental behavior of tourists.” A green hotel is defined as pro-environmental accommodations that implement different green practices, such as saving energy and water, reducing solid waste and recycling durable goods with the aim of protecting the environment (Green Hotel Association, 2023). The fundamental difference between green hotels and sustainable hotels lies in their scope and focus. While green hotels focus primarily on the implementation of environmental practices, sustainable hotels take a broader approach that encompasses aspects such as minimizing environmental impact, promoting social equity, respecting the local community and fostering sustainable economic development (Rehman et al., 2023). In a context of increased consumer demand for sustainability, green hotels can be a strategic marketing variable with the aim of positioning themselves ahead of the competition (Manaktola and Jauhari, 2007). Therefore, in this cluster, studies are focused on analyzing what may be the reasons for a potential tourist to stay in a green hotel. For example, Chen and Tung (2014) and Han et al. (2010) analyzed how TPB is a good predictor of intention to visit a green hotel. Kang et al. (2012) concluded that tourists pay more to stay in a green hotel when it is concerned about the environment or are hotels with above average characteristics.

Keyword co-occurrence analysis was carried out to represent the most representative themes of tourists’ PEB. Thus, in order to show which are the current research topics in this analyzed subject, we will examine the clusters present in Figure 5. Following Zhang et al. (2016), the content analysis is applied on the basis of the keywords provided by the authors. The higher or lower academic relevance of the keywords is analyzed by taking as reference the number of occurrences, the total link strength and the link strength with other keywords.

Table 8 summarizes the 20 words with the highest number of occurrences and total link strength. The number of occurrences refers to the number of times the keyword appears in the set of documents analyzed. The total link strength is calculated by adding the number of times that two specific keywords appear together in the documents of the analyzed sample (van Eck and Waltman, 2022). As we observe, the words with the highest number of occurrences are “pro-environmental behavior,” “sustainability” and “sustainable tourism.” From a total of 4,677 keywords, we obtained 86 keywords from a minimum occurrence of 10.

We refer to Cluster 1 as “sustainable transportation.” In recent years, there has been a growing emphasis on the significance of transportation efficiency and the adoption of technological advancements to address climate change (Davison et al., 2014). However, it is crucial that tourists adopt a change of mindset when traveling, with the aim of achieving long-term changes (Delclòs-Alió et al., 2022).

We refer to Cluster 2 as “sustainable tourism.” Sustainable tourism is that type of tourism that acts in accordance with the prerogatives of the planet and local communities, by protecting cultural integrity, biodiversity and ecological processes and subsystems (Hernández-Garrido et al., 2023). In addition, this type of tourism is a niche market for tourist destinations because tourists demand greater environmental protection (Abdullah et al., 2020).

We refer to Cluster 3 as “green hotels.” Travelers show an increasing awareness of practices that may harm the environment, which has led hotels to implement measures related to environmental protection. These practices include the use of sustainable materials, reduction of water and energy consumption, and other sustainability-focused initiatives (Yusoff et al., 2020; Rehman et al., 2023).

Cluster 4 we call “theory of planned behavior in the pro-environmental behavior of tourists.” In the context of tourism PEB, TPB is widely used because it analyzes whether pro-environmental behavioral intention (PEBI) is translated into actual behavior by tourists (PEB) (Dolnicar et al., 2019). Thus, numerous studies have used this theory as a conceptual and empirical basis (Budovska et al., 2020; Bai and Zhang et al., 2021; Al-Khaldy et al., 2022; Calder et al., 2022; Linnes et al., 2022; Aseri and Ansari, 2023). We refer to Cluster 5 as “the effect of air travel on climate change.” Currently, air travel contributes approximately 4% of CO₂ emissions in the European Union. In addition, international travel accounts for 3.4% of these emissions, while domestic travel accounts for 0.4% (European Environment Agency, 2022). Moreover, this figure is projected to continue to increase in the coming years (Alfaro and Chankov, 2022). Therefore, consumer behavior with its attitude toward air travel has been the subject of scientific debate. For example, numerous studies have concluded that there is a need to reduce the frequency of air travel or international travel (Gossling et al., 2020; Becken et al., 2021; Andersen, 2022). We refer to Cluster 6 as the “destination image in environmentally responsible destinations.” Destination image is defined as the set of attributes with which visitors associate a destination, as well as the perceptions and expectations they have about it (Crompton, 1979; Abdullah et al., 2019). Tourists’ environmental image with a tourism destination is linked to tourists’ perceptions of environmentally sustainable practices, environmental conservation, environmental concerns or environmental commitments (Lee and Jeong, 2018). When destinations build the environment as a core element of their image, tourists engage in environmentally responsible behavior at the destination (Chiu et al., 2014; Phau et al., 2014; Abdullah et al., 2019; Bilynets et al., 2023). We refer to Cluster 7 as “sustainable development of tourism destinations.” Currently, the expansion of tourism has endangered the environment, culture, traditions and customs of local people in new tourism destinations. Therefore, it is crucial for tourism destination managers to establish effective policies and regulations with the aim of implementing initiatives that reduce the environmental impact in such destinations (Chong, 2020; Jamaliah et al., 2021).

In order to complete the content analysis, we performed a longitudinal analysis (Tables 9 and 10). The objective is to identify the most relevant topics based on the number of citations and the number of articles for each keyword. In addition, we identified the relative relevance of the keyword clusters from the research topics by mean year (López-Herrera et al., 2012; Barrio-Garcia et al., 2020). The results show that the clusters green hotels (26.43), destination image in environmentally responsible destinations (32.43) and theory of planned behavior in the PEB of tourists (35.85) have the highest relevance in the total period (see Table 9).

A significant proportion of the research commenced in 2018, as a considerable number of investigations were initiated during that period (Figure 1 and Table 10). In order to enrich this analysis, it is necessary to compare the progress of this scientific analysis in two periods: 1999–2017 (Figure 6) and 2018–2023 (Figure 7). This is necessary to analyze the hot topics and emerging directions in PEB (Guan and Huang, 2022).

From Figures 6 and 7, we can see that there are new keywords that are important today. In Figure 6 we can observe that the previous research in PEB in tourism relies on “green hotels”; “sustainable development of tourism destinations”; “theory of planned behavior in the pro-environmental behavior of tourists”; “sustainable tourism” and “the effect of air travel on climate change.” However, in Figure 7, we can see the five new research topics that have appeared since 2018. Therefore, these topics need to be further discussed in PEB in tourism:

• (1)

  Factors and theories in PEB in tourism. As can be seen from the keywords “environmental awareness,”, “environmental knowledge,” “personal norms ” and “attitudes,” the factors and theories that have served as theoretical frameworks for analyzing PEB among tourists, have become more important in recent years. Firstly, there is the TPB, which has been used by researchers as an explanatory framework for how intention, influenced by attitude, is a perfect proxy for behavior (Ajzen, 1991). Another theory is the value-belief norm theory, which establishes a relationship between personal norms and behavior (Stern et al., 1999). Therefore, future research could focus on further analysis of theories and factors that analyze the complexity that influences tourists’ PEB.

• (2)

  The influence of China in PEB. China has exceptional biodiversity and a unique historical heritage, being the second largest country in the world with the second highest number of World Heritage Sites in 2023 (UNESCO, 2023), receiving 145 million visitors annually in 2019 (IGAPE, 2023). However, China is the country with the highest CO₂ emissions in 2022, with a total of 12,667,428 megatons (Datos Macro, 2022), putting this biodiversity at risk. Consequently, the decarbonization policy of the Asian country requires a change in the tourism model due to the negative impact of tourism on environmental sustainability, with the aim of preserving this heritage and environmental legacy. In this context, the Asian country has introduced a number of measures to comply with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, such as the launch of a green tourism database in 2016 to promote green tourism initiatives. Due to China’s impact on environmental sustainability, numerous studies (He et al., 2018; He and Filimonau, 2020; Bai and Zhang, 2021) have analyzed how policymakers and destination managers can cope with the rapid growth of tourism in China while respecting the prerogatives of sustainability. In this sense, future studies should analyze the importance of tourists’ PEB in the Chinese context.

• (3)

  The impact of Covid-19 in PEB in tourism: Covid-19 is a new keyword that appeared in 2020 in the “Tourism, Hospitality and Leisure” category due to the emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic and its impact on the tourism industry caused by mobility restrictions (Abbas et al., 2021). In addition, this pandemic has had behavioral and mental health effects (Lu et al., 2021). Specifically, people have been rethinking the relationship between humanity and the environment, e.g. assessing the impact of their activities on the environment (Kapecki, 2020). In this regard, many authors have concluded that the pandemic has had a positive effect on tourists’ PEB due to factors such as risk and environmental awareness (Hall et al., 2020). For example, the results of the study by O'Connor and Assaker (2021) showed that tourists had higher PEB in the context of the pandemic, based on the economic sacrifice theory, which states that tourists are mostly willing to pay a higher price or make economic sacrifices for the sake of the environment. In this sense, future studies should analyze whether the environmental impact of the pandemic is sustainable in the long run or whether it is only temporary.

• (4)

  Sustainable mobility in tourism. Sustainable transport is one of the most important elements to promoting PEB among tourists, such as the use of electric, public or zero-emission vehicles. There are two challenges that the tourism industry has to face in terms of sustainability: on the one hand, the difference between the behavior of tourists at home and on holiday, with less consideration given to less environmentally friendly choices on holiday; and on the other, the high use of car and air travel on holiday, which are the two least sustainable modes of transport from a global perspective. In this sense, the results of the study by Isetti et al. (2020) and Zamparini and Vergori (2021) show that the solution lies both in increasing tourists’ knowledge of the impact of unsustainable transport on climate change and the destination managers and policymakers promoting the creation of infrastructure and public transport services to encourage environmentally conscious behavior. Therefore, future studies should analyze how to improve the sustainable behavior of tourists in tourist destinations.

In contrast to the other bibliometric studies on the topic under study (Lu et al., 2021; Farrukh et al., 2023; Zhang and Quoquab, 2022; Goyal and Goyal, 2024), this study is more comprehensive and exhaustive in the identification of the actual knowledge (citation analysis), theoretical underpinnings (co-citation analysis) and future research directions (co-word analysis) of PEB in tourists. For instance, the content analysis reveals lines of PEB research that do not appear in these previous studies, namely: “sustainable transport”; “sustainable tourism”; “theory of planned behavior in the pro-environmental behavior of tourists”; “the impact of air travel on climate change” and “destination image in eco-destinations.” Moreover, this article provides a detailed analysis of the future lines of investigation through the longitudinal analysis. The longitudinal analysis shows that future investigation in PEB rely on the factors and theories that make a tourist behave responsibly toward the environment, and especially the importance of TPB; the influence of China in PEB through their new policy of sustainability in their country; the effects of Covid-19 on PEB and the sustainability mobility in tourism. Finally, this article integrates theories and factors that previous studies have used to analyze PEB in tourism but that these articles have not analyzed. In this regard, the literature review fills gaps in the previous literature in terms of theories (theory of planned behavior, green consumer values, norm activation model, value-belief norm, expectancy theory of motivation and moral disengagement) and factors (normative factors, cognitive factors, affective factors and habitual factors).

The theoretical framework of this scientific field shows that the study of PEB is complex due to several factors that influence the behavior of tourists. In this regard, we present the factors and theories that scholars have used to study PEB in tourism and different scales and tools (Tables 1 and 2). The description of the state of PEB in tourist’s research (O1) shows a growing academic interest in this field of study, with scientific output tripling between 2017 and 2023 (Figure 2). Geographically, Australia and South Korea stand out as they contain the most productive authors and institutions (Tables 4 and 5). The identification of the most influential articles on PEB of tourists through the citation analysis (O2) shows the most cited publications rely on the topics place attachment; responsible tourist behavior; formation of customers’ PEB; the influence of hotels in pro-responsible behavior; cognitive dissonance theory (Table 6 and Figure 3). The identification of the theoretical underpinnings of the academic literature on the PEB of tourists (O3) shows that the documents that have mainly contributed to the intellectual structure over time rely on background on PEB of tourists; tourist’s behaviors in relation to sustainability; and the role of green hotels in the PEB of tourists (Table 7 and Figure 4). The identification of current lines and future research opportunities in the PEB of tourists (O4) shows that this is a complex, dynamic and diverse topic. The longitudinal analysis shows the actual relevance of research related to the topic of green hotels, the destination image of environmentally responsible destinations and the theory of planned behavior in the PEB of tourists (Figure 5) In addition, the hot topics and emerging directions in PEB (Figure 6) are based on the factors and theories in PEB in tourism; the influence of China in PEB; the impact of Covid-19 in the PEB in tourism; sustainable mobility in tourism; and green hotels.

The practical implications of the present bibliometric analysis can benefit tourism and hospitality practitioners and policymakers in several ways. First, the results show that travelers have an increased awareness of the negative impact of travel on the environment. Therefore, managers of tourism destinations should establish policies with the aim of reducing the environmental impact on these destinations and increasing demand (Chong, 2020; Jamaliah et al., 2021). For example, due to the new demand for green hotels and environmentally responsible hotels, it is necessary for new hotels to implement sustainable measures such as the use of sustainable materials, reduction of water and energy consumption, and other sustainability-focused initiatives (Yusoff et al., 2020; Rehman et al., 2023). Second, the results of this study also show that place attachment is an antecedent of tourists’ environmentally responsible behaviors. When tourists have a strong attachment to a particular destination or place, their commitment to the protection or conservation of that place is higher. Therefore, managers of tourism destinations should actively promote a sense of belonging to foster the relationship with visitors (Ramkissoon et al., 2013a). For example, Ramkissoon et al. (2013a), who show a positive relationship between place attachment and tourism PEB in the context of a natural park, recommend that to increase place attachment, tourism managers should provide information (e.g. leaflets, information desks, tour guides, websites) and enable park users to contribute to the well-being and protection of the park’s environment. Third, the results show that destination image plays a fundamental role in tourists’ PEB. For example, the results of the study by Wu et al. (2021a) show that the managers of the Dinghu Mountain National Nature Reserve (China), which represents a globally unique ecosystem of tropical and subtropical forests, have made remarkable efforts to present an environmentally responsible destination image. This has been achieved through environmental education and interpretation programs that raise awareness of wildlife and environmental conservation (Hehir et al., 2021). It is therefore imperative that destination managers present a responsible destination image in order to improve tourism PEB. Moreover, the local government plays a fundamental role in providing necessary green infrastructure (e.g. recycling bins), especially for communities with inadequate environmental/green facilities. Finally, the results of the study of Bergquist and Nilsson (2016) and the normative behavior theory (Cialdini et al., 1990) show that proscriptive norms cause a higher effect in tourists than prescriptive norms. Therefore, destination managers should introduce proscriptive norms in their service tourists in order to enhance the PEB among tourists (for example, don’t leave the lights on).

This bibliometric analysis shows that there is a need for further research on PEB in tourist destinations, as tourists play a fundamental role in the conservation of the tourist destination.

The results of our article show how the competitiveness of traditional destinations is progressively decreasing, while the competitiveness of environmentally responsible destinations is increasing. Future research should analyze how tourism companies can improve their competitiveness by approaching environmental sustainability. First, we note that there is a lack of research on the influence of tourists’ PEB on the local population of the destination (Schüßler et al., 2019). Tourist overcrowding and gentrification have threatened the sustainability of traditional tourist destinations and, ultimately, it negatively compromises the competitiveness of the tourist destination. Today, this problem is growing exponentially and can be observed in heritage destinations (e.g. Venice), coastal destinations (e.g. Bali) and mountain tourism (e.g. Everest). Because of this overcrowding, the destination risks exceeding its growth limits and eroding its carrying capacity through resource depletion and environmental degradation (Mai and Smith, 2018). However, we found a lack of research analyzing how the PEB can mitigate the effect of tourism overcrowding and gentrification. For example, future research would analyze how different norms can enhance the PEB of tourists and avoid the tourism overcrowding (for example, green taxes or tourist tax) (Vena-Oya et al., 2024).

Second, as discussed above, there is a relationship between the place attachment of a destination and PEB. TPB suggests that an individual’s attachment to a particular place enhances the image of a destination and ultimately the PEB of tourists (Ajzen, 1991; Lin et al., 2022). Therefore, how tourists and hospitality consumers react to and feel about a particular place can increase their willingness to act sustainably (Lin et al., 2022; Han, 2021). In this regard, Konalingam et al. (2024) point out that future studies analyze what type of intervention is more appropriate to influence in the place attachment of tourists, for example Ramkissoon et al. (2013a) point out that this can be done by provision of information (e.g. leaflets, information desk, tour guides and websites).

In our article, we have observed how the adaptation of tourism companies to new social demands based on sustainability improves the competitiveness of the tourist destination. However, future research is needed to analyze which are the factors on which these tourism companies should focus in order to improve the tourist experience and, in addition, that these tourists have an environmentally responsible behavior. First, the results of Wu et al.'s (2021b) study show a negative relationship between PEB and MD. Therefore, people with higher levels of MD are able to justify their behavior without suffering from guilt and distress and are more likely to engage in unethical behavior (Bandura et al., 1996). However, the authors explain that there is a gap in the analysis of the conditions under which MD is likely to occur. Future research should examine the antecedents of MD or other moral factors and their relationship to PEB.

Second, there are several studies that establish a relationship between intention and behavior based on the theory of planned behavior. However, intentions are sometimes found to be poor predictors of behavior, for example, when they depend in part on factors beyond the individual’s control (Ajzen, 2011). In this sense, Wang and Li (2022) recommend that future studies analyze the factors that induce the formation of purchase intention and actual behavior. On the other hand, past behavior has a strong correlation with later behavior (Ajzen, 2011). Past behavior could be understood “as actions or reactions of a person in response to external or internal stimuli in the past” (Sommer, 2011, p. 96). Therefore, some researchers argued that TPB could be improved by incorporating past behavior into the model (Han et al., 2010). Blandford et al. (2023) and Gidaković et al. (2024) recommend that further investigation of the TPB model is needed by including past behavior to predict behavioral intention. Finally, Shen et al. (2024) recommend that TPB and other related theories, such as the theory of protection motivation and the theory of reasoned action, could be integrated into a full model. This is useful to include social-psychological variables, such as environmental concern, perceived effectiveness, health risk perceptions and emotions.

Third, the implementation of sustainable policies in hotels differs between different types of hotels. Han et al. (2010) point out that there is a lack of research on the formation of PEB in relation to luxury or upscale hotels. On the other hand, Wu et al. (2021b) and Ribeiro et al. (2023) indicate that it would be interesting to establish a comparison between different cultures of study. In addition, the results of the study by Rehman et al. (2023) suggest that future studies should establish a comparison between developed and emerging countries.

Finally, there is a lack of research analyzing the sociodemographic and cultural characteristics of PEB in tourists. For example, although the results of the study by Ribeiro et al. (2023), have interesting results in relation to comparing the PEB formation of generation Z tourists, there is a lack of research in relation to establishing a comparison between different age generations. This would be justified by the fact that each generation has different characteristics, values and beliefs, along with preferred skills, qualities, abilities, interests, expectations and habits that can be directly attributed to them (Benckendorff et al., 2010). In this sense, Generation X is more pragmatic and influenced by the traditional values, Generation Y is more individualistic and seeks a balance between pragmatism and idealism and Generation Z is more focused on common causes (Casalegno et al., 2022). Therefore, in order to see the behavior between different age generations (X, Y and Z), future studies should analyze the formation of PEB between different age generations in order to observe whether they have differences in behavior due to their age. In addition, regarding the findings of Onel and Mukherjee (2016), O´Connor and Assaker (2021) Casalegno et al. (2022) or Chen et al. (2024), scholars point out that it would be necessary to conduct future research for different consumer segments (income levels, professional backgrounds, individualistic and collectivistic cultures or nationalities) to provide a more comprehensive understanding of PEB formation in tourism.

We encourage academics to consider new methods and techniques for data collection and analysis. In general, we believe that the integration of more sophisticated methodologies will facilitate the development of new research avenues, which are currently constrained by methodological constraints. First, Onwezen et al. (2013), Liu et al. (2020), Wang et al. (2020b) and Wu et al. (2021b) recommend that future studies would use an experimental or longitudinal research instead of a single survey data. The survey has an endogenous issue because surveys use cross-sectional data. Instead longitudinal studies variables are measured repeatedly over time, leading to clustered and correlated observations and causal conclusions (Lin et al., 2022; Hu & Szymczak, 2023). Experimental study allow control extraneous effects and testing theories (Viglia and Dolnicar, 2020; Lin et al., 2022). Therefore, future studies analyzing PEB in the context of tourism should use longitudinal or experimental studies, for example, to compare changes in behavior over time, to analyze patterns or provide new theories.

Second, Wu et al. (2021a) point out that most studies use linear behavioral models to analyze tourists’ PEB, such as social norms, personal norms, values or infrastructure availability. However, these models do not emphasize changing practices to make them more sustainable, as they only identify consumers’ personal characteristics as antecedents to determine their intention to behave sustainably (Nilsson et al., 2017). Therefore, the authors recommend that future studies use social practice theory, which is based on studying people’s actions and behaviors rather than their internal mental processes. It emphasizes the routine actions, material elements, bodily actions and meanings in a social context (Galvin, 2017).

Third, the data collection methods could also be used to enhance more established research techniques. To reduce extraneous variance and increase internal validity, future studies should collect data from different countries through a more homogeneous sample (O´Connor and Assaker, 2021). This is in contrast to the current studies, which generally analyze the sample in one or two countries (Han et al., 2010; Onwezen et al., 2013; Ribeiro et al., 2023).

Fourth, Bergquist and Nilsson (2016) and Al-Nafjan et al. (2023) recommend that future studies should use neuromarketing devices (e.g. eye-tracking, brain-computer interface or galvanic skin response) to analyze the sustainable behavior of tourists. This system is a novel methodological tool for analyzing consumer perceptions, as it has several advantages over traditional methods (e.g. questionnaires) because it can provide an objective and nuanced measure of where and how consumers’ attention is focused in real time and it has an impact on gathering accurate emotional assessments for tourists (Chen et al., 2024).

Finally, adopting a combination of several methodologies, such as cross-cultural variations (Wu et al., 2021b), cohorts groups (Ribeiro et al., 2023), different places of sampling (Wang et al., 2020b), in-depth interviews, focus groups, participatory observations or ethnography (O´Connor and Assaker, 2021) could reflect the true nature of customer PEB.

In recent years, the rapid expansion of tourism has had a negative effect on the environment (Dolnicar et al., 2019). Proof of this is that between 2009 and 2013, tourism has been responsible for 8% of total greenhouse emissions (Lenzen et al., 2018). Thus, a major challenge for the tourism industry is to inspire responsible behavior among tourists (Turaga et al., 2010). Studies about PEB date back to the last 40 years, in which numerous researches around the fields of sociology, psychology, business and marketing have analyzed the interactions between humans and the environment. From these studies, different authors have explored the factors that influence responsible behavior on the part of tourists, as their understanding is more effective in triggering behavioral change (Han, 2021).

Using VOSviewer, this study provides a holistic and comprehensive knowledge mapping of PEB for scholars. This study not only helps scholars to understand the definition of PEB, citation network, co-citation network, thematic clusters and emerging trends, but also visually displays the knowledge for the interested researchers. It will help scholars to see the research status of the past, including the most influential research and will enable them to have a general understanding of the future research trend. The results also suggest that researchers need to analyze more deeply the theories and factors behind the research on PEB in tourism. Furthermore, this study can help interested scholars to improve their research efficiency and investigate the emerging directions on PEB. Throughout its history, PEB in tourism research has grown in scope and depth, contributing to its current profile. Furthermore, the increase in the number of articles from 2018 to 2023 suggests that PEB is becoming increasingly popular in academia, due to the growing attention paid to the environment and the rapid increase in the number of environmentally conscious tourists.

The main objective of this article is to visualize the structure and trends of PEB of tourists between 1999 and December 2023, which will help researchers, policymakers and destination marketing organizations (DMOs) to better understand existing studies and future research topics. The use of VOSviewer is a novel tool for analyzing the scientific literature, as opposed to traditional methods of analysis, and allows the graphic visualization of key topics and the establishment of future challenges in the field of tourist PEB. In addition, it has been completed through longitudinal analysis in order to identify the topics with the greatest impact and those topics that have a greater tendency to grow. Results show that topics such as green hotels, sustainable development of tourism destinations, theory of planned behavior in the PEB of tourists, sustainable tourism and the effect of air travel on climate change were explored in the first thematic period from 1999 to 2017. Topics such as factors and theories in PEB in tourism, China, Covid-19 and sustainable mobility were included in the final thematic period in 2023.

Figure 8 summarizes the main contributions of this paper:

Finally, like every study, this one has its limitations. First, the sample was limited to publications in WoS, and it may be that relevant studies in this field are not included. As a result, there is a significant lack of non-English literature. New studies should include works in another database to include Spanish-language journals, among others (for example, Google Scholar or Scielo). This can be useful to compare the results obtained and to explore new concepts and new research trends related to PEB in tourists. Second, although it is common practice in bibliometric studies to use a single database to avoid duplication, new studies could include several databases in order to enrich the sample. Third, new bibliometric software like SciMAT or Bibliometrix could be used in the future to enrich this analysis. Third, our study uses the number of citations and publications as indicators of impact in the content and descriptive analysis. However, these indicators do not show an exact correspondence between the quality of publications and their academic interest (Gómez-Caridad and Bordons, 1996; Aksnes et al., 2019). This could be due to a lack of synchronization, because more recent publications over time have less probability of showing their academic impact. Finally, in relation to the bibliometric approach to evaluate articles published in a particular scientific field, the academia shows that this methodology has strengths and limitations. The results of the study of Donthu et al. (2021) show that the main advantage of bibliometric analysis is to rely on the potential that have to analyze the social and structural relationships between different research constituents (e.g. authors, countries, institutions, topics). Although, this approach is recommended when the scope of review is broad, like our article, future studies could complete this analysis with the meta-analysis. This can be useful because this analysis summarizes the empirical evidence of the relationship between variables, while uncovering relationships not examined in existing studies.

This research was funded by the Andalusian External Chair on Industrial Tourism of the Andalusian Government at the University of Huelva (Spain).