Environmental Awareness and Sustainable Public Procurement: An Analysis of Perceptions of Public Officials

ABSTRACT This paper aims to explore the public officials' intention to implement and use sustainable public procurement in Italian municipalities. The study posits on Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behavior and employs a structural equation model estimation on data gathered through a Likert‐based questionnaire disseminated among Italian public officials in 2025. Main findings show that subjective norm, attitude, and perceived behavioral control are the main predictors of the intention to adopt sustainable procurement practices. Additionally, sustainability awareness and training significantly strengthen this intention. The study provides relevant insights into the debate on sustainable public procurement by highlighting the factors that influence public decision‐making and the moderating role of perceived complexity in the decision process. This empirical contribution enriches the discussion on the adoption of sustainable procurement in the Italian public sector, offering practical implications by integrating the TPB with contextual variables and shedding light on the psychological and institutional mechanisms involved.