The influence of organizational commitment on employee green behavior: mediating role of work-related social media use

Purpose Employee green behavior (EGB) is a type of pro-environment behavior at the workplace strategized by organizations to attain sustainable development goals. While organizations have prioritized eco-friendly practices to attain sustainability objectives, EGB has emerged as an essential area of research. Considering the need for sustained employee green behavior, it is important to understand what stimulates such behaviors in an organization. Therefore, we propose a theoretical model grounded in social exchange theory to assess the effect of organizational commitment on employee green behavior, work-related use of social media, social well-being and psychological well-being. Design/methodology/approach A questionnaire-based survey approach was used to collect data from 203 employees of Indian manufacturing and service industries. Partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) analysis was applied to examine the proposed hypothesis. Findings The results revealed positive and significant effects of organizational commitment on psychological well-being, social well-being, work-related social media use and employee green behavior. Further, psychological well-being mediates the association between work-related social media use and employee green behavior. Originality/value This is one of the first studies to examine the effect of organizational commitment on employee green behavior to the best of our knowledge. Additionally, the findings empirically establish organizational commitment, work-related social media use and psychological well-being as antecedents to employee green behavior, thus offering novel insights and theoretically contributing to the employee green behavior, well-being and organizational literature.