This study examined how airport users develop sustainability-related behavioral intentions by applying the Cognition-Affect-Behavior (C-A-B) model with an affect-centered perspective. A survey of 220 passengers at Incheon International Airport was analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), following reliability and validity testing. The results showed that affect significantly influenced both cognition and behavioral intention, whereas cognition did not have a direct effect on behavior. This indicates that emotional engagement plays a more decisive role than cognitive awareness in shaping sustainable actions in the airport context. The findings expand the theoretical application of the C-A-B model and offer practical implications for sustainability communication and passenger engagement. The study suggests that affect-based strategies may be more effective than information-driven approaches in promoting pro-environmental behavior among air travelers.
Lee et al. (Mon,) studied this question.