When Values Matter More than Behavior: Behavioral Integrity in Air Travel and Climate Policy Support

Aviation accounts for a disproportionate share of tourism-related carbon emissions. Many travelers express environmental concern but continue to fly, reflecting the well-documented attitude–behavior gap. This study examines the concept of flight behavioral integrity (i.e., the alignment between professed avoidance of air travel for environmental reasons and actual flying behavior) to assess whether integrity profiles predict support for climate policy. Drawing on nationally representative survey data from Germany (N = 2410), respondents were classified into four groups based on flight avoidance attitudes and reported flight activity in the past 12 months. An elastic-net multinomial regression tested psychological predictors of group membership, and factorial ANCOVAs assessed differences in environmental and climate policy support. Results showed that flight avoidance attitudes, rather than recent flying behavior, were the primary predictors of both integrity profiles and policy support. Flight-avoidant respondents consistently reported stronger policy endorsement, regardless of whether they had flown. Contrary to expectations, recent fliers expressed marginally higher support than non-fliers, potentially reflecting compensatory mechanisms or sociodemographic factors. Findings suggest that there are opportunities for tourism operators and policymakers to engage travelers through value-based (vs. purely behavioral) sustainability initiatives.