Detrimental environmental conditions require immediate action from business owners to adopt sustainable practices in business operations. However, the adoption of sustainable practices is one of the biggest problems in developing countries. To uplift the adoption process of sustainable practices, the present study aims to examine the impact of environmental laws, incentives and subsidies, awareness campaigns, green consumerism and community engagement on the adoption of sustainable practices. Moreover, the use of technology moderates the relationship between awareness campaigns and adoption of sustainable practices and community engagement and adoption of sustainable practices.
The cross-sectional data were collected from the 328 employees of the manufacturing firms related to the textile industry. The data were analyzed through SPSS v26 and Smartpls v4.1.0.9.
The findings of the study show that incentives and subsidies, green consumerism and community engagement significantly influence organizations to adopt sustainable practices. On the contrary, the direct relationship between environmental laws and the adoption of sustainable practices remains non-significant. Similarly, the use of technology as a moderator between the relations of awareness campaigns, community engagement and adoption of sustainable practices remains non-significant.
The government should create a push with the implementation of environmental laws and a pull factor with the use of incentives and subsidies for business owners to adopt sustainable practices. In addition to governmental interventions, public awareness, consumer pressure through physical and digital media and community engagement play a significant role in the adoption of sustainable practices. In the present business functions, the role of technology is inevitable. Considering the influential role of technology, the researchers guide the policymakers to use technology for awareness campaigns and for community engagement, which in turn are helpful for business owners to adopt sustainable business practices.
The integration of the push and pull theory along with the technology acceptance model provides novel contributions for academics, practitioners and policymakers. These contributions are insightful to accelerate the process of adoption of sustainable practices, which are beneficial in the long term for mankind.
