The Impact of Employees' Perception of Smart Cities on Employee Green Behavior: A Moderated Mediation Model

The issuance of the 2022 White Paper on Smart Cities has brought the notion of smart cities to the forefront. This conceptual framework revolves around green and sustainable development, aligning seamlessly with China's mission to strengthen ecological civilization in the contemporary era. In this study, we delve into the implications of employees' perception of smart cities on their ecologically conscious behaviors, drawing upon the frameworks of self-determination theory. The empirical analysis encompasses 306 employee respondents hailing from diverse enterprises and backgrounds. The findings extracted from this investigation reveal several crucial insights: (1) A robust and positive correlation between the employees' perception of smart cities and their eco-friendly behaviors; (2) corporate environmental responsibility assumes a partially mediating role between the employees' perception of smart cities and eco-friendly behaviors; (3) environmental awareness emerges as a constructive moderator in the interplay between corporate environmental responsibility and employees' eco-friendly behaviors; (4) notably, the impact of employees' perception of smart cities on employees' eco-friendly behaviors assumes greater prominence when environmental awareness is high, signifying an intensified indirect relationship. This dynamic underscores that during periods of heightened environmental awareness, the influence of employees' perception of smart cities on eco-friendly behaviors becomes more pronounced, reinforced by a more substantial indirect influence channeled through corporate environmental responsibility. These findings enhance the theoretical underpinnings of self-determination theory. Enterprises are encouraged to underscore and incentivize employees' pro-environmental behaviors, integrate environmental preservation paradigms into corporate culture and enhance green management initiatives, synergistically advancing shared ecological objectives for both enterprises and employees.