Examining the Mediating Roles of Green Image and Readiness in Firms’ Green Information Technology Practices: An Organizational Legitimation Perspective

ABSTRACT This study proposes a dual-path view to explain firms’ green information technology (GIT) practices from the organizational legitimation lens. It explicates essential influence pathways that shape firms’ responses to essential external pressures for environmental sustainability, including the general public’s awareness of environmental protection, industry norms, and competitors’ green practices. This study emphasizes the mediating roles of a firm’s pursuit of a green image and its readiness for green practices, which represent symbolic and substantive legitimacy actions, respectively. Survey data from 152 leading manufacturers and 152 service firms in Taiwan are used to test the hypotheses empirically. The results show that the general public’s environmental awareness, industry norms, and competitors’ green practices influence firms’ GIT practices through their pursuit of a green image and green readiness. A comparative analysis further indicates that green readiness mediates the effects of external pressures for service firms but not for manufacturers, whereas the pursuit of a green image mediates the impacts of external pressures for manufacturing firms but not for service firms.