How Sustainability Orientation Drives Pro-Environmental Behavior in Entrepreneurial Firms: The Roles of Social Support and Sustainable Entrepreneurship

This study examines how sustainability orientation shapes sustainability behavior among entrepreneurial small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Turkey. Grounded in self-determination theory (SDT) and the theory of planned behavior (TPB), this study develops and empirically tests a conditional process model in which perceived social support functions as a mediating mechanism and sustainable entrepreneurship operates as a boundary condition. Data were collected from 519 senior managers of ISO 14001-certified SMEs using a two-wave survey design to mitigate common method variance (CMV). Using Hayes’ PROCESS macro, the results indicate that sustainability orientation is positively associated with sustainability behavior and that perceived social support partially mediates this relationship by facilitating the translation of sustainability values into action. Furthermore, sustainable entrepreneurship strengthens both the direct association between sustainability orientation and sustainability behavior and the indirect pathway operating through perceived social support. SMEs with higher sustainable entrepreneurship capabilities are better positioned to leverage internal values and external social reinforcement to enact proactive sustainability practices. Overall, the findings highlight the joint role of motivational orientations, social reinforcement, and entrepreneurial capability in shaping sustainability outcomes. The study contributes to sustainability and entrepreneurship research by clarifying how value-based orientations are converted into sustainable behavior and offers practical implications for policymakers and SME leaders seeking to accelerate sustainability transitions in emerging economies.