Consequences of Engagement into Sustainable Consumption in the Workplace: the Role of Moral Climate

Marketing practitioners and academics are interested in engagement into sustainable consumption. However, studies on engagement into sustainable consumption focus mainly on consumer behaviour at home (in personal life environment). In this study, using Legitimacy and Stakeholder Theory, we put forward a theoretical framework of consumer engagement into sustainable consumption as employees in their workplace. Our theoretical framework links collaborative learning and employee engagement into sustainable consumption within the key areas responsible for largest CO2 emissions: mobility and food consumption. Previous research suggests that both mobility and food consumption are strongly linked with excessive energy consumption when producing and consuming final products and goods within those two areas. In this conceptual manuscript we propose that employee engagement into sustainable mobility and food consumption results in functional, environmental and psychological consequences arising from sustainable mobility and food consumption practices in the workplace. Further, moral climate is put forward to act as a moderator between collaborative learning and employee engagement into sustainable mobility and food consumption in the workplace. The main audience for this theoretical framework is business practitioners and public policy makers interested in sustainable consumption practices.