A resource orchestration perspective of the link between environmental orientation and green purchasing : empirical evidence from an emerging economy

Although environmental orientation (EO) has gained surging recent scholarly attention, why, how, and when EO influences green purchasing adoption among firms is inchoate, lacking adequate theorisation and empirical analysis. This study draws on resource orchestration theory (ROT) to test the arguments that the influence of EO on green purchasing is a function of the transformative mechanism of green purchasing capability at differing levels of financial resource. The proposed model is tested on a sample of 165 small and medium-sized enterprises from a sub-Saharan African economy using structural equation modelling (Mplus v7.4) and Hayes' PROCESS for IBM-SPSS. Findings from the study indicate that green purchasing capability mediates the effect of EO on green purchasing. The study further finds that the effect of EO on green purchasing, via green purchasing capability, is strengthened under the condition of greater financial resource. The findings contribute to the advancement of green purchasing research and the ROT by addressing the green purchasing attitude-behaviour gap from the supply chain perspective. Overall, the study informs supply chain practitioners that bundling EO with green purchasing capability and financial resource is critical for achieving environmental goals.