Destination brand love and environmentally responsible behavior

Love is a powerful emotional driver, and new research suggests that love for a destination can encourage people to take better care of it.

Brand love describes the deep emotional attachment people can develop toward a brand. For destinations, that connection goes beyond satisfaction. Destination brand love can reflect positive emotions tied to a place’s image, identity, experiences, and what the destination represents to both visitors and residents.

A study by Zhang et al. (2025) found that destination brand love can encourage environmentally responsible behavior among both tourists and residents. This matters because visitors and residents are two of a destination’s most important stakeholders, and addressing environmental challenges requires participation from both.

But loving a destination alone may not be enough. The researchers found that destination psychological ownership also plays an important role. When people develop a sense that a destination is “theirs,” they are more likely to feel responsible for caring for it.

Role readiness matters, too. This refers to whether people have the knowledge and understanding they need to know what their role is and how to act on it. The study found that role readiness strengthens the relationship between destination brand love and environmentally responsible behavior, with this effect being stronger among residents than tourists.

For DMOs:

•  Invite visitors to take on specific roles in protecting the destination, while treating residents as co-owners and ambassadors whose ideas help shape destination development.
• Providing effective communication.
•  Reinforce the idea that caring for the destination is a shared responsibility and that everyone has a role to play.
•  Inviting visitors to a specific role, and treating residents not as audience but as co-owners, ambassadors to protect the place by incorporating their suggestions for destination development to help increase sense of ownership.
•  Raising awareness among residents and visitors and help them to see themselves as environmental protectors to foster a sense of responsibility.

The study can be found here.

Zhang, H., Lin, Z. (CJ), & Li, S. (2025). The effect of destination brand love on environmentally responsible behavior: A comparison between tourists and residents. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 33(8), 1615–1633. https://doi.org/10.1080/09669582.2024.2397644