From Awareness to Stated Willingness to Pay: A Mixed-Methods Study of Self-Reported Sustainable Travel Practices and Social-Digital Influence among Young Indonesian Consumers

Sustainable tourism research has concentrated on awareness, ethical behaviour, and the willingness to pay separately; so far little is known about how these factors connect to social-digital influence and perceived barriers in young Indonesian consumers. We have used a cross-sectional, quantitative-dominant embedded mixed-method design. After convenience sampling, we have 115 valid responses from Indonesian consumers aged 18 to 29 years old and selected from the eligible sample. We analyze the quantitative data using descriptive statistics, reliability checks, Pearson correlation, multiple regression, and embedded open-ended responses to understand and contextualize the statistics. Awareness was the strongest predictor of self-reported sustainable travel habits (β = .433, p < .001) and the model explained 40.1% of the variance (R² = .401). The stated willingness to pay was predicted by self-reported sustainable practices (β = .215, p = .030) and social-digital influence (β = .316, p < .001). The model explained 37.2% of the variance (R² = .372). Qualitative findings indicated that affordability, access, credible information and visible environmental or community benefits shaped respondents' willingness to support sustainable options. The findings suggest that awareness does not translate directly into financial commitment and social-digital influence is an important link between sustainable engagement and stated willingness to pay. The convenience sample, regional concentration and reliance on self-reported measures makes it a very cautious approach.