Environmentally Specific Servant Leadership and Brand Citizenship Behavior: The Role of Green-Crafting Behavior and Employee-Perceived Meaningful Work

Ibrahim A Elshaer; Alaa M S Azazz; Chokri Kooli; Ali Saleh Alshebami; Mohammad M A Zeina; Sameh Fayyad

doi:10.3390/ejihpe13060083

Environmentally Specific Servant Leadership and Brand Citizenship Behavior: The Role of Green-Crafting Behavior and Employee-Perceived Meaningful Work

Eur J Investig Health Psychol Educ. 2023 Jun 19;13(6):1097-1116. doi: 10.3390/ejihpe13060083.

Authors

Ibrahim A Elshaer^{1

2}, Alaa M S Azazz^{3

4}, Chokri Kooli⁵, Ali Saleh Alshebami⁶, Mohammad M A Zeina², Sameh Fayyad^{2

7}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Management, College of Business Administration, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsaa 380, Saudi Arabia.
² Hotel Studies Department, Faculty of Tourism and Hotels, Suez Canal University, Ismailia 41522, Egypt.
³ Department of Tourism and Hospitality, Arts College, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsaa 380, Saudi Arabia.
⁴ Tourism Studies Department, Faculty of Tourism and Hotels, Suez Canal University, Ismailia 41522, Egypt.
⁵ The Telfer School of Management, The University of Ottawa, 75 Laurier Avenue East, Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5, Canada.
⁶ Applied College, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa 31982, Saudi Arabia.
⁷ Hotel Management Department, Faculty of Tourism and Hotels, October 6 University, Giza 12573, Egypt.

Abstract

Sustainability and environmental concerns have become increasingly important in the business world, with organizations seeking to integrate sustainable practices and enhance their brand citizenship behavior. Servant leadership that is focused on the environment is a type of leadership approach that gives prominence to preserving and promoting environmental sustainability. This study aims to examine the impact of environmentally specific servant leadership on brand citizenship behavior, with a focus on the mediating roles of green-crafting behavior and employee-identified meaningful work. Drawing on data from a survey of 319 employees working in hotels, this study conducted partial least square-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to test a dual-moderated mediation model to explore the direct and indirect effects of environmentally specific servant leadership on brand citizenship behavior. The results of this study reveal that environmentally specific servant leadership has a significant and positive impact on green-crafting behavior and employee meaningful work. Moreover, green-crafting behavior and employee-perceived meaningful work both mediate the link between environmentally specific servant leadership and brand citizenship behavior. Specifically, green-crafting behavior acts as a mediator between environmentally specific servant leadership and employee-perceived meaningful work, while employee-perceived meaningful work mediates the link between green-crafting behavior and brand citizenship behavior. These findings have important implications for managers and organizations that seek to enhance their sustainability and brand citizenship behavior. Specifically, this study highlights the critical role of environmentally specific servant leadership (ESSL) in promoting green-crafting behavior and employee-perceived meaningful work, which in turn influence brand citizenship behavior. Therefore, organizations can improve their brand citizenship performance by developing ESSL behaviors and practices that foster green-crafting behavior and employee-perceived meaningful work.

Keywords: brand citizenship behavior; environmentally specific servant leadership; green crafting; hotel industry; job crafting; meaningful work; sustainable performance.

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the Deanship of Scientific Research, Vice Presidency for Graduate Studies and Scientific Research, King Faisal University, Saudi Arabia (Grant No. 3663).