Employee Proactiveness to Engage in Sustainable Consumption Leading to Societal Benefits

Abstract

Our manuscript aims to advance our understanding of employee engagement in sustainable consumption through collaborative learning. Learning is one of the keys to sustain competitive advantage and to keep business fresh and relevant in a constantly evolving global business environment. Consequently, collaborative learning is a crucial skill that companies expect their prospective employees to demonstrate at work. In our study, we hold that collaborative learning will increase employee proactiveness to engage in sustainable consumption when moral identity is present. Moral identity refers to a moral state that is internal and projected to others and therefore consists of two dimensions: internalization and symbolisation. Moral identity along with collaborative learning and employee proactiveness to engage in sustainable consumption at a workplace leading to societal benefits (i.e., economic, social and psychological) in the housing, mobility and food consumption domain has not received much attention in academia. We theoretically investigate this phenomenon in the context of massively-multiplayer online video games and offer a conceptual model. In our study, we conceptually put forward propositions linking moral identity, engagement in sustainable consumption and societal benefits along with antecedents of collaborative learning: achievement, social presence, immersion and video game frequency. Based on our conceptual model, we provide implications for public policy makers and practitioners.

Sustainable Consumption Behavior at Home and in the Workplace: Avenues for Innovative Solutions

“…To conceptualize and justify links of engagement in sustainable consumption-an independent variable-with sustainable consumption behavior at home and in the workplace, this study uses theories and findings of previous research. On the basis of these studies, works of Kadic-Maglajlic et al [15], Piligrimiene et al [26], Salciuviene [32] and Salciuviene et al [33] can be directly attributed to the studies researching engagement in sustainable consumption-a sustainable consumption behavior link. Kadic-Maglajlic et al, [15] combines both pro-environmental and pro-social behavior forms of sustainable consumption behavior and Piligrimiene et al [26] state that engagement in sustainable consumption by individuals depends on a variety of different factors, but do not differentiate between the environments (i.e., whether such engagement in sustainable consumption takes place at home or in the workplace).…”

“…Only the results of studies on engagement in sustainable consumption by Kadic-Maglajlic et al [15] and Piligrimien ė et al [26] are significant in terms of advancing research in the context of sustainable consumption behavior at home. Theoretical assumptions of Salciuviene [32] and Salciuviene et al [33] are important in the context of researched engagement in sustainable consumption and behavior in the workplace. Thus, engagement in sustainable consumption is a relatively new and little researched concept that has yet to gain broader attention of researchers in the sustainability management literature.…”

Sustainable Consumption Patterns in Different Settings

“…Klade et al (2013) and Littleford et al (2014) provided similar results in their research. Salciuviene et al(2019) further developed this idea by investigating the importance of personal factors and entrepreneurial traits of an employer for engaging in sustainable development by creating appropriate conditions (corresponding to situational factors singled out by Blok et al (2015)) for sustainable use in the work environment. The importance of an appropriate pro-environmental organizational culture was also emphasized in the study by Piwowar-Sulej (2020).…”

Employees buying organic food intention: An extension of the theory of planned behavior

“…There is a need to explore the factors of their eating behavior and their behavior toward sustainable consumption ( Wanjek, 2005 ). In this context, it has been argued that limited attention is given to understanding the domain of food consumption from the employee perspective ( Salciuviene et al, 2019 ). They work in large companies with central canteens, cafes, and bars.…”