IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v17y2025i9p4083-d1647542.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Fostering Green Behavior in the Workplace: The Role of Ethical Climate, Motivation States, and Environmental Knowledge

Author

Listed:
  • Usman Sarwar

    (Hailey College of Banking & Finance, University of the Punjab, Lahore P.O. Box 54590, Pakistan)

  • Waqas Baig

    (Hailey College of Banking & Finance, University of the Punjab, Lahore P.O. Box 54590, Pakistan)

  • Samar Rahi

    (Hailey College of Banking & Finance, University of the Punjab, Lahore P.O. Box 54590, Pakistan)

  • Sonia Sattar

    (School of Economics & Management, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100811, China)

Abstract

The premise of this research is to investigate the influence of an ethical climate on the environmentally responsible behavior of employees within the accommodation sector in Pakistan. We further seek to understand this connection through the intermediation of motivation states and contingency of ethical knowledge. For this purpose, we gathered data from a sample of 290 managers serving at middle and top levels in the accommodation sector of Pakistan, employing an adapted version of the quantitative research instrument. We used Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to test the hypothesis. We found that (1) ethical climate cultivates green behaviors and (2) motivational states partially mediate the association between ethical climate and green behavior. Additionally, (3) the influence of ethical climate on motivational states is found to be stronger in the presence of environmental knowledge. These findings apply to the accommodation sector, where hotel managers can cultivate green behavior by fostering an ethical climate and enhancing motivational states and environmental knowledge. We added empirical justification to social capital theory by enhancing the understanding of ethical climate-driven pro-environmental behavior through intermediation and intensifier.

Suggested Citation

  • Usman Sarwar & Waqas Baig & Samar Rahi & Sonia Sattar, 2025. "Fostering Green Behavior in the Workplace: The Role of Ethical Climate, Motivation States, and Environmental Knowledge," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(9), pages 1-19, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:9:p:4083-:d:1647542
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/9/4083/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/9/4083/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lilian Otaye-Ebede & Samah Shaffakat & Scott Foster, 2020. "A Multilevel Model Examining the Relationships Between Workplace Spirituality, Ethical Climate and Outcomes: A Social Cognitive Theory Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 166(3), pages 611-626, October.
    2. Laurent Auzoult & Crisanta-Alina Mazilescu, 2021. "Ethical Climate as Social Norm: Impact on Judgements and Behavioral Intentions in the Workplace," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(11), pages 1-9, June.
    3. Maria Saleem & Faisal Qadeer & Faisal Mahmood & Heesup Han & Gabriele Giorgi & Antonio Ariza-Montes, 2021. "Inculcation of Green Behavior in Employees: A Multilevel Moderated Mediation Approach," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(1), pages 1-21, January.
    4. Serena Mastria & Alessandro Vezzil & Andrea De Cesarei, 2023. "Going Green: A Review on the Role of Motivation in Sustainable Behavior," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(21), pages 1-15, October.
    5. Camilla Barbarossa & Patrick Pelsmacker, 2016. "Positive and Negative Antecedents of Purchasing Eco-friendly Products: A Comparison Between Green and Non-green Consumers," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 134(2), pages 229-247, March.
    6. Aamir Chughtai & Marann Byrne & Barbara Flood, 2015. "Linking Ethical Leadership to Employee Well-Being: The Role of Trust in Supervisor," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 128(3), pages 653-663, May.
    7. Palvi Pasricha & Bindu Singh & Pratibha Verma, 2018. "Ethical Leadership, Organic Organizational Cultures and Corporate Social Responsibility: An Empirical Study in Social Enterprises," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 151(4), pages 941-958, September.
    8. Stijn Decoster & Jeroen Stouten & Thomas M. Tripp, 2021. "When Employees Retaliate Against Self-Serving Leaders: The Influence of the Ethical Climate," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 168(1), pages 195-213, January.
    9. Xiao Hu & Shumaila Mazhar Khan & Shijiao Huang & Jawad Abbas & Mirabela Constanta Matei & Daniel Badulescu, 2022. "Employees’ Green Enterprise Motivation and Green Creative Process Engagement and Their Impact on Green Creative Performance," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(10), pages 1-13, May.
    10. Palvi Pasricha & Bindu Singh & Pratibha Verma, 2018. "Erratum to: Ethical Leadership, Organic Organizational Cultures and Corporate Social Responsibility: An Empirical Study in Social Enterprises," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 151(4), pages 959-959, September.
    11. Sophie Lythreatis & Abdul-Nasser El-Kassar & Palie Smart & Alberto Ferraris, 2024. "Participative leadership, ethical climate and responsible innovation perceptions: evidence from South Korea," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 41(3), pages 1285-1312, September.
    12. Hongdan Zhao & Qiongyao Zhou & Peixu He & Cuiling Jiang, 2021. "How and When Does Socially Responsible HRM Affect Employees’ Organizational Citizenship Behaviors Toward the Environment?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 169(2), pages 371-385, March.
    13. Muhammad Adnan & Baohua Xiao & Shaheen Bibi & Peiwen Xiao & Peng Zhao & Haiyan Wang & Muhammad Ubaid Ali & Xianjin An, 2024. "Known and Unknown Environmental Impacts Related to Climate Changes in Pakistan: An Under-Recognized Risk to Local Communities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(14), pages 1-27, July.
    14. Huan Zhang & Khaoula Omhand & Huaizheng Li & Aqeel Ahmad & Sarminah Samad & Darie Gavrilut & Daniel Badulescu, 2022. "Corporate Social Responsibility and Energy-Related Pro-Environmental Behaviour of Employees in Hospitality Industry," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-19, December.
    15. Andrea Kim & Youngsang Kim & Kyongji Han, 2019. "A Cross Level Investigation on the Linkage Between Job Satisfaction and Voluntary Workplace Green Behavior," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 159(4), pages 1199-1214, November.
    16. Sophie Lythreatis & Abdul-Nasser El-Kassar & Palie Smart & Alberto Ferraris, 2024. "Correction to: Participative leadership, ethical climate and responsible innovation perceptions: evidence from South Korea," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 41(3), pages 1313-1314, September.
    17. Nick Hajli, 2018. "Ethical Environment in the Online Communities by Information Credibility: A Social Media Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 149(4), pages 799-810, June.
    18. Khalid Farooq & Mohd Yusoff Yusliza & Ratri Wahyuningtyas & Adnan ul Haque & Zikri Muhammad & Jumadil Saputra, 2021. "Exploring Challenges and Solutions in Performing Employee Ecological Behaviour for a Sustainable Workplace," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-19, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Omima Abdalla Abass Abdalatif & Mohammad Ali Yousef Yamin, 2025. "Does Intellectual Capital Boost Firm Resilience Capability? Conceptualizing Logistic Service Quality as a Moderating Factor Between Resilience Capability and Firm Performance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(17), pages 1-17, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Zhang, Yixiang & Fu, Bowen & Maani, Sholeh & Wen, Le, 2024. "Employee energy-saving behaviors: Review of theories, influencing factors, and interventions," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 203(C).
    2. Yongjun Tang & Qi Li & Fen Zhou & Mingjia Sun, 2024. "Does Clan Culture Promote Corporate Natural Resource Disclosure? Evidence from Chinese Natural Resource-Based Listed Companies," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 192(1), pages 167-190, June.
    3. Charles H. Schwepker & Sean R. Valentine & Robert A. Giacalone & Mark Promislo, 2021. "Good Barrels Yield Healthy Apples: Organizational Ethics as a Mechanism for Mitigating Work-Related Stress and Promoting Employee Well-Being," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 174(1), pages 143-159, November.
    4. Su, Sophia & Baird, Kevin & Phan, Thanh, 2024. "The association between ethical leadership and environmental activity management: The mediating role of employee environmental empowerment," Advances in accounting, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    5. Muhammad Sanaullah Shah & Cisheng Wu & Zia Ullah, 2021. "The Inter-Relationship between CSR, Inclusive Leadership and Employee Creativity: A Case of the Banking Sector," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-17, August.
    6. Radka MacGregor Pelikánová & Robert Kenyon MacGregor & Martin Èernek, 2021. "New trends in codes of ethics: Czech business ethics preferences by the dawn of COVID-19," Oeconomia Copernicana, Institute of Economic Research, vol. 12(4), pages 973-1009, December.
    7. Junli Wang & Wendong Lv, 2023. "Research on the Impact of Green Innovation Network Embeddedness on Corporate Environmental Responsibility," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(4), pages 1-28, February.
    8. Moussa Elkhweildi & Benard Vetbuje & Ahmad Bassam Alzubi & Hasan Yousef Aljuhmani, 2025. "Leading with Green Ethics: How Environmentally Specific Ethical Leadership Enhances Employee Job Performance Through Communication and Engagement," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(17), pages 1-31, September.
    9. Xie, Jiangtao & Jain, Tanusree, 2024. "Unpacking micro-CSR through a computational literature review: An identity heterogeneity view of internal stakeholders," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
    10. Lee, Jung Young & McFadden, Kathleen L. & Lee, Min Kyung & Gowen, Charles R., 2021. "U.S. hospital culture profiles for better performance in patient safety, patient satisfaction, Six Sigma, and lean implementation," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 234(C).
    11. Yuwei Deng & Jacob Cherian & Naveed Ahmad & Miklas Scholz & Sarminah Samad, 2022. "Conceptualizing the Role of Target-Specific Environmental Transformational Leadership between Corporate Social Responsibility and Pro-Environmental Behaviors of Hospital Employees," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(6), pages 1-15, March.
    12. João Henrique Paulino Pires Eustachio & Walter Leal Filho & Amanda Lange Salvia & Yana Medeiros Guimarães & Luciana L. Brandli & Laís Viera Trevisan & Jelena Barbir & Adriana Cristina Ferreira Caldana, 2024. "Implementing sustainability in teaching: The role of sustainability leadership and transformational leadership in the context of higher education institutions," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(5), pages 5331-5347, October.
    13. Ibrahim Mansaray & Tarik Atan, 2025. "Exploring Corporate Social Responsibility: The Role of Transformational Leadership, Innovative Work Behavior, and Organizational Culture in Public Universities of Sierra Leone," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(17), pages 1-39, August.
    14. Zhu, Bing & Nguyen, Mai & Sarm Siri, Nang & Malik, Ashish, 2022. "Towards a transformative model of circular economy for SMEs," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 545-555.
    15. Cheffi, Walid & Kaleem Zahir-ul-Hassan, Muhammad & Omer Farooq, Muhammad & Baqrain, Abdelrahman & Mohamed Habib Mansour, Mourad, 2023. "Ethical leadership, management control systems and circular economy in SMEs in an emerging economy, the UAE," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    16. Yuyuan Chang & Wen He & Jianling Wang, 2021. "Government Initiated Corporate Social Responsibility Activities: Evidence from a Poverty Alleviation Campaign in China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 173(4), pages 661-685, November.
    17. Seokwon Chang & Mugoan Jeong, 2021. "Does Leadership Matter in Performance of Social Enterprises in South Korea?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(20), pages 1-19, October.
    18. Agarwal, Upasna A & Gupta, Megha & Cooke, Fang Lee, 2022. "Knowledge hide and seek: Role of ethical leadership, self-enhancement and job-involvement," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 770-781.
    19. Xuemei Xie & Yonghui Wu, 2022. "Doing Well and Doing Good: How Responsible Entrepreneurship Shapes Female Entrepreneurial Success," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 178(3), pages 803-828, July.
    20. Xinyue Zhang & Dian Li & Xintong Guo, 2022. "Antecedents of Responsible Leadership: Proactive and Passive Responsible Leadership Behavior," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-22, July.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:9:p:4083-:d:1647542. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.