Unlocking the potential of prosocial motives in fostering environmental and socialinnovation: the roles of creativity-relevant skills and business moral values

Abstract

Purpose:
While prosocial motives are found to be conducive to unique manager behaviors, the literature lacks empirical evidence on the relationships between prosocial motives and managers’ willingness to engage in environmental and social innovation (ESI) in business-to-business (B2B) firms and the boundary conditions that shape these relationships. This research endeavors to unlock the potential of prosocial motives in fostering ESI, while investigating the mediating roles of creativity-relevant skills and the moderating influence of business moral values.

Design/methodology/approach:
Using a quantitative survey approach, we gathered insights from 242 managers within Australia’s food and beverage industry. The authors tested their hypotheses by adopting a covariance-based structural equation modeling approach.

Findings:
First, prosocial motives drive the ESI behaviors of managers in B2B firms. Second, creativity-relevant skills act as the critical bridge connecting prosocial motives with ESI within the realm of B2B firms. Third, business moral values emerge as potent moderating, positively influencing the relationship between prosocial motives and “managers’ willingness to engage in social innovation” within B2B firms.

Originality/value:
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study examining the relationship between prosocial motives and social and environmental innovation and how this relationship is influenced by creative-relevant skills and business moral values.