Drivers and interrelationships of three types of pro-environmental behaviors in the workplace

Purpose Prior research in the human resources management fields focused primarily on one type of employees’ pro-environmental behaviors yet failed to empirically investigate interrelationships among the distinct dimensions of their pro-environmental behaviors. To build a deeper understanding of the psychological process in becoming an environmental activist in the workplace, this study aims to examine the interrelationships among frontline employees’ green autonomous motivation, green external motivation, environmental concern, self-efficacy and three types of pro-environmental behaviors (i.e. green idea generation behavior, green idea promotion behavior and green idea activist behavior). Design/methodology/approach With the survey method, the data were collected from frontline employees working at hospitality enterprises in South Korea. This study analyzed the collected data, including frequency analysis, reliability analysis, correlation analysis, confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling. Findings The empirical results showed that autonomous motivation significantly influenced environmental concern, self-efficacy, green idea generation behavior and green idea promotion behavior. Also, external motivation significantly affected environmental concern, self-efficacy and green idea promotion behavior. Furthermore, environmental concern had significant influences on self-efficacy and green idea promotion behavior, and self-efficacy had significant effects on green idea generation behavior and green idea promotion behavior. Finally, green idea activist behavior was significantly influenced by green idea generation behavior and green idea promotion behavior only. Practical implications This study proposes managerial implications to hospitality organizations and public policymakers for maximizing the effectiveness and efficiency of their green initiatives via frontline employees’ green idea activist behavior. Originality/value Based on the empirical findings, this study proposes several theoretical and practical implications for the extant literature and the service industry in the context of frontline employees’ three types of pro-environmental behaviors from their working motivation.