How young visitors perceive mangrove ecosystem services: Technology use, environmental concern, and satisfaction in Indonesian ecotourism

Abstract

Understanding how ecotourism visitors perceive ecological environments is consequential for destination management and conservation planning, yet the perceptual dimensions through which visitors engage with mangrove ecosystems remain empirically uncharted. This study addresses that gap using data from young Indonesian visitors at two managed mangrove ecotourism sites in Bali and Kepri (Batam and Bintan). Exploratory factor analysis identified three perceptual dimensions: ecosystem condition, ecological learning, and ecological engagement. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) testing showed that smart technology use was most strongly associated with cognitive dimensions—ecological learning and ecosystem condition—while environmental concern showed its strongest association with ecological engagement. Ecological learning was the strongest predictor of visitor satisfaction, followed by ecological engagement and ecosystem condition. The structural model fit is acceptable though imperfect, and the dimensions are exploratory constructs requiring confirmatory validation before generalization. The results suggest that investment in interpretation infrastructure—particularly digital tools designed to deepen ecological comprehension—offers the most direct returns in visitor satisfaction at comparable ecotourism sites.