Grassland ecological governance is a critical measure for ensuring ecological security and promoting the sustainable development of pastoral areas. Based on the theory of social embeddedness， this study utilizes survey data from 410 herder households in Inner Mongolia constructed a five-dimensional framework comprising policy， cognitive， cultural， structural， and relational embeddedness， empirically analyzed the mechanisms influencing herders’ willingness to participate in grassland ecological governance and their willingness to pay （WTP）. The findings indicated that cognition and relationship embedding positively affected the willingness to participate， while cultural embedding exerted a significantly negative effect. Conversely， the WTP was driven positively by cognitive and relationship embedding alone. Furthermore， the ISM model revealed that resource endowments-including years of experience in animal husbandry， total number of family members， grassland contract area， and livestock inventory-constitute the underlying root factors. Their influence was channeled through the key mediating variables of awareness of governance policies and expenditure on forage， which subsequently indirectly affected socially embedded factors such as the perception of policy impacts， recognition of governance necessity， and perceived attitudes of peers. This pathway ultimately shapes both the willingness to engage in neighborhood cooperation and the overall willingness of herders. Heterogeneity analysis showed that the effects of social embeddedness factors varied significantly across different grassland types. It was recommended to implement differentiated policies based on grassland types， enhance economic compensation， strengthen policy communication and community atmosphere building， and effectively leverage social norms to boost herders’ participation motivation.

Social embeddedness  /  Ecological governance  /  Herder  /  Willingness to participate