Organizational Green Climate and Employee Green Behavior: A

Moderated Mediation Model

Xuedong Liang

, Biaoshuai Li

, Qunxi Gong

1, 2

, Sipan Li

and Gengxuan Guo

Business School, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China

Sichuan Haina Rendong Science and Technology Co. Ltd, Chengdu, China

Keywords:

Green Climate, Employee Green Behavior, Green HRM, Autonomous Motivation.

Abstract:

As the sustainable development of the environment continues to deepen and refine today, the green behavior

of employees is increasingly being paid attention to. In order to clarify the relationship between organizational

green climate and employee green behavior, we construct a theoretical model, using green climate as the

antecedent variable, green HRM as the moderating variable, and employee autonomy as the mediating

variable, then validates the model by empirical analysis. We obtained conclusion that 1) green climate is

positively related to firm employee green behavior; 2) green climate is positively related to employees’

autonomy motivation; 3) employees’ autonomy motivation mediates the relationship between green climate

and employee green behavior; 4) green HRM positively moderates the effect of green climate on autonomy

motivation and the mediating role of autonomy motivation.

1 INTRODUCTION

Nowadays, building an environmental and

sustainable society has turn into the main trend, the

green behaviors of organizations and individuals has

gradually become the focus of society. Employees, as

participants and implementers of the enterprises’

production and related pro-environmental policies

(Peng, 2019), their workplace green behaviors have

the significance of interacting with the organization

to improve the company’s environmental

performance from the perspective of organizational

management; and it also has the effect of constructing

environmentally friendly values at the individual

level from the perspective of environmental

psychology.

Given the important value of employee green

behavior, scholars have explored the factors that

influence employee green behavior. The existing

literature has explored the influence of personal

factors (personality traits, emotions, etc.) and

leadership style, such as the role of responsibility

(Kim, 2017) and green transformational leadership

(Graves, 2013). However, the literature on effect of

green climate is still to be improved.

About green climate, existing research has

focused on its normative role, considering it influence

employees by forming a descriptive norm or

examining its impact on task-oriented green

behaviors (Norton, 2014). Few research discussed

about the role of autonomy in this context. In

addition, research on the effect mechanism between

green climate and green behavior of employees is

relatively scarce, so exploring the mediating role of

autonomous motivation between them is required

now.

Therefore, this study proposes a theoretical model

to describe the relation between green climate, and

green behavior, as well as the role of autonomous

motivation and green HRM. Through this study, we

hope to enrich the theoretical research in the field

related to employee green behavior and provide

insight into the practice of green management in

enterprises.

2 THEORY AND HYPOTHESIS

2.1 Impact of Green Climate on

Employee Green Behavior

Green climate refers to the organizational climate

created by a series of sustainability policies. Studies

have shown that work climate has a strong link to

280

Liang, X., Li, B., Gong, Q., Li, S. and Guo, G.

Organizational Green Climate and Employee Green Behavior: A Moderated Mediation Model.

DOI: 10.5220/0011734900003607

In Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Public Management, Digital Economy and Internet Technology (ICPDI 2022), pages 280-284

ISBN: 978-989-758-620-0

 2023 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda. Under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

employees’ attitudes and behaviors. In this regard, the

presence of environmental protection factors in a

organization’s work climate is likely to impact

employees’ perceptions and behaviors of

environment protection. The green climate in the

workplace consists of two aspects: one is pro-

environmental values from organization, and the

other is from colleagues. Employees in a green

workplace are likely to perceive and accept green

ideas from their organization and colleagues, and

agree on the value of green behaviors, and thus are

more probably to adopt environmental behaviors in

their daily work. Therefore, we propose the following

hypothesis:

H1: Green climate positively influences employee

green behavior.

2.2

The Mediating Role of Autonomy

Motivation

Motivation drives employee behavior. According to

self-determination theory, autonomous motivation

drives individuals to engage in activities that are

consistent with their potential selves. Autonomous

motivation t includes identity motivation and internal

motivation. Identity motivation can drive employees

to engage in green behaviors by the consistent

concept and goals of environmental sustainability,

while internal motivation drives employees to engage

in green behaviors by stimulating their interests and

satisfying their emotional needs. Therefore,

employees with higher levels of autonomy motivation

are more likely to participate in pro-environmental

activities or generate related behaviors actively,

consistently, and effectively.

As we mentioned above, organization’s green

climate can convey and emphasize green values to

employees through the culture of organization and

attitudes of colleagues. The stronger the green

climate, the more frequently and clearly employees

are likely to perceive the green values. The more

employees internalize the values, the more

meaningful they will perceive environmental

activities to be, and the more they may generate the

idea of participating in environmental protection.

Happiness will be brought by the behavior that is

consistent with their values, so they will be more

active in the pro-environmental activities. Therefore,

we propose the following hypotheses:

H2: Autonomy motivation positively influences

employee green behavior.

H3: Green climate positively influences

autonomy motivation.

H4: Autonomy motivation mediates between

green climate and employee green behavior.

2.3

The Moderating Role of Green

HRM

Green HRM is business organizations use their HRM

departments to effectively implement environmental

sustainability policies. Organizations that implement

a higher degree of green HRM are able to make it

easier for employees to feel and integrate into the

organizational green climate, thus stimulating

employees’ environmental awareness and triggering

their autonomous motivation so that they will

perceive green behaviors as valuable and meaningful,

proactive, and self-determined behaviors. In addition,

the organization’s implementation of green HRM

puts forward a series of environmental protection

measures in action and also clarifies its environmental

attitudes in thought, which will have a subtle

influence on employees’ green-related attitudes and

behaviors. Therefore, we propose the following

hypotheses:

H5: Green HRM positively moderates the

relationship between green climate and autonomous

motivation.

H6: The green HRM positively moderates the

indirect effect of green climate on employee green

behavior through autonomous motivation.

Figure 1: Theoretical framework.

Organizational Green Climate and Employee Green Behavior: A Moderated Mediation Model

281

3 METHODS AND MATERIALS

3.1 Sample and Procedure

This study used a questionnaire survey to collect data

from employees of an enterprise in Chengdu, China.

We contacted the HRM department of the company

and distributed and collected the questionnaire with

their cooperation. To minimize the negative impact on

the environment, an online questionnaire was used as

the main method. The average length of time to fill

out the questionnaire was 5 minutes. After screening

out the questionnaires that took less than 2 minutes to

answer and contained a large number of consecutive

identical options, 349 valid questionnaires were

obtained for data analysis.

3.2 Measures

The measurement scales used in this study are all

derived from the maturity scales in the past literature.

The scale items are all on a 5-point Likert scale,

measuring the following variables:

Green climate: we used the scale developed by

Norton et al. (Norton, 2014), including 8 items such

as "Our company is concerned with becoming more

environmentally friendly", Cronbach’s α coefficient

is 0.91.

Autonomy motivation: the scale developed by

Graves et al. (Graves, 2013). was used, including " I

would engage in green behaviors at work because it

allows me to achieve goals I consider important" and

six other questions, Cronbach’s α coefficient is 0.94.

Employee green behavior: the scale developed by

Kim et al. (Kim, 2017) was used, which is close to the

actual office workplace and includes six items such as

"avoiding unnecessary printing to save papers", with

a Cronbach’s α coefficient of 0.82.

Green HRM: The scale used by Dumont et al.

(Dumont, 2017) was adopted, including 6 questions

such as "My company provides employees with green

training to promote green values". The Cronbach’s α

coefficient is 0.79.

4 HYPOTHESIS TESTING

In order to test the effect of green climate on

employee green behavior, the mediating role of

autonomy motivation, and the mediating role of green

HRM, we used SPSS 24.0 to perform a stepwise

regression analysis on the collected data. During the

testing process, the Process macro plug-in developed

by Hayes et al. (Hayes, 2013) was used for Bootstrap

robustness test.

First, the main effect test, i.e., the effect of green

climate on employee green behavior. Model 4 is a

regression model of the control variables (gender,

age, and education) on employee green behavio.

Model 5 is a regression model of employee green

behavior after adding the independent variable (green

climate). In model 5, green climate has a significant

positive effect on employee green behavior (β=0.33,

p<0.01), so hypothesis 1 is supported.

Second, the mediating effect test, i.e., the

mediating effect of green HRM between green

climate and employee green behavior. In model 2,

green climate has a significant positive effect on

employee autonomy motivation (β=0.571, p<0.01),

Table 1: Regression test of Autonomy motivation and Employee Green Behavior (N=349).

Variables

Autonomy motivation Employee green behavior

Model 1 Model 2 Model 3 Model 4 Model 5 Model 6 Model 7

Gender 0.191** 0.139** 0.138** -0.084 -0.115* -0.145** -0.14**

Age 0.039 0.083 0.082 -0.065 -0.038 -0.077 -0.054

Education 0.268** 0.161** 0.143** 0.036 -0.026 -0.051 -0.923

Green climate 0.571** 0.595** 0.33**

0.224**

Autonomy motivation 0.054** 0.186**

GHRM 0.012

Green climate*GHRM 0.104*

0.087 0.394 0.403 0.015 0.117 0.107 0.138

∆R

0.079 0.387 0.393 0.006 0.107 0.096 0.125

F 10.955** 55.81** 38.549** 1.713 11.327** 10.206** 10.892**

Note: * indicates significant correlation at the 0.05 level (two-tailed).

** indicates significant correlation at the 0.01 level (two-tailed)

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Table 2: Tests of mediating effects with moderation (N=349).

Degree of adjustment

variable

Conditional Indirect Effect Moderated Mediator

Estimate Boot SE BC 95% CI INDEX S.E. BC 95% CI

Low GHRM 0.1011 0.0428 0.0186 0.1881

0.0137 0.096 0.0001 0.0362

Medium GHRM 0.1102 0.0462 0.02004 0.2035

High GHRM 0.1236 0.0523 0.0203 0.2298

Note: This study uses bootstrap for random sampling 5000 times.

so hypothesis 3 is supported; in model 6, employee

autonomy motivation has a significant positive effect

on employee green behavior (β=0.054, p<0.01), so

hypothesis 2 is supported; after adding the mediating

variable (autonomy motivation), the effect of green

climate on employee green behavior (β=0.224,

p<0.01) in model 7 remains significant, and

employee autonomy motivation also has a significant

positive effect on employee green behavior (β=0.186,

p<0.01). Therefore, hypothesis 4 was supported.

Third, the moderating effect test, i.e., the

moderating effect of green HRM between green

climate and employee autonomy motivation. In

Model 3, after adding the moderating variable (green

HRM), green climate still has a significant positive

effect on employee autonomy motivation (β=0.595,

p<0.01). Also, after the interaction of green climate

and green HRM, it shows a significant positive effect

on employee autonomy motivation (β=0.104,

p<0.05), so hypothesis 5 is supported.

Also, the point estimate of the mediating effect

with moderation is 0.0137 and a 95% confidence

interval of [0.0001, 0.0362], excluding zero. That

means, as the value of green HRM changes from one

standard deviation below the mean to one standard

deviation above the mean of the rubric, the mediating

role of employee autonomy motivation increases

significantly, thus hypothesis 6 is supported.

5 DISCUSSION

5.1 Theoretical Implications

The study improves the influence mechanisms

affecting employee green behavior and provides an

empirical evidence of self-determination theory in

employee psychology and behavior research.

Besides, by exploring the moderating role of green

HRM, it provides a theoretical basis for how green

policies can guide and promote employee green

behaviors, and provides new perspectives for

exploring environmentally sustainable development

strategies at the micro level.

5.2 Practical Implications

Since green climate can have a positive impact on

employee green behavior, companies could

participate in building an pro-environmental culture

and team climate, so that employees can be

influenced in daily work. In addition, as the

moderating effects of green HRM are verified,

companies could adopt appropriate recruitment

strategies to attract employees who share the same

environmental values as the organization.

5.3 Limitations and Future Research

Due to reality factors, this study still has some

limitations. Firstly, this study only used employees’

self-assessment. Self-evaluation from a single source

may affect the authenticity and accuracy of the data.

Future research can use multi-source data, such as

evaluation of leaders and colleagues.

Secondly, Autonomous motivation is not the only

path for employees to produce green behavior, the

motivation that drives employees to show

environmental behaviors in the workplace may also

include factors such as employees’ impression

management motivation, which can be explored in

future studies.

6 CONCLUSION

This study obtained the following conclusions: first,

green climate can positively influence employee

green behavior; second, autonomy motivation can

positively influence employee green behavior; third,

autonomy motivation shows a mediating role in the

influence of green climate on employee green

behavior; fourth, green HRM can positively

moderate the influence of green behavior and

enhance the mediating role of autonomy motivation.

Therefore, we suggest that organizations could work

on the development of an environmentally friendly

society by building the green climate, and suggest

that future research could explore other mechanisms

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283

that affect employee green behavior.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This paper was supported by the National Natural

Science Foundation of China (Grant No.71902128)

and the Department of Science and Technology of

Sichuan Province Fund (Grant No.2021JDRC0002).

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