| Abstract [eng] |
In the current business environment, sustainability is becoming not only an environmental or reputational issue, but also a strategic direction for organizations. The challenges of climate change, the European Union’s increasingly robust green policies, the growing importance of sustainability for organizational risk management and competitiveness, and changing employee expectations are driving organizations to seek effective ways to promote employees’ pro-environmental behavior in the daily work environment. One such measure is employee nudging, which is based on the design of choice architecture, where desired behavior is encouraged not through prohibitions or direct control, but by structuring the decision-making environment (Thaler and Sunstein, 2008). This master’s thesis analyzes the relationship between employee behavioral nudges and employees’ pro-environmental behavior in the workplace. The aim of this study is to reveal the relationship between employee behavioral nudges and employees’ pro-environmental behavior in the workplace. To achieve this objective, the thesis conducts an analysis of the scientific literature, examining the concept of behavioral nudges, types of nudges, the prerequisites for their application in organizations, the importance of transparency, autonomy, trust in the organization, and the perceived ethical use of nudging, as well as the concept of employees’ pro-environmental behavior in the workplace. A research model was developed based on the theoretical analysis. A quantitative research method—a questionnaire survey—was chosen to conduct the empirical study. A total of 386 respondents participated in the study; however, the final analysis included 284 respondents who indicated that their organization prioritizes the environment and environmentally friendly decisions. The questionnaire was developed based on scales grounded in the scientific literature (Wachner et al., 2021; Rawlins, 2008; Zervas and Triantari, 2025; Saeed et al., 2019) and Sunstein’s (2014) typology of nudges. The study evaluates employees’ pro-environmental behavior, types of behavioral nudges, and variables of the nudging application ecosystem—autonomy, transparency, trust in the organization, and the perceived ethical use of behavioral nudges. Data analysis was performed using IBM SPSS Statistics, applying methods of descriptive statistics, reliability analysis, factor analysis, correlation analysis, regression analysis, and moderation analysis. The results of the study showed that all types of employee behavioral nudges analyzed have positive and statistically significant associations with employees’ pro-environmental behavior in the workplace. The strongest association was found between employees’ pro-environmental behavior and simplification. Significant associations were also found with increasing ease and convenience, feedback on past choices and consequences, information disclosure, the use of social norms, reminders, precommitment strategies, warnings and graphic warnings, default rules, and the formation of specific action plans. The results of the regression analysis showed that the types of employee behavioral nudges together significantly explain the manifestation of employees’ pro-environmental behavior in the workplace. Simplification, increasing ease and convenience, and feedback on previous choices and consequences stood out the most in a positive direction. The results of the moderation analysis showed that, among the variables of the nudging application ecosystem, a significant moderating role was identified only in the case of transparency. Transparency strengthened the links between the disclosure of information on costs and impacts, warnings and graphic warnings, reminders, feedback on previous choices and consequences, and employees’ pro-environmental behavior in the workplace. No significant moderating effects were found for autonomy, trust in the organization, or the perceived ethical use of behavioral nudges. The study has practical implications for organizational leaders, human resources professionals, and employees implementing sustainability initiatives. Based on the study’s findings, organizations are recommended to implement behavioral nudges that make environmentally friendly decisions simpler, more convenient, easier to understand, and more integrated into daily work practices. |
