Multiple pathways linking environmental knowledge and awareness to employees’ green behavior

Purpose: The purpose of the present research is to investigate the impact of environmental knowledge and awareness on green behavior with respect to behavioral intentions, environmental attitude and green commitment as mediator variables. Design/methodology/approach: The statistical population included the managers of Esfahan Mobarakeh Steel Company in Iran. In total, 135 questionnaires were distributed among relevant managers, out of which 120 questionnaires were returned and analyzed using structural equation modeling method. Findings: The findings of the study showed that environmental knowledge and awareness has a significant direct effect on managers’ green behavior (β = 0.42). Also, environmental knowledge and awareness has a significant indirect effect on managers’ green behavior through behavioral intentions (β = 0.34), environmental attitude (β = 0.19) and green commitment (β = 0.33). Originality value: This study is among the first to simultaneously investigate the multiple pathways from environmental knowledge and awareness to green behavior. The second contribution of the present study is considering green behavior of personnel in the iron and steel industry in a developing country.