Abstract
Although research on corporate social responsibility (CSR) has grown steadily, little research has focused on CSR at the individual level. In addition, research on the role of environmental friendly organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) within CSR initiatives is scarce. In response to this gap and recent calls for further research on both individual and organizational variables of employees’ environmentally friendly, or green, behaviors, this article sheds light on the influence of these variables on three types of green employee behaviors simultaneously: recycling, energy savings, and printing reduction. An initial theoretical model identifies both individual (employees’ general environmentally friendly attitudes and the importance of an organization’s environmentally friendly reputation to the employee) and organizational (perceived environmental behavior of an organization and perceived incentives and support from an organization) variables that affect different types of green behaviors as a stepping stone for further research. The results reveal managerial implications and future research directions on the design of effective social marketing interventions that motivate different types of OCBs in the workplace. In particular, the results suggest that creating separate interventions for each type of environmental behavior, as well as for each organization, sector, and type of organization (public vs. private), is necessary. In addition, this research illustrates patterns of attitudes, perceptions, and behaviors by exploring individual and organizational variables and behaviors across seven different organizations belonging to different sectors.
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Notes
We use the words “environmentally friendly behavior,” “green behavior,” and “pro-environmental behavior” interchangeably in this article. Extant literature has also coined these terms to describe an individual’s behavior.
Given that no demographic information was collected, the authors cannot provide the age, gender or specific job title of the employees who provided these comments.
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Appendix: Structural Equation Model Results of Indirect Effects
Appendix: Structural Equation Model Results of Indirect Effects
Although the proposed theoretical model did not hypothesize any mediating relationships, due to the lack of prior literature in this area, the structural equation modeling technique used to analyze the hypothesized (direct) relationships also allowed for the exploration of the mediating roles of perceived incentives and support from an organization, the importance of an organization’s environmentally friendly reputation, and the perceived environmental behavior of an organization. The results of the indirect effects appear in Table 10, which also summarizes the type of mediating relationships identified.
In short, perceived incentives from an organization partially mediate the relationships between (1) general environmentally friendly attitudes and perceived organizational support, (2) general environmentally friendly attitudes and energy saving behaviors, (3) general environmentally friendly attitudes and printing reduction behaviors, and (4) general environmentally friendly attitudes and importance of an organization’s environmentally friendly reputation. They also act as an inconsistent mediator for general environmentally friendly attitudes and perceived environmental behavior of the organization.
Perceived support from an organization also partially mediates the relationships between (1) general environmentally friendly attitudes and energy saving behaviors, (2) general environmentally friendly attitudes and importance of an organization’s environmentally friendly reputation, (3) perceived incentives from the organization and energy saving behaviors, (4) perceived incentives from the organization and importance of an organization’s environmentally friendly reputation, (5) perceived incentives from the organization and perceived environmental behavior of the organization, and (6) perceived incentives from the organization and printing reduction behaviors. It also acts as an inconsistent mediator for (7) general environmentally friendly attitudes and perceived environmental behavior of the organization.
The importance of an organization’s environmentally friendly reputation partially mediates the relationship between (1) perceived organizational support and perceived environmental behavior of the organization; however, it acts as an inconsistent mediator between (2) general environmentally friendly attitudes and perceived environmental behavior of the organization.
Last, perceived environmental behavior of the organization fully mediates the relationship between (1) perceived organizational support and recycling behavior, partially mediates the relationship between (2) perceived incentives from the organization and recycling behavior, and acts as an inconsistent mediator between (3) general environmentally friendly attitudes and recycling behavior.
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Manika, D., Wells, V.K., Gregory-Smith, D. et al. The Impact of Individual Attitudinal and Organisational Variables on Workplace Environmentally Friendly Behaviours. J Bus Ethics 126, 663–684 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-013-1978-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-013-1978-6