Hospitality for sustainability: employee eco-anxiety and employee green behaviors in green restaurants

Abstract

Employing the stimulus-organism-response model, this study examined employees' eco-anxiety as a potential boundary condition, in the indirect relationship between restaurant green attributes, and employee green behaviors. Using PROCESS macro, the analysis of data obtained in two waves from 446 restaurant employees revealed that second-order restaurants' green attributes are directly associated with required and voluntary employee green behaviors. More so, it was found that employees' perception of their restaurants' orientation towards environmental issues constitutes a psychological mechanism, linking restaurants' green attributes, to employees' green behaviors. This relationship is attenuated by employees' eco-anxiety for voluntary green behaviors, whereas there is no significant moderation for required green behavior. This study uniquely explores the role of emotions in eco-sustainability efforts and the dynamics associated with employee eco-anxiety in the hospitality industry. It further extends the literature by examining two different potential outcomes of the interaction between workplace attributes and employee eco-anxiety, enriching what is currently known of the different forms of employee green behaviors.