Spillover of social norms at work on employees' self-reported private sphere pro-environmental behaviour : a mixed method investigation
Hans Jaich, Sarah Margaretha Jastram, Knut Blind
This article draws on the Focus Theory of Normative Conduct to examine whether injunctive social norms relating to perceived environmental management practices shape employees' self-reported pro-environmental behaviour in their private sphere. To test our hypotheses, we employed a mixed methods research approach that involved a cross-sectional analysis and a pretest-posttest quasi-experimental field study in the German tourist industry. Our results verify the context-bridging influence of perceived environmental management practices on employees' self-reported private sphere pro-environmental behaviour. Further, they reveal that this relationship is partially mediated by descriptive social norms among co-workers. Thereby, our findings shed light on a thus far neglected dynamic between injunctive and descriptive social norms that constitutes a pathway for contextual spillover. Our study thus challenges the prominent proposition that the influence of injunctive social norms remains restricted to contexts in which the norm is currently salient. The results further develop existing theory by demonstrating how a dynamic interaction between injunctive and descriptive norms can support the emergence and dissemination of social norms across contexts and they reveal how businesses can shape this process.
Year of publication: |
2023
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Authors: | Jaich, Hans ; Jastram, Sarah ; Blind, Knut |
Published in: |
Schmalenbach journal of business research : SBUR. - Wiesbaden : Springer Fachmedien, ISSN 2366-6153, ZDB-ID 2076397-9. - Vol. 75.2023, 4, p. 519-547
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Subject: | Contextual spillover | Environmental management | Focus Theory of Normative Conduct | Pro-environmental behaviour | Quasi-experimental field study | Social norms | Soziale Norm | Social norm | Umweltbewusstsein | Environmental consciousness | Spillover-Effekt | Spillover effect | Soziales Verhalten | Social behaviour |
Saved in:
freely available
Type of publication: | Article |
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Type of publication (narrower categories): | Aufsatz in Zeitschrift ; Article in journal |
Language: | English |
Other identifiers: | 10.1007/s41471-023-00167-x [DOI] hdl:10419/289519 [Handle] |
Classification: | M0 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting. General |
Source: | ECONIS - Online Catalogue of the ZBW |
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10014491695