Purpose – This study aims to examine diners’ behavioral intention to visit an edible insect restaurant, which is known to play an important role in sustainability, by integrating the theory of planned behavior and the normactivation theory. Design/methodology/approach – A total of 439 samples were collected in South Korea. Structural equation modeling was used to test hypotheses. Findings – The attitudes were influenced by subjective norms. Intentions were affected by the attitudes, the subjective norms and the perceived behavioral control. In addition, the five dimensions of cognitive triggers, which include environmental awareness, ascribed responsibility, biospheric value, environmental concern and perceived effectiveness, positively affected personal norms, and the personal norms positively influenced behavioral intentions. Practical implications – It is an important practical implication of this study that tourism practitioners were delivered with the knowledge of establishing marketing strategies based on the destination’s green image of insect restaurants. Originality/value – This study is expected to contribute to the extant knowledge, which will enable an understanding of the sustainability values of edible insect restaurants, and it will guide tourism practitioners to establish effective sustainable practices for the tourism industry.