Background and Objectives: Ecolodges have emerged as an important model of sustainable tourism in rural areas of Iran, offering opportunities for environmental protection, local participation, and responsible visitor experiences. In these settings, green infrastructure and environmentally friendly technologies are necessary, but they are not sufficient on their own to ensure sustainable tourist conduct. What may be more influential is the quality of the environmental experience perceived by tourists during their stay. When visitors perceive environmental practices as visible, meaningful, and engaging, these experiences can shape their attitudes, strengthen their intentions, and ultimately encourage responsible behavior. Despite the growing importance of ecolodges in sustainable tourism, previous studies have rarely examined how perceived environmental experience quality is translated into environmentally responsible behavior. In particular, the mediating role of behavioral intention in this relationship has received limited attention. Therefore, the present study aims to investigate the effect of perceived environmental experience quality on tourists’ environmentally responsible behavior in Iranian ecolodges, with behavioral intention examined as a mediating variable.

Materials and Methods: This research employs an applied approach within a descriptive-correlational framework. The target population comprised tourists with at least one overnight stay in Iranian ecolodges. Data were gathered from 200 respondents using an online survey and non-probability convenience sampling. To ensure geographical representation, data collection targeted tourists across diverse climatic zones (including Northern, Desert-Central, and Mountainous regions). The sample size was rigorously justified using a-priori power analysis (G*Power 3.1; α=0.05, effect size=0.15, power=0.95) and the “10-times rule of thumb” for PLS-SEM. The study constructs—perceived environmental experience quality, behavioral intention, and environmentally responsible behavior—were assessed using a five-point Likert scale, with items adapted from established literature and contextualized for the ecolodge setting. Psychometric properties were strictly verified: reliability was assessed via Cronbach’s alpha and Composite Reliability (CR), while validity was confirmed through convergent validity (Average Variance Extracted - AVE) and discriminant validity (Fornell-Larcker criterion and HTMT ratio). Structural relationships were analyzed via Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) using SmartPLS 4. The significance of direct and indirect paths was validated using bootstrapping with 5,000 resamples, allowing for a comprehensive evaluation of the mediating role of behavioral intention in the relationship between environmental experience quality and responsible behavior.

Results: The results showed that perceived environmental experience had a positive and statistically significant effect on behavioral intention. In other words, tourists who perceived their environmental experience in ecolodges more positively were more likely to develop intentions consistent with responsible conduct. The findings also revealed a significant positive direct effect of perceived environmental experience on environmentally responsible behavior, indicating that the experience itself can directly stimulate responsible actions. Furthermore, behavioral intention was found to be a strong predictor of environmentally responsible behavior, confirming that intention is an important determinant of actual tourist behavior. The mediation analysis also demonstrated that behavioral intention plays a significant mediating role in the relationship between perceived environmental experience and environmentally responsible behavior. In sum, all hypothesized relationships were supported, and the model showed that environmental experience quality influences responsible behavior both directly and indirectly. The article also emphasizes that environmentally responsible behavior is more likely when environmental practices are not only present but are experienced by tourists as visible, participatory, and meaningful.

Conclusion: The findings indicate that the quality of environmental experience perceived by tourists in ecolodges plays a crucial role in promoting environmentally responsible behavior. This effect occurs both directly and through the strengthening of behavioral intention. The study suggests that sustainability in ecolodges should not be understood merely in terms of physical green infrastructure, but also in terms of how environmental practices are experienced and perceived by visitors. Ecolodge managers should therefore deliberately design environmental experiences that are observable, interactive, and memorable. Clear communication of green actions, demonstration of resource-saving outcomes, and opportunities for tourist participation can increase both intention and responsible conduct. At the policy level, rural tourism authorities should include environmental-experience-quality indicators in ecolodge evaluation, certification, and rating systems. Such an approach would help move sustainable tourism assessment beyond infrastructure alone and toward a more visitor-centered understanding of environmental responsibility.