Feeling

Ecology

Biology

Statistics

Social psychology

Social exchange theory

Sincerity

Closeness

Tourism

Archaeology

Structural equation modeling

Psychology

Mathematics

Politics

Geography

Political science

Solidarity

Sociology

Mathematical analysis

Host (biology)

Journal of Destination Marketing & Management

Although hosts generally expect tourists to protect the natural environment of destinations, scarce research focuses on the role of hosts in stimulating tourist environmentally responsible behavior (TERB). To fill this gap, the present study drew on social exchange theory to explore the effect of host sincerity on TERB by addressing the mediating role of tourists' emotional solidarity with hosts. A total of 385 questionnaires were collected from Chinese domestic tourists visiting Xiamen, and partial least squares structural equation modeling was utilized to analyze the data. Results show that the three dimensions of tourists’ emotional solidarity with hosts (i.e. feeling welcomed, emotional closeness, and sympathetic understanding) partially mediated the effect of sincere social interaction on TERB but fully mediated the effect of sincere emotional response on TERB. Finally, theoretical and practical implications of the findings were discussed.

Host sincerity and tourist environmentally responsible behavior: The mediating role of tourists’ emotional solidarity with hosts