The Brand as an Example for Sustainability: The Impact of Brand Activism on Employee Pro-Environmental Attitudes

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

From a general point of view, I find the article well written and with a topic of interest. I would have, however, a few observations, with the aim to bring some improvements, before the paper can be accepted for publishing. I will mention them in order.
Line 398 - there are words in Portuguese, not English language.
Table 2, Line 429 - the first sentence is missing an "is", the correct form should be: "I consider it IS important to protect...". Same for the second phrase: "...considering it IS important to..." Please check again the use of English language throughout the paper.
At Paragraph 5. Discussion and Conclusion, things are approached way too general. More digging is required here. Please refer clearer to the three hypotheses you started your research from: H1, H2 and H3, as you did not mention them at all. Please discuss into more detail the practical implications of these three hypotheses. What is the relevance if all or some are true (or only partially true), if all or some are false? How does each scenario impact the outcomes for that company in terms of sustainability? Why is it relevant from the perspective of employees, like you have mentioned in the title, and why aren't these issues more important from the perspective of the customers? Do the employees work better and/or more focused, or happier, if they embrace these environmental values? How will this approach translate into a more sustainable business model for the company? Where is that solid, undeniable evidence that supports that? What are the actual measures taken by the retail company to address the environmental issues that build trust in the eyes of its employees, stakeholders and customers? Just stating with words that it has some degree of actions towards environmental (brand) activism, doesn't mean or prove anything.
Thus, all these details in the Discussion and Conclusion section must be better underlined and debated in order to bring more scientific value to the article and to better underline the relevance of the whole paper.
Also, in order to raise the scientific level, it may be a good idea to include a paragraph where to explain the limitations of the conducted study.

Comments on the Quality of English Language

The English language is fine, but has room for improvement.

Author Response

Thank you very much for taking the time to review this manuscript. Please find the detailed responses below and the corresponding revisions/corrections highlighted/in track changes in the re-submitted files.

Comments 1: "Line 398 - there are words in Portuguese, not English language."

Response1: Thank you for noticing! It has been eliminated.

Comments 2: "Table 2, Line 429 - the first sentence is missing an "is", the correct form should be: "I consider it IS important to protect...". Same for the second phrase: "...considering it IS important to..." Please check again the use of English language throughout the paper."

Response 2: Thank you for your comment. We corrected the highlighted sentences and revised the English of the entire article. The changes were marked in yellow.

Comments 3: "At Paragraph 5. Discussion and Conclusion, things are approached way too general. More digging is required here. Please refer clearer to the three hypotheses you started your research from: H1, H2 and H3, as you did not mention them at all. Please discuss into more detail the practical implications of these three hypotheses. What is the relevance if all or some are true (or only partially true), if all or some are false? How does each scenario impact the outcomes for that company in terms of sustainability? Why is it relevant from the perspective of employees, like you have mentioned in the title, and why aren't these issues more important from the perspective of the customers? Do the employees work better and/or more focused, or happier, if they embrace these environmental values? How will this approach translate into a more sustainable business model for the company? Where is that solid, undeniable evidence that supports that? What are the actual measures taken by the retail company to address the environmental issues that build trust in the eyes of its employees, stakeholders and customers? Just stating with words that it has some degree of actions towards environmental (brand) activism, doesn't mean or prove anything.
Thus, all these details in the Discussion and Conclusion section must be better underlined and debated in order to bring more scientific value to the article and to better underline the relevance of the whole paper."

Response 3: We consider your comment to be completely relevant. Although some of the issues raised are extra to the focus of the article (e.g. "Do the employees work better and/or more focused, or happier, if they embrace these environmental values?"), we tried to be more objective and solid in the conclusions drawn, debating them in light of the empirical data collected and the specific literature of the field, also introducing H1, H2 and H3 both in the discussion and the conclusions. The introduced paragraphs, both in the discussion ("This is supported by the significant positive impact of environmental brand activism on the employee identification with the organization (β=0.38; p=0.00), and by the considerable direct impact of identification with the organization on the promotion of employee’s pro-environmental attitudes (β=0.27; p=0.00)."; "On the other hand, no statistically valid mediation of moral elevation was detected in the relationship between environmental brand activism on employee pro-environmental attitudes, with H3 being rejected (β=0.01; p=0.65). Although environmental brand activism positively impacts the moral elevation felt by employees (β=0.15; p=0.03), moral elevation does not statistically impact employees’ pro-environmental attitudes (β=0.04; p=0.63), which prevents the occurrence of mediation. Thus, it can be concluded that the environmental activism actions of the brand under analysis awaken positive emotions in its employees that motivate them to moral growth, but this emotion does not lead them to adopt more favorable attitudes towards the environment") and in the conclusion ("Since brands have privileged contact with their employees, this group of stakeholders can be a starting point for companies to understand what impact their activism actions have, particularly on their audiences' perception regarding relevant sociopolitical causes and on the promotion of attitudes and/or behaviors in favor of the defended issues. "; "Answering the research questions, the results ​​obtained through PLS-SEM analysis concluded that environmental brand activism has a positive direct effect on employees' pro-environmental attitudes, accepting H1. Regarding the mediating power of the variable identification with the organization, it is verified this variable exerts a positive mediating influence on the impact of environmental brand activism on employees' pro-environmental attitudes, confirming H2. However, the results do not confirm the existence of a mediation of moral elevation in the impact of environmental brand activism on the pro-environmental attitudes of employees, with this mediation not being statistically significant and H3 being rejected"; "This conclusion points out that brand activism allows a more sustainable business model for the company under analysis and others, which can make a greater contribution to positive environmental changes and sustainable development by improving the attitudes of its employees concerning the environment, through these campaigns."; "This is proven by the fact that only identification with the organization mediates the impact of brand activism on employees' pro-environmental attitudes, encouraging a greater focus by companies on promoting high identification of their employees with the company's mission and values, as well as with the environmental causes defended, if the aim is to promote employees’ attitudes in favor of the environment. Despite the non-existence of mediation, environmental brand activism can also continue to be used by brands to promote employees’ moral elevation, as a positive impact has been verified between these variables. This may not contribute to the adoption of pro-environmental attitudes, but it may contribute to sustainability, as this emotion is strongly correlated with the motivation to be morally better."), were highlighted in yellow.

Comments 4: "Also, in order to raise the scientific level, it may be a good idea to include a paragraph where to explain the limitations of the conducted study."

Response 4: Thank you for you comment. We consider that, in fact, the limitations of the study should be introduced. A new paragraph has been written on this topic, placed at the end of the article and highlighted in yellow: "From the outset, there were some difficulties in the exact description of some theoretical constructs related to brand activism, given that the novelty of this research topic means that its theoretical ground is still poorly cemented and that there is a multiplicity of definitions existing in the literature, some of which end up mixing concepts. In addition, identity, emotional and attitudinal factors are very subjective fields of research, leading to various definitions of the same concepts and conceptual interconnections between them. This limitation affected the operationalization of the constructs in the scales used in the questionnaire surveys. In the case of environmental brand activism, no tested scale of this variable was known when questionnaire surveys were applied, which led to some difficulties in creating the scale and choosing the items that best suited the theoretical definitions of the construct. Regarding the remaining constructs, in addition to there being a wide range of scales for each construct analyzed, several of these scales were not specifically constructed to evaluate the variables in the business sector and, in many, the distinction between related concepts is unclear (e.g., distinction between pro-environmental attitudes and pro-environmental behaviors). This led to the introduction of similar statements in some scales and extended the size of the questionnaires, which may have affected the respondents' responses and led to a smaller sample size than expected.

In addition, there is some bias in the sample, which mostly portrays the opinions of educated female adults, which may have had some repercussions on the empirical work and the results obtained.

Finally, although the relationship between antecedent, consequent, and mediation, in relation to the variables studied, is theoretically supported by the literature, it is important to mention that there may be other factors that cause mediating effects, such as the greater or lesser interest and sensitivity of respondents in relation to environmental issues and their familiarity with the brand's activism actions, whose possible relationship with the remaining variables was not statistically evaluated but may limit the overall understanding of the conceptual model."

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Title: “The brand as an example for sustainability: the impact of brand activism on employee pro-environmental attitudes”

 The article is prepared on a current topic. The research is an important contribution to the study of how corporate social strategies can contribute to sustainable development and positive social change.

 

Overall, the article is written properly and has sufficient clarity, indicating the author's expertise in the subject.

The structure of the document adheres to what is often required for research articles. The writers appropriately address these subjects.

The abstract presents the aim/objective of the paper, and the main results described in the manuscript.

The methodology is well presented.

 

Notes and recommendations for authors:

1) in my opinion, it is worth specifying the research question at the beginning of the article

2) I think it is worth separating the section Discussion as an separate section in the article

3) In my opinion, the authors should describe and systematize the research results in more detail in the Conclusion

4) at the end of the article, it is worth mentioning the limitations of the study

5) stated research hypotheses at the beginning of the article, it is necessary to show in the Conclusions which of these hypotheses and how were proven

 

Overall, the article is an important contribution to research on the impact of corporate social strategies on employees' environmental attitudes. It demonstrates that environmental branding can contribute to sustainable development and positive social change by emphasizing the importance of employee identification with the organization. The research has significant practical value and can be useful for companies seeking to implement effective environmental initiatives. The article can be published, but it needs preliminary thorough revision. 

Author Response

Thank you very much for taking the time to review this manuscript. Please find the detailed responses below and the corresponding revisions/corrections highlighted/in track changes in the re-submitted files.

Comments 1: "1) in my opinion, it is worth specifying the research question at the beginning of the article"

Response 1: Thank you for you recommendation. The research question was introduced in the "Introduction" secction: "Specifically, this article seeks to answer the research questions "Does environmental brand activism positively impact employees’ pro-environmental attitudes?" and "Is such impact mediated by identification with the organization and moral elevation, generated through brand activism actions?". These changes are highlighted in yellow.

 

Comments 2: "2) I think it is worth separating the section Discussion as an separate section in the article" 

Response 2: We agree with your opinion, and separated the Discussion from the Conclusion section.

 

Comments 3: "3) In my opinion, the authors should describe and systematize the research results in more detail in the Conclusion"

Response 3: Thank you for your comment. We agree that we should be more detailed in the conclusion, having introduced some paragraphs to this effect, which are highlighted in the text in yellow: "Since brands have privileged contact with their employees, this group of stakeholders can be a starting point for companies to understand what impact their activism actions have, particularly on their audiences' perception regarding relevant sociopolitical causes and on the promotion of attitudes and/or behaviors in favor of the defended issues."; "Answering the research questions, the results ​​obtained through PLS-SEM analysis concluded that environmental brand activism has a positive direct effect on employees' pro-environmental attitudes, accepting H1. Regarding the mediating power of the variable identification with the organization, it is verified this variable exerts a positive mediating influence on the impact of environmental brand activism on employees' pro-environmental attitudes, confirming H2. However, the results do not confirm the existence of a mediation of moral elevation in the impact of environmental brand activism on the pro-environmental attitudes of employees, with this mediation not being statistically significant and H3 being rejected."; "This conclusion points out that brand activism allows a more sustainable business model for the company under analysis and others, which can make a greater contribution to positive environmental changes and sustainable development by improving the attitudes of its employees concerning the environment, through these campaigns."; "This is proven by the fact that only identification with the organization mediates the impact of brand activism on employees' pro-environmental attitudes, encouraging a greater focus by companies on promoting high identification of their employees with the company's mission and values, as well as with the environmental causes defended, if the aim is to promote employees’ attitudes in favor of the environment. Despite the non-existence of mediation, environmental brand activism can also continue to be used by brands to promote employees’ moral elevation, as a positive impact has been verified between these variables. This may not contribute to the adoption of pro-environmental attitudes, but it may contribute to sustainability, as this emotion is strongly correlated with the motivation to be morally better.".

 

Comments 4: "4) at the end of the article, it is worth mentioning the limitations of the study"

Response 4: We agree with your recommendation and have introduced a Study Limitations section at the end of the article, highlighted in yellow: "

Study limitations

From the outset, there were some difficulties in the exact description of some theoretical constructs related to brand activism, given that the novelty of this research topic means that its theoretical ground is still poorly cemented and that there is a multiplicity of definitions existing in the literature, some of which end up mixing concepts. In addition, identity, emotional and attitudinal factors are very subjective fields of research, leading to various definitions of the same concepts and conceptual interconnections between them. This limitation affected the operationalization of the constructs in the scales used in the questionnaire surveys. In the case of environmental brand activism, no tested scale of this variable was known when questionnaire surveys were applied, which led to some difficulties in creating the scale and choosing the items that best suited the theoretical definitions of the construct. Regarding the remaining constructs, in addition to there being a wide range of scales for each construct analyzed, several of these scales were not specifically constructed to evaluate the variables in the business sector and, in many, the distinction between related concepts is unclear (e.g., distinction between pro-environmental attitudes and pro-environmental behaviors). This led to the introduction of similar statements in some scales and extended the size of the questionnaires, which may have affected the respondents' responses and led to a smaller sample size than expected.

In addition, there is some bias in the sample, which mostly portrays the opinions of educated female adults, which may have had some repercussions on the empirical work and the results obtained.

Finally, although the relationship between antecedent, consequent, and mediation, in relation to the variables studied, is theoretically supported by the literature, it is important to mention that there may be other factors that cause mediating effects, such as the greater or lesser interest and sensitivity of respondents in relation to environmental issues and their familiarity with the brand's activism actions, whose possible relationship with the remaining variables was not statistically evaluated but may limit the overall understanding of the conceptual model."

 

Comments 5: "5) stated research hypotheses at the beginning of the article, it is necessary to show in the Conclusions which of these hypotheses and how were proven"

Responde 5: The research hypotheses were also included in the Conclusion, with the respective results and justifications: "Answering the research questions, the results ​​obtained through PLS-SEM analysis concluded that environmental brand activism has a positive direct effect on employees' pro-environmental attitudes, accepting H1. Regarding the mediating power of the variable identification with the organization, it is verified this variable exerts a positive mediating influence on the impact of environmental brand activism on employees' pro-environmental attitudes, confirming H2. However, the results do not confirm the existence of a mediation of moral elevation in the impact of environmental brand activism on the pro-environmental attitudes of employees, with this mediation not being statistically significant and H3 being rejected.". This change has been highlighted in yellow.

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The paper has been improved, as most of the issues have been addressed. I believe the paper may now be accepted for publishing. I wish the authors best of luck in their future researches.

Comments on the Quality of English Language

The English usage looks mostly fine.