Research on the relationship between environmental corporate social responsibility and green innovative behavior: the moderating effect of moral identity

There are extensive studies of environmental corporate social responsibility at the macro level. However, the study of the impact of environmental corporate social responsibility on employees' work-related outcomes is inchoate. Drawing on social identity theory and signaling theory, this paper investigates the impact of environmental corporate social responsibility on employees' green innovative behaviors. The mediating role of perceived meaningfulness at work and the moderating role of moral identity are also investigated. Data were collected via a time-lagged and multisource survey. The study analyzed the responses of 271 employees of Chinese enterprises. Hypotheses were examined using hierarchical regression analysis and bootstrapping. The results indicated environmental corporate social responsibility to be positively related to employees' green innovative behaviors. Perceived meaningfulness at work mediates the link between environmental corporate social responsibility and employees' green innovative behaviors. Moreover, moral identity moderates the relationship between environmental corporate social responsibility and perceived meaningfulness at work. The indirect effect of environmental corporate social responsibility on employees' green innovative behaviors via perceived meaningfulness at work is also moderated by moral identity. Theoretical contributions and practical implications of the study are discussed.