A Study on the Heterogeneity of Consumer Psychological Mechanisms of Dual Decision-Making Agents in Forest Educational Tourism: The Moderating Effect of Family Decision-Making Empowerment

The consumption decision-making in educational tourism exhibits dual-agent characteristics, requiring alignment of consumption intentions between both agents to generate actual purchasing behavior. However, research on this characteristic is still relatively scarce. Understanding the psychological mechanisms and heterogeneity of consumption decision-making among students and parents in forest educational tourism is crucial for implementing precise consumer incentive strategies in related tourist attractions. This study constructs a theoretical model of the consumer psychological mechanism of dual decision-making agents in forest educational tourism, incorporating perceived value and perceived risk based on the Theory of Planned Behavior. A structural equation model is employed to validate the explanatory power and heterogeneity of this theoretical model, as well as to explore the moderating effect of family decision-making empowerment. The results indicate that the formation of the consumer psychological mechanism of dual decision-making agents in forest educational tourism is heterogeneous: the negative impact of perceived risk on perceived behavioral control and the positive impact of perceived behavioral control on consumption intention are only valid in the student group, not in the parent group; perceived behavioral control serves as a mediator only in the relationship between perceived value, perceived risk, and consumption intention for the student group, without any mediating effect for the parent group; family decision-making empowerment moderates certain paths in the consumer psychological influence mechanism of forest educational tourism decision-making agents. This study expands the Theory of Planned Behavior, enriching the research perspective on factors influencing consumption psychology, exploring the heterogeneity of dual decision-making agents in educational tourism, and examining the impact of family decision-making empowerment on consumer psychology. The findings provide relevant tourism enterprises and forest attractions with a deeper understanding of the consumption psychology of dual decision-making agents in forest educational tourism, offering a scientific basis for tourism enterprises and forest attractions to optimize marketing strategies, while also enhancing the consumption experience on the demand side.