The contagion effect of corporate environmental responsibility in megaprojects: Analyzing underlying processes

The corporate environmental responsibility (CER) performance of contractors is a critical antecedence for the sustainable construction and operation of megaprojects. Studies have confirmed that individual or organizational traits, as well as the external institutional environment, influence contractors' CER decisions and behaviors. However, researchers have neglected the crucial fact that in a megaproject organization, other contractors' environmental responsibility practices also may affect the environmental responsibility decisions of the focal contractor, which refer to as the “contagion effect of CER in megaprojects”. This study examined the authenticity of this contagion effect and develops a conceptual framework to reveal the contagion process. Using 249 survey data from contractor managers with megaproject construction experience, the results confirm the contagion effect of CER in megaprojects. The detailed contagion process is that the focal contractor employees' organizational pride and social capital perception are activated by other contractors' CER practices, thereby choosing to follow other contractors to adopt similar CER strategies. Meanwhile, this process is partially moderated by contractors' megaproject identification. Specifically, contractors with a high level of megaproject identification will have greater organizational pride when observing other contractors' CER practices. However, megaproject identification does not change contractors' social capital perception level. This study provides valuable insights into understanding the contagion process of CER among contractors in megaprojects, and the related findings can help owners effectively incentive contractors' CER intentions to achieve higher megaproject sustainability performance.