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Residents’ stated willingness to participate in heritage conservation frequently fails to translate into actual behavior. This conceptual paper addresses this intention-behavior gap by developing an integrated framework that synthesises insights from the theory of planned behavior, the motivation-opportunity-ability model, and emerging research on social-contextual factors. Drawing on 28 empirical and theoretical studies, the paper proposes that the intention-behavior gap in heritage participation is shaped by three interconnected mechanisms: motivational attenuation (loss of initial enthusiasm over time), capacity constraints (inadequate knowledge or skills to translate intentions into actions), and contextual interference (social norms, institutional barriers, and situational obstacles that block behavioral execution). These mechanisms do not operate in isolation but interact in ways that collectively produce what the paper terms “participatory translation deficit”, the systematic failure of conservation intentions to become realized actions. The framework further identifies community attachment, clan networks, and perceived government support as key moderators that strengthen or weaken the intention-behavior relationship. Six testable propositions are advanced to guide future empirical research. Theoretical contributions include extending the intention-behavior gap literature to the heritage conservation domain, integrating psychological and social explanations into a unified framework, specifying the sequential and interactive relationships among mediating mechanisms, and theorizing the role of clan networks as a context-specific social infrastructure for behavioral translation. Practical implications for heritage managers and policymakers are discussed.
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