Customers’ willingness of irresponsible industry 4.0 companies to co-create sustainable practices

Abstract

Purpose

In this regard, this paper aims to wonder how willing to co-create sustainable practices customers of irresponsible Industry 4.0 (I4.0) companies are? With this purpose, the authors began introducing I4.0 and sustainability, showing their theoretical gaps.

Design/methodology/approach

I4.0 has recently spread with its technological developments and social, economic and political ambitions, facing challenges-related, for example, to the implementation of sustainable practices and the stakeholders’ participation.

Findings

Then the authors conduct a literature review following a sequential mix-method approach that begins with a bibliometric analysis and ends with a content study to propose a conceptual model for I4.0 and sustainability. Once the authors understood the theoretical gaps in the framework of the conceptual model, the authors conducted an empirical verification between clients of a Colombian company of the I4.0 belonging to the logistic sector, specifically of the deliveries, asking them about the labor issues that the company faces with delivery people and their willingness to co-create. The authors analyzed the collected data through a structural equation modeling model, where the authors found that customers’ willingness to co-create depends on intrinsic behaviors like “responsible behavior,” followed by extrinsic behaviors such as “helping.”

Originality/value

In fact, stakeholders may support companies, but customers must learn how to assume a critical posture during their purchase decision.

Citation

Escobar-Sierra, M., García-Cardona, A. and León-Darder, F. (2022), "Customers’ willingness of irresponsible industry 4.0 companies to co-create sustainable practices", Social Responsibility Journal, Vol. 18 No. 8, pp. 1547-1566. https://doi.org/10.1108/SRJ-05-2021-0206