The Role of Healthcare Employees’ Pro-Environmental Behavior for De-Carbonization: An Energy Conservation Approach from CSR Perspective

Abstract

Buildings worldwide use a large amount of energy and, hence, contribute to increasing the level of greenhouse gases emission (GHG). It was realized that most electrical energy is used in buildings for heating, cooling, and ventilation purposes. To deal with environmental issues, the concepts of renewable energies and clean or green energy sources have been a part of academic discussions. A review of the literature unveils that most of the prior research in the GHG domain focused on the production side of producing renewable energy by opting for different cleaner energy sources (for example, solar energy). Although such studies have contributed significantly to advancing the field, it is also important to change the energy consumption behavior at the level of individuals for decarbonization. However, such a debate to promote the pro-environmental behavior (PEB) of employees from the perspective of energy consumption remains an understudied area. Against this backdrop, this research was carried out to promote PEB at the level of employees through corporate social responsibility (CSR) and green organizational practices in the healthcare sector of an emerging economy. The current research also focused on personal employee values, especially altruistic values, to spur their PEB. The data for the current work was collected from employees of different hospitals by employing a survey strategy (n = 441). To analyze the data, structural equation modeling was considered. The results showed that CSR directly and indirectly (via green organizational practices) influences employees’ PEB, whereas the altruistic values of employees produce a significant conditional indirect effect on the above relationship. The current research offers different implications for theory and practice, which are discussed in detail.