Environmental Identity, Social Openness and Economic Support for Sustainable Festivals : The Mediating Role of Attitudes Toward Sustainable Practices

Abstract

As sustainability pressures intensify across the global event and tourism industries, this study examines how environmental identity and social openness shape visitors' willingness to pay more for sustainable festivals and whether attitudes toward specific sustainability practices mediate these relationships. Data were collected through an online survey among Hungarian festival visitors, resulting in a final sample of 350 respondents. The proposed relationships were tested using covariance-based structural equation modelling (CB-SEM) and bootstrap mediation analysis. The findings show that environmental identity is the strongest direct predictor of willingness to pay more, while social openness has a smaller but significant direct effect. Attitudes toward green energy use and waste management exert the strongest positive effects on willingness to pay more. Mediation analysis further indicates that environmental identity translates into economic support through favourable attitudes toward green energy use, waste management, and, to a lesser extent, active sustainable participation. No significant mediation effects are found for social openness. These results suggest that support for sustainable festivals follows distinct psychological pathways: environmental identity operates through value-consistent evaluations of visible sustainability practices, whereas social openness primarily contributes through direct experiential and social orientation. The study extends sustainability and event tourism research by showing that visible, organizer-led sustainability practices can convert environmental self-identity into economic support while offering practical guidance for festival managers seeking to communicate sustainability and justify price premiums.