Does green inclusive leadership promote hospitality employees’ pro-environmental behaviors? The mediating role of climate for green initiative

Drawing on social learning and social information processing theories, this study proposes and tests a model of the association of green-inclusive leadership on pro-environmental behaviors (task-related pro-environmental behavior (PEB) and organizational citizenship for the environment) through climate for green initiative. Using data collected in two waves from 254 employees working in the hospitality industry (restaurants) and utilizing structural equation modeling, our results suggest that green-inclusive leadership is a promising leadership style in encouraging task-related PEB and organizational citizenship for the environment (OCBE). The results also suggest that climate for green initiative is an effective underlying mechanism between the green-inclusive leadership-pro-environmental behaviors linkages. Our model is novel in that the associations proposed and tested were not investigated before. Furthermore, the research is the first of its kind to introduce climate for green initiative in the research of pro-environmental management practices. Discussion, implications and limitations are presented.