The impact of customer contact on environmental initiatives for service firms

The impact of business operations on the natural environment has been a public concern for decades and a research concern for years. To date, the focus of environmental impact research has been almost exclusively on manufacturing industries. Environmental research specific to service industries have been neglected, despite the fact that economies of developed nations are mostly made up of service businesses. This paper explores potential distinctions of service businesses as they may influence management motivation for taking environmentally friendly actions. Through a number of case studies, we observe some commonality of environmental motivations between service and manufacturing industries, as well as some environmental themes unique to services. These themes pertain to customer awareness of environmental initiatives of service firms by virtue of their involvement in the production process. Interestingly, customer involvement can have an adverse affect on environmental initiatives.