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Open Access
Article
Publication date: 6 April 2023

Nguyen Quoc Viet, Sander de Leeuw and Erica van Herpen

This paper investigates the impact of sustainability information disclosure on consumers' choice of order-to-delivery lead-time in relation to consumers' sustainability concern.

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper investigates the impact of sustainability information disclosure on consumers' choice of order-to-delivery lead-time in relation to consumers' sustainability concern.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on two choice experiments with participants from the Netherlands (n = 348) and the United Kingdom (n = 1,387), the impact of sustainability information disclosure was examined in connection with consumers' concerns for environmental and social sustainability. Information on environmental impact (carbon emission) and social impact (warehouse workers and drivers' well-being) was considered and compared.

Findings

Disclosing sustainability impact information significantly increased consumers' preference and choice for longer delivery times, with equivalent effects for environmental and social impact information. Consumers' relevant (environmental or social) sustainability concern as personality traits enhanced effects on preferences, as did priming of environmental concern.

Research limitations/implications

Future research may consider differences between product categories or e-commerce companies' reputation in sustainability activities.

Practical implications

The findings provide opportunities for online retailers to influence consumer choice of delivery time, especially through disclosing environmental and/or social sustainability information.

Originality/value

This study fills a gap in the literature on sustainability information disclosure to actively steer consumer choice of delivery time, particularly regarding the effect of social sustainability impact information in comparison to its environmental counterpart.

Details

International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, vol. 53 no. 11
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0960-0035

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 17 September 2014

Marcelo Biagio Laquimia and Gabriel Eweje

This study investigates how organizations in Brazil address sustainability concerns through collaborative governance efforts with strategic stakeholders. Organizations from New…

Abstract

Purpose

This study investigates how organizations in Brazil address sustainability concerns through collaborative governance efforts with strategic stakeholders. Organizations from New Zealand were considered as benchmarks for comparison.

Methodology/approach

This study is based on a qualitative exploratory research, supported by semistructured interviews. Ten organizations are interviewed, five from each country. Thematic analysis is used to analyze the interview data. Central management practices adopted by organizations are presented, and the goals, benefits, and limitations associated with collaborative initiatives are investigated.

Findings and practical implications

The findings reveal that organizations in Brazil and in New Zealand are employing similar management and sustainability practices. Companies in both countries observe that collaborative efforts with strategic stakeholders improve their ability to meet market demands and jointly develop innovative solutions toward sustainability goals while exchanging knowledge and enhancing their operational effectiveness. Organizations perceive a number of tangible and nontangible value creation outcomes from sustainability practices, such as brand and reputational gains, improved supply chain management, and risk management attainments. The results also present limitations, such as internal limitations of organizations concerning how their executives and general staff incorporate sustainability issues into their organizations’ strategic planning and operational decisions.

Originality/value of paper

Market pressures toward greener and more responsible operations equally affected organizations in both countries, without differentiation in operation between an emerging country such as Brazil and a developed country such as New Zealand. Directions for future research are presented. These are based on how organizations measure sustainability outcomes of management practices and collaborative alliances, and how organizations map upcoming market demands and opportunities to deliver more value to society as the sustainable development debate continues to evolve.

Details

Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability: Emerging Trends in Developing Economies
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78441-152-7

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 28 August 2019

Vicente Lima Crisóstomo, Fatima de Souza Freire and Maria Rafaela De Oliveira Freitas

Over the past two decades, there has been an increasing interest on corporate social responsibility by a number of constituencies – corporate managers, research scholars…

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Abstract

Purpose

Over the past two decades, there has been an increasing interest on corporate social responsibility by a number of constituencies – corporate managers, research scholars, policymakers and investors. In this context, corporate sustainability performance (CSP) has been a central focus of attention. This paper aims to analyze CSP determinants in Brazil, an important emerging market. Firm CSP is proxied by the membership to the Corporate Sustainability Index (ISE) which comprises environmental, social, economic and governance issues.

Design/methodology/approach

Logit panel data models are estimated for a sample of 2,685 firm-year observations in the period of 2006-2015.

Findings

Results show that firms operating in environmental risky industries tend to be leading CSP firms in Brazil which might be a positive consequence of the Brazilian environmental legislation that could be forcing such firms to be more committed to environmental issues. High ownership concentration reduces the probability of a firm’s membership to the ISE index signaling that large controlling blockholders may not see sustainability and governance concerns as relevant. Larger Brazilian firms and the ones with more growth opportunities tend to be CSP leaders. Additionally, the financial crisis of 2007-2009 had a negative effect on CSP in Brazil.

Practical implications

The implications of the present findings may be of interest to academics and firms’ stakeholders. The fact that firms from environmental risky industries exhibit higher concerns with CSP, probably because of the Brazilian environmental rules that has advanced in the past decades, show the prominence of policymakers in the critical scenario of environmental issues. When designing regulation, policymakers should be conscious of the importance of social issues and pay attention to all ways available to foster firm sustainability concerns. The additional evidence that dominant shareholders do not appear to see CSP as a relevant concern in Brazil points out an agency conflict in which large blockholders’ interests may be prevailing over other stakeholders’ interests. That is important to academics who study the role played by ownership structure on firm’s policies. Furthermore, larger firms, as well as the ones with more growth opportunities, seem to invest in CSP, possibly for seeing it as a way to generate competitive advantage.

Originality/value

As per the authors’ knowledge this is the first paper to point out the relevance of industry environmental sensitivity over firm’s commitment to sustainability issues in Brazil. Additional evidence is provided on the negative effect of ownership concentration on the probability of firm’s membership to the ISE sustainability index using a longer period as well as robust logit panel data model estimates compared to previous studies. Unlike previous works, the paper analyzes the complexity of a sustainability index in the Brazilian market. Such index comprises corporate social responsibility, sustainability and corporate governance concerns. This set of concerns makes it a complex index and requires a deeper rationale for the determinants of CSP as proxied by the membership to it, under the stakeholder and agency theoretical frameworks.

Details

Social Responsibility Journal, vol. 16 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1747-1117

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 17 July 2020

James Hardy Speer, Virgil Sheets, Tina M. Kruger, Stephen Peter Aldrich and Nicholas McCreary

The purpose of this study is to assess environmental concern at a Midwest university, analyze trends in concern over time and determine the effect of the development of a campus…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to assess environmental concern at a Midwest university, analyze trends in concern over time and determine the effect of the development of a campus sustainability office.

Design/methodology/approach

A multi-question survey was administered through peer-to-peer recruitment from an undergraduate environmental science class each fall from 2010–2017. This exercise was originally developed as a pedagogical exercise on the scientific method.

Findings

Over eight years, incoming freshmen have expressed more concern that humans are harming the environment and students also express greater concern as they progress through college.

Research limitations/implications

The first year of the survey (2010) and the year that the lead PI was on sabbatical (2014) saw reduced response rates (∼1%–3% of the student population) compared to 6%–9% of the student population in other years.

Practical implications

Responses to all of the questions in the survey provide guidance for university administrations and sustainability offices about the concerns of the campus community, awareness about campus efforts and support for sustainability activities on campus.

Originality/value

Few studies have been published on students’ perspectives on environmental concern and sustainability activities on university campuses. These data provide an overview of environmental concern, perceived government action and empowerment to action over an eight-year period. This approach is recommended as a technique to teach the scientific method in introductory classes and as a means to collect data about student perspectives on sustainability.

Details

International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, vol. 21 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1467-6370

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 17 May 2021

Asli D.A. Tasci, Alan Fyall and Kyle Maurice Woosnam

This study aims to uncover socio-demographic, psychographic and behavioral characteristics of sustainable consumers as a means to advance the demand for sustainability practices…

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Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to uncover socio-demographic, psychographic and behavioral characteristics of sustainable consumers as a means to advance the demand for sustainability practices by the tourism and hospitality industry. Socio-demographic and psychographic variables were tested for their influence on an individual’s self-assessment as a sustainable consumer, which was then tested for its influence on behavioral outcomes in the form of environmental and social sustainability concerns, objects of sustainability concerns, subjects considered responsible for sustainability and tourism choice vis-à-vis mass vs alternative forms of tourism.

Design/methodology/approach

Because of the paucity of a well-established and robust theory on the characteristics of sustainable consumers, both content analysis of the literature and quantitative analysis of survey data were used to identify the socio-demographic, psychographic and behavioral characteristics of consumers. Plausible variables identified in the literature were filtered through principal component analysis and ordinary least squares regression analysis to fine-tune the variables a priori to develop a suitable model, which was subjected to partial least squares-structural equation modeling to further trim variables a posteriori by testing their reliability and validity.

Findings

Understanding who sustainable consumers are and what they are likely to believe and do is imperative for increasing sustainable practices by the industry. The study shows that people who consider themselves to be sustainable consumers are likely to have higher levels of ethical views, be more feminine and more liberal in personality, demonstrate concern with environmental and social sustainability issues, consider all pertinent parties responsible for sustainability and chose alternative forms of tourism over mass tourism. The study implies that general American consumers have the potential to buy into sustainability practices.

Originality/value

Despite researchers’ sporadic attempts to describe different characteristics of sustainable consumers and sustainable tourism consumers, past research has not substantiated a comprehensive description of who is a sustainable consumer in terms of socio-demographics, psychographics and behavioral characteristics. The literature on sustainable consumer characteristics is scarce and atheoretical; thus, the current study sets the stage for the development of this area of work across all sectors of the global tourism and hospitality industry. The model test results provide a clear profile of sustainable tourism consumers in socio-demographic, psychographic and behavioral domains for the industry to respond to.

可持续旅游消费者:社会人口学, 心理变数, 以及行为的特征

摘要

研究目的

本研究旨在揭示可持续消费者的社会人口学, 心理变数, 以及行为的特征, 并以此作为推动旅游业和款待业对可持续发展实践需求的一种手段。本研究首先测试了两个变量:社会人口学特征和心理变数特征对个人作为可持续消费者的自我评估的影响; 然后测试了其对消费者行为性后果的影响, 包括对环境和社会可持续性问题的关注, 关注的主题, 对可持续性问题责任性的关注, 以及针对大众和其他旅游形式选择的比较。

研究设计/方法论/方案

由于缺乏关于可持续消费者特征的公认理论, 本研究采用了对相关文献内容的定性分析和对调查数据的定量分析来识别消费者的社会人口学, 心理变数, 以及行为特征。在建立合适的模型之前, 研究通过采用主成分分析(PCA)和普通最小二乘法(OLS)回归分析, 首先对文献中已识别的合理变量进行过滤和调整。继而基于偏最小二乘-结构方程建模(PLS- SEM)对可靠性和有效性的测试, 来进一步确定后验变量。

研究发现

了解可持续消费者的界定, 以及他们的信念和行为对于行业增加可持续性实践至关重要。该研究表明, 当人们认为自己是可持续消费者时, 他们便可能具有更高水平的道德观念, 具有更加女性化和自由的个性, 表现出对环境和社会可持续性问题的关注, 对可持续发展责任性的考虑更全面, 以及对其他旅游形式选择的偏爱。本篇研究的结果显示出普通美国消费者具有实践可持续性行为的潜力。

独创性/价值

尽管以往的研究曾零星地尝试描述可持续消费者和可持续旅游消费者的不同特征, 但并未从社会人口学, 心理变数, 以及行为特征这几个方面去全面地界定和证明可持续消费者。文献中依然缺乏关于对可持续消费者特征更加理论性地讨论。因此, 本研究旨在为全球旅游业和款待业的各个领域对于可持续旅游的讨论和发展奠定基础。模型测试的结果也为行业提供了一个关于可持续旅游消费者的社会人口学, 心理变数, 以及行为特征的理论框架, 以供行业响应。

El consumidor de turismo sostenible: Características sociodemográficas, psicográficas, y de comportamiento

Propósito

Este estudio busca revelar las características sociodemográficas, psicográficas, y de comportamiento de los consumidores responsables para promover la demanda de prácticas de sostenibilidad en la industria del turismo y la hospitalidad. Se evaluaron variables sociodemográficas y psicográficas para determinar su influencia sobre la autoevaluación de un individuo como consumidor responsable, que después se evaluó para determinar su influencia en resultados conductuales, específicamente preocupaciones de sostenibilidad medioambiental y social, objectos de preocupaciones de sostenibilidad, sujetos considerados responsables de la sostenibilidad, y la elección de turismo de masas versus turismo alternativo.

Diseño/metodología/método

Debido a la falta de teoría robusta y bien establecida sobre las características de los consumidores responsables, un análisis de contenidos de la literatura y un análisis cuantitativo de datos obtenidos a través de una encuesta se utilizaron para identificar las características sociodemográficas, psicográficas, y de comportamiento de los consumidores. Las variables plausibles identificadas en la literatura fueron filtradas a través de un análisis de componentes principales (ACP) y un análisis de regresión por mínimos cuadrados ordinarios (MCO) para afinar a priori las variables para el desarrollo de un modelo adecuado, el cual fue evaluado utilizando un modelo de ecuaciones estructurales por el método de mínimos cuadrados parciales (PLS-SEM por sus siglas en inglés) que permitió seguir afinando las variables a posteriori por medio de la evaluación de su confiabilidad y validez.

Resultados

Entender quiénes son los consumidores responsables y qué son propensos a creer y hacer es imperativo para aumentar las prácticas sostenibles en la industria. El estudio demuestra que las personas que se consideran consumidores responsables son más propensas a tener niveles más altos de opiniones éticas, a tener personalidades más femeninas y liberales, a demostrar preocupación por los problemas de sostenibilidad medioambiental y social, a considerar a todas las partes pertinentes como responsables de la sostenibilidad, y a escoger formas alternativas de turismo en vez de turismo de masas. El estudio sugiere que los consumidores americanos en general tienen el potencial de apoyar prácticas sostenibles.

Originalidad/valor

A pesar de los intentos esporádicos de otros investigadores para describir las diferentes características del consumidor responsable y de los consumidores de turismo sostenible, las investigaciones anteriores no han generado una descripción completa de quién es un consumidor responsable en términos de sus características sociodemográficas, psicográficas, y de comportamiento. La literatura sobre las características del consumidor responsable es escasa y sin bases teóricas; por lo tanto, este estudio sienta las bases para el desarrollo de esta área de investigación en todos los sectores de la industria global del turismo y la hospitalidad. Los resultados de la evaluación del modelo proporcionan un perfil claro de los consumidores de turismo sostenible en los ámbitos sociodemográficos, psicográficos, y de comportamiento para que la industria responda.

Article
Publication date: 14 September 2012

Jessica Hill and Hyun‐Hwa Lee

Conflicting marketing messages have caused consumers to misunderstand distinctions between sustainability and environmental concern, especially when considering the apparel…

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Abstract

Purpose

Conflicting marketing messages have caused consumers to misunderstand distinctions between sustainability and environmental concern, especially when considering the apparel industry. This study seeks to explore consumers’ actual knowledge and sentiment towards sustainability and environmental issues, both in general and in the apparel industry.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected through open‐ended survey questions collected from 80 young Generation Y college students, aged 18‐25.

Findings

Findings show a low level of knowledge of the holistic principle of sustainability and specific adverse effects of the apparel industry. Participants feel steps must be taken towards sustainability, and that every effort helps, despite some skepticism. Results confirm the need for more concise educational and marketing campaigns.

Originality/value

This study sought to provide a snapshot of current young consumers’ attitudes as a tool to encourage more specific and salient directions for future growth of the movement in consumers and companies, adding further insight to the literature on Generation Y as consumers and citizens.

Details

Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management: An International Journal, vol. 16 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1361-2026

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 August 2017

Jeffrey Gauthier and Jeffrey A. Kappen

The purpose of this paper is to examine the rhetorical strategies used by organizations when the legitimacy of their products is challenged by stakeholders’ sustainability concerns

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the rhetorical strategies used by organizations when the legitimacy of their products is challenged by stakeholders’ sustainability concerns.

Design/methodology/approach

The approach involves rhetorical analysis of texts addressing the implications of genetically modified foods for sustainability. The rhetorical logic (pathos, logos, or ethos) and discursive intent (promotion of validity or propriety) invoked by leading seed producers to address stakeholders’ sustainability concerns was identified.

Findings

Ethos was found to be used to address validity judgments, pathos to address propriety judgments, and logos to address both validity and propriety judgments. The mechanisms through which rhetorical logic supports discursive intent are described.

Research limitations/implications

This study contributes to a growing body of research at the intersection of discourse and legitimacy, and reveals the rhetorical strategies used to address stakeholders’ sustainability concerns. Future research can build on the study’s findings by examining the effectiveness of distinct rhetorical strategies in building legitimacy.

Originality/value

We lack a complete understanding of how legitimacy is discursively constructed when stakeholder concerns, such as those around sustainability, threaten an organization’s legitimacy. This paper’s examination of rhetorical logic and discursive intent advances this understanding.

Details

Journal of Communication Management, vol. 21 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1363-254X

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 7 December 2020

Tobias Hahn

Business sustainability urges firms to simultaneously address economic, ecological, and social concerns. It innately combines different potentially competing organizational…

Abstract

Business sustainability urges firms to simultaneously address economic, ecological, and social concerns. It innately combines different potentially competing organizational elements. Therefore, sustainability represents a suitable context for the study and practice of hybridity. Based on an understanding of hybridity as a continuum, in this chapter, the author distinguish between four different forms of hybridity for business sustainability, depending on the degree of integration and autonomy of sustainability initiatives in business organizations. With ceremonial hybridity, businesses only leave the impression to pursue business and sustainability goals but focus their practices on conventional business priorities. Contingent hybridity denotes an approach where ecological and social concerns are only pursued to the extent that they align with business goals. With peripheral hybridity, firms pursue sustainability initiatives in their own right but do not integrate them with core business activities. Full hybridity puts both business as well as sustainability at the core of the organization without emphasizing one over the other. These different forms of hybridity in business sustainability are illustrated with examples from various business organizations. By characterizing different degrees of hybridity in business sustainability, the argument and the examples highlight how organizational hybridity and business sustainability can fruitfully inform one another. The author develop research opportunities for using business sustainability as a context for studying different degrees as well as the dynamics of hybrid organizing and for using different degrees of hybridity for achieving a better understanding of different pathways toward substantive business contributions to sustainable development.

Details

Organizational Hybridity: Perspectives, Processes, Promises
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83909-355-5

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 28 December 2021

Teresa Eugenio, Pedro Carreira, Nina Miettinen and Isabel Maria Estima Costa Lourenço

The study investigates whether the level of sustainability concerns of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in Malaysia and the Philippines is positively associated with…

Abstract

Purpose

The study investigates whether the level of sustainability concerns of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in Malaysia and the Philippines is positively associated with accounting students' intentions to engage in sustainability accounting through its effect on students' attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioural control regarding environmental sustainability practices.

Design/methodology/approach

This empirical study relies on a structural equation model computed using data collected through a questionnaire and data collected from the HEIs websites.

Findings

The findings show that the willingness to engage in sustainability accounting is determined by students' subjective norm and perceived behavioural control, but it is not determined by attitude regarding environmental sustainability practices. The authors also found that the greater the concern with sustainability of the HEI in which a student is enrolled, the greater his/her attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioural control towards environmental sustainability, and, indirectly, the greater his/her intention to engage in sustainability accounting.

Originality/value

These findings add to the literature on higher education and sustainability accounting by high-lighting the importance of the HEIs sector in promoting sustainability policies and practices, in acting as role models regarding sustainability issues, and in preparing students for building a sustainable society.

Details

Journal of Accounting in Emerging Economies, vol. 12 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2042-1168

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 15 June 2021

Mustafa Öztürk and Oren Pizmony-Levy

This study aims to investigate the dispositions of early career teacher educators as young academics toward sustainability and accountability for sustainability issues. Through…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to investigate the dispositions of early career teacher educators as young academics toward sustainability and accountability for sustainability issues. Through their interpretations, concerns, awareness and ownership of sustainability, the study portrays how a global phenomenon is articulated specifically within the local context of teachers colleges in Turkey.

Design/methodology/approach

The study was designed as a survey, and the data were collected through a cross-sectional online questionnaire. The sample (n = 72) was limited, through purposeful sampling, to early career teacher educators teaching and being trained in well-established Turkish teachers colleges to become prospective faculty members of newly founded teachers colleges across the country. The data were analyzed primarily through quantitative methods. For the analyses, STATA software was used to perform descriptive and inferential statistics.

Findings

The general results indicated that the participants were highly concerned about sustainability problems. However, their concerns were not reflected to the same degree on their perceived awareness and ownership of education for sustainable development (ESD). Hunger and poverty, loss of biodiversity, climate change and epidemic diseases were all perceived to be urgent more in the global context. On the other hand, unemployment, refugees and terrorism were perceived to be locally urgent problems. Different agencies within the community were addressed to be accountable for different types of sustainability problems. The accountability for economic, environmental and societal problems were mainly placed on governments. Additionally, individuals/families and educators were held more accountable for environmental issues, while corporations and super powers were held more accountable for economic issues. As for societal issues, educators, individuals/families and non-governmental organizations were addressed to be more responsible.

Originality/value

The significance of the study is mainly twofold. If sustainable development is conceptualized with a futuristic viewpoint that attaches a great importance to next generations' needs, focusing on the dispositions of early career teacher educators as young academics is a reasonable way of addressing the current gaps and eliminating the future inefficacies. Building on the assumption that ESD would remain imperfect without the commitment of teacher educators who have the potential to bring changes in educational systems and shape knowledge and skills of future teachers, in turn future generations; this study becomes even more valuable as it includes specifically the academicians in the field of teacher education.

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