Using Values, Beliefs, and Norms to Predict Conserving Behaviors in Organizations

• Published date: 01 June 2020
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/emre.12388
• Date: 01 June 2020

Using Values, Beliefs, and Norms to Predict

Conserving Behaviors in Organizations

CRISTINA E. CIOCIRLAN,

1

DIANA GREGORY-SMITH,

2

DANAE MANIKA

3

and VICTORIA WELLS

4

1

Associate Professorof Management and chair, Dept. of Business, Elizabethtown College, USA

2

Reader in Marketingand Research & Impact Lead for MOS group, Newcastle University Business School, Newcastle

University, UK

3

Professor of Marketing, Newcastle University Business School, Newcastle University, UK

4

Professor of Sustainable and Ethical Management, Joint Head- People, Operations, and Marketing (POM) Subject Group, The

York Management School, University ofYork, UK

Although micro-level research on corporate social responsibility (CSR) has started to grow, little is known about

the antecedents of employee conserving behaviors .(e.g., recycling, repurposing or reusing materials, and saving

energy). Conserving behaviors can be explained by the individual-level psychographic variables captured by the

values-beliefs-norms (VBN) framework. Given the mixed empirical findings of previous VBN applications in

organizations, this paper examinesthe full VBN model within a workplacecontext and extends the modelby analyzing

the effectsof VBN variables on employee conservingbehaviors. A quantitativesurvey with a sample of 714 UK office-

based employeesacross a range of industriesis utilized and data are analyzedusing a Smart PLS approach.We find

direct and indirect effects among the VBN variables: in particular, personal norms strongly affect all conserving

behaviors studied,highlighting the relevanceof norming interventions in organizations. Theoretical and managerial

implications are provided.

Keywords: Strategy; CSR and Business Ethics; CSR; Socially responsible behavior

Introduction

Organizations (and their employees) contribute to

harmful effects to the environment (EPA, 2019) and

consequently, there has been a rise in corporate social

responsibility (CSR) initiatives as organizations respond

to this phenomenon for legitimation, competitive, and

environmental reasons (Bansal and Roth, 2000). Yet,

complex ecologica l problems remai n unresolved (Cheng

et al., 2019). While there is growing interest in macro-

level CSR research from scholars, research at the

micro-level is scant (Aguinis and Glavas, 2012;Manika

et al., 2015).

Additionally, while environmental behaviors at the

micro-level have been studied extensively in the home

and the marketplace (Steg and Vlek, 2009; Reisch and

Thøgersen, 2017), in comparison, the organizational

context remains an under-researched area (Wiernik

et al., 2018). This is however, changing, with increased

interest in the environmental behaviors of managers

(e.g., Dalvi-Esfahani et al., 2017; Papagiannakis and

Lioukas, 2017) and employees (Lo et al., 2012; Lülfs

and Hahn, 2013; Ones and Dilchert, 2013; Ruepert

et al., 2016).

This study responds to calls for further research at the

micro-level on how to design effective CSR programs

aimed at promoting positive employee environmental

behaviors(Ruepert et al., 2016; Wellset al., 2018; Wiernik

et al., 2018) and to normalize these behaviors into the

organizational cultur e (Dixon et al., 2014; Man ika et al.,

2015; Norton et al., 2015). Specifically, we focus on a

subset of employee environmental behaviors, ..,that is,

conserving behaviors, such as waste recycling,

repurposing/reusing materials, and saving energy (Ones

and Dilchert, 2013), and aim to determine their

antecedents. Conserving behaviors are highly under the

control of office employees (Scher baum et al., 2008;

Zhang et al., 2013; Ruepert et al., 2016) and hence

Authors are listedin alphabetical order. All authorscontributed equally to this

paper.

Correspondence: Cristina E. Ciocirlan, Dept. of Business, Elizabethtown

College, One Alpha Drive, Elizabethtown PA 17022, USA. E-mail

ciocirlanc@etown.edu

European Management Review, Vol. 17, 543–558, (2020)

DOI: 10.1111/emre.12388

©2020 European Academy of Management

represent an appropriate object of study for CSR

initiatives aimed at changing employee behaviors.

Understanding the antecedents of a behavior improves

CSR efforts by enhancing employee motivations to

engage in environmental (in this case, conserving)

behaviors (Manika et al., 2015).

Previous studies t hat examined the an tecedents of

environmental behaviors in organizations have identified

several theoretical models (Wiernik et al., 2018) such as

the values-beliefs-norms theory (VBN), the Theory of

Planned Behavior (TPB), or the norm activation model

(NAM). However, many of these theories have used a

convenience sample (e.g., Kaiser et al., 2005) or are

conducted in a single industry (Scherbaum et al., 2008;

Christina et al., 2014; Yeboah and Kaplowitz, 2016).

Consequently, we do not have a clear view of the

antecedents of employee environmental behavior, and

we lack a coherent understanding of how employees

develop environmental attitudes and beliefs in the

workplace (Norton et al., 2015; Wells et al., 2018). Thus,

the focus of this paper is extending the VBN theory to

determine the antecedents of employees’conserving

behaviors inan office setting. Previous studieshave found

that conserving behaviors are more likely to be explained

by the individual-level psychographic variables captured

by the VBN, as opposed to organizational context

variables such as trust in top management, employees’

affective commitment to the organization, or

organizational climate (Andersson et al., 2005; Zhang

et al., 2013; Ruepert et al., 2016).

The VBN theory (Stern and Dietz, 1994; Stern et al.,

1999) has been widely tested empirically and focuses on

individual values, beliefs, and personal norms as

determinants of behavior (Ruepert et al., 2016; Yeboah

and Kaplowitz,2016). It links several elementsin a causal

structure: values, ecological beliefs based on the new

ecological paradigm (NEP), awareness of consequences

(AC), ascription of responsibility (AR), personal norms

(PN), and finally, environmental behavior (Stern et al.,

1999). Each variable directly affects the next and

additionally, indirect interaction effects exist among the

five variables (see Figure 1). VBN theory has proven to

be generalizable and as Wacker (1998. P. 365) notes,

‘the more areas that a theory can be applied to makes the

theory a better theory. […] those theories that have wider

application havemore importance’.However,whilesome

applicationsexist, a fuller and robust application,utilizing

the full model with all its variables, is needed in the

workplace setting (Young et al.,2013). Previous empirical

studies applying VBN in the workplace used a truncated

or adapted VBN model (Scherbaum et al., 2008; Ruepert

et al., 2016), or one of its building blocks, such as the

norm-activation-model (NAM) (Zhang et al., 2013;

Dalvi-Esfahani et al., 2017), rather than the full model.

Additionally, most VBN applications in organizations

focus on a single orsmall subset of behaviors (Scherbaum

et al., 2008; Zhang et al., 2013; Yeboah and Kaplowitz,

2016). We extend VBN to overcome these issues, by

analyzing Ones and Dilchert’s(2013)fourdistinct

conserving behavior types (i.e., reducing use, reusing,

repurposing, and recycling) and examine all employees,

regardless of organizational position. And finally, going

beyond a single or small number of industry settings

(Scherbaum et al., 2008; Christina et al., 2014; Yeboah

and Kaplowitz, 2016) we analyze a large sample of 714

office employees across several industries.

To summarize, the main contri butions of this study ar e

threefold. First, to our knowledge this is the first

quantitative study to examine the full VBN model within

an organizational context. Second, it is the first study to

extend VBN theory by integrating employee conserving

behaviors (Ones and Dilchert, 2013). Finally, it examines

this extended model utilizing a large sample of office

employees across a range of industries.

The remainderof the paper is organized asfollows. The

next section critically reviews the literature on employee

conserving behaviors and organizational applications of

VBN and outlines our hypotheses. Subsequently, we

describe our methodology, data analysis, and findings.

The remaining sections discuss these findings and outline

Figure 1 Proposed VBNmodel

544 C.E. Ciocirlan et al.

©2020 European Academy of Management