Assessment tourists’ environmental behavior in the protected area of Miankaleh Behshahr

Some of the environmental problems in each region are affected by the tourist’s behaviors, and to solve these problems, it is necessary to identify the factors that affect the environmental behavior. In this regard, the present study investigates the relationship between the variables of knowledge, attitude and perception with the variable of environmental behavior in the Miankaleh area of Behshahr. The research method is survey and the data collection tool is a questionnaire. The questionnaire questions were designed based on the Likert scale of five options and its reliability was calculated through Cronbach's alpha test. The statistical population of Miankaleh region included 340 visitors, which was determined using Cochran formula, the sample size was 181 people. Data analysis was performed using Smart-PLS and SPSS software. Findings from structural equation modeling in Miankaleh region showed that there is a positive and significant relationship between the independent variables of knowledge, attitude and perception with the dependent variable of environmental behavior. Perception variable with a path coefficient of 0.814 had the most direct effect on environmental behavior and the path coefficient of two variables of attitude and knowledge were 0.329 and 0.467, respectively. The results of correlation test showed that there is a positive and significant correlation between environmental knowledge, attitude and perception with environmental behavior, which among the three variables studied, perception with a correlation coefficient of 0.455 has the highest correlation with environmental behavior. For two variables, knowledge and attitude were obtained with a correlation coefficient of 0.209 and 0.237, respectively. In general, it can be said that the studied variables reinforce environmentally responsible behaviors and promote responsibility towards the environment.