Activating environmental citizenship behavior through pilgrimage events: the roles of experience, environmental social responsibility and communality

Purpose The World Youth Day (WYD) is a Catholic youth pilgrimage event that holds pilgrimage experiences and environmental sustainability as its two central missions. This study aims to investigate how pilgrimage event experiences influence participants’ environmental social responsibility, sense of communality, behavioral intentions, and environmental citizenship behavior. Design/methodology/approach Using the experience framework, the sample consisted of registered pilgrims of the main WYD held in 2023. A total of 422 valid responses from Korea and 302 from Poland were analyzed using R. Findings The four domains of pilgrimage experience positively influenced participants’ environmental citizenship behavior (ECB) through the mediation of environmental social responsibility and communality. Research limitations/implications The coverage of WYD portrays how participants develop environmental awareness and environmental social responsibility. The results can guide industry practitioners in devising tailored sustainability practices and event management strategies. Originality/value This study advanced the understanding of pilgrimage by examining WYD’s potential impacts on sustainability. In addition, as the experience economy framework has not been adapted to pilgrimage research, the authors tested its applicability by affirming the relevance of its core dimensions. This study helps promote events as transformative spaces for environmental sustainability by elucidating the mechanisms of activating ECB through environmental social responsibility and communality.