حمیدرضا قزلسفلو

The main purpose of this research was to examine the effect of environmental knowledge on the green purchasing behaviour of equestrian competition spectators, with the mediating role of ethical commitment to the environment. This study was a descriptive correlational investigation, and its statistical population comprised all spectators of the Gonbad-Kavos autumn equestrian competition in 2024. Based on the method proposed by Mueller (2012) for structural equation modelling, the sample size was estimated at 160 spectators. The instruments used to collect data included the Environmental Knowledge Questionnaire by Liang et al. (2016), the Ethical Commitment to Environment Questionnaire by Cui et al. (2024), and the Green Purchasing Behaviour Questionnaire by Kim et al. (2013). The face and content validity of these questionnaires were reviewed and confirmed by five experts in sports management. In a preliminary study, Cronbach's alpha values for the questionnaire variables were 0.77, 0.82, and 0.79, indicating satisfactory reliability. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the data. The results showed that environmental knowledge has a positive and significant effect on the ethical commitment to the environment among equestrian competition spectators. Additionally, the effect of environmental knowledge on the green purchasing behaviour of these spectators was also positive and significant. Finally, the findings demonstrated that environmental knowledge positively and significantly influences green purchasing behaviour with the mediating role of ethical commitment. Therefore, it can be concluded that increasing the environmental knowledge of equestrian competition spectators can lead to positive outcomes, such as enhanced ethical commitment to the environment and increased green purchasing behaviour.