The development and primary validation of employee green behavior scale

Abstract

Purpose The increasing adverse impact of human behavior toward the environment has brought in changes in research focus on environmental behavior toward the workplace. Because the employee spends one-third of his day in his workplace, the initiatives taken by the employee also have an impact on the company’s environmental stance. Therefore, the researchers gradually focus on employee green behavior (EGB) and its measurement. The study aims to devise a tool for measuring EGB. Design/methodology/approach Two studies were carried out using the survey method using the purposive sampling technique. The data were collected (Studies 1 and 2) from managers and supervisors working in manufacturing companies located in Kolkata, India. Findings The first study was done to extract the principal factors using an initial 30 items (N = 220). The result of the principal component analysis shows the emergence of three factors spread over 20 items with loadings above 0.40. The 20-item scale was again administered on managers and supervisors (N = 243). The second study was carried out to examine the convergent and discriminant validity as well as stability of the tool through confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) (N = 243). The result of CFA showed the presence of 16 items spread through three factors: practice and policy, digital use and recycle and reuse. Multiple fit indices support a three-factor model of the 16-item EGB scale. Research limitations/implications The scale would be a good measure of EGB and can be used for further research. The EGB scale is a composite scale containing three major dimensions that can be used as a complete measure of EGB. Originality/value The present research aims to fill the current gap by building a comprehensive tool for measuring EGB. The present scale has also addressed the shortcoming of the previous scale and tried to include varied proenvironmental behaviors exhibited in the workplace.