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The study focuses on how to build long-term relationships with multi-channel agencies (MCAs) (dealers) who serve multiple manufacturers on a non-exclusive basis in a business-to-business (B2B) market. This study looks at the framework of relational benefits-commitment-long term orientation in a business-to-business context.

Data were collected from MCAs of three leading companies in the food distribution business. The survey used established scales to measure the relational benefits (core, operational, social and special treatment), commitment (affective and calculative) and long-term orientation (LTO).

The findings of the study show that core, social and special treatment benefits influence calculative commitment, and operational and special treatment benefits influence affective commitment. The study also supports that calculative and affective commitment play an important role in understanding the loyalty of MCAs.

The research examines how relational benefits impact commitment and loyalty among MCAs and manufacturers, in a non-exclusive relationship, in the business-to-business environment. This study incorporates social exchange theory (SET), relational benefits paradigm and commitment and long-term orientation in its framework and tests it within the food distribution industry. This study is the first of its kind to examine the effects of relational benefits on MCAs behavior in a food supplier–buyer setting.

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.