Do dual signals drive green employee behavior? Effects of organizational support and leadership on environmental self-identity

Type of the article: Research ArticleAbstractThis study examines how perceived organizational support for the environment and green transformational leadership encourage green employee behavior, and whether environmental self-identity strengthens these two influences among employees of 4-star hotels on the island of Sulawesi (North Sulawesi, Central Sulawesi, and Gorontalo), Indonesia. To address the gap in the implementation of sustainability practices at the operational level, the survey was conducted among 379 employees (>2 years of service). The data were analyzed using PLS-SEM (SmartPLS 4) by bootstrapping. The results showed that perceived organizational support for the environment had a positive and significant effect on green employee behavior (β = 0.298; t = 6.520; p = 0.000), and green transformational leadership had a positive and significant effect on green employee behavior (β = 0.299; t = 6.585; p = 0.000). Environmental self-identity had the strongest direct influence on green employee behavior (β = 0.413; t = 9.538; p = 0.000). The moderation test confirmed that environmental self-identity strengthened the relationship between perceived organizational support for the environment and green employee behavior (β = 0.176; t = 4.147; p = 0.000) and between green transformational leadership and green employee behavior (β = 0.140; t = 4.340; p = 0.000). This suggests that the “green signal” from organizations and leaders is most effective when aligned with employees’ environmental identity. Based on social exchange and social identity theories, these findings affirm the importance of strengthening organizational support, developing green leadership, and building environmental self-identity to maintain green employee behavior across work units.AcknowledgmentsThe authors gratefully acknowledge BPI (the Indonesian Education Scholarship), PPAPT (the Center for Higher Education Funding and Assessment), and LPDP (the Indonesian Endowment Fund for Education) for awarding the scholarship and supporting this research under No. 00077/BPPT/BPI.06/9/2023.