Exploring the Pathways of Green Development Behavior in Building Materials Enterprises Within an Individual–Organizational–Institutional Framework

The green transformation of enterprises is facing major challenges. However, how individual, organizational, and institutional factors jointly shape enterprise green development behavior remains insufficiently understood. This study constructs a three-dimensional analytical framework covering individual, organizational, and institutional levels. Using expert surveys and data from 129 listed building materials companies from 2014 to 2023, the fuzzy-DEMATEL and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) methods are used to identify key factors and explore multiple paths to achieve green development behavior (GDB). This study found that: (1) executives’ green cognition, technological innovation capability, government penalties, media attention, green consumer demand, and market competitiveness are key factors; (2) no single factor is a necessary condition; (3) four equivalent driving configurations are identified: public opinion and market adaptation, executive leadership and market dynamics, external pressure and innovation synergy, and policy constraints and market breakthroughs; and (4) technological innovation capability and market competitiveness exhibit potential functional substitutability across different configurations. This study identifies key factors shaping enterprise strategies, reducing uncertainty in green initiatives and improving sustainable development decisions. The findings reveal nonlinear and synergistic mechanisms of GDB, challenging traditional linear approaches and offering a new framework for complex decision-making.