Purpose This study investigates how social norms, particularly injunctive (what is approved) and descriptive (what is commonly done), mediate the relationship between organizational green culture and actual green procurement behavior. It challenges the prevailing “culture-as-policy” assumption by examining why sustainability policies often fail to translate into consistent practice, despite strong organizational commitments. Design/methodology/approach Employing a sequential explanatory mixed-methods design, the study first surveyed 181 procurement professionals across public and private sectors to test hypothesized relationships using structural equation modeling (SEM). This was followed by in-depth interviews and focus groups with 35 practitioners to explore the lived experience of normative conflict, coping strategies, and micro-level enablers or barriers to sustainable decision-making. Findings Quantitative results reveal that injunctive norms are the strongest direct predictor of green procurement behavior (β = 0.38, p 0.01), followed by descriptive norms (β = 0.24, p = 0.03). Crucially, organizational green culture exerts no significant direct effect on behavior ((β = 0.12, p = 0.134); instead, it operates entirely through its influence on team-level norms. Qualitative findings uncover how misalignment between espoused values and peer practices triggers cognitive dissonance, leading to symbolic compliance (“box-ticking”), moral disengagement, or strategic advocacy. A pivotal insight is the role of immediate supervisors as “normative buffers” who either enable or suppress green agency. Practical implications Organizations seeking to embed sustainability should move beyond compliance tools (audits, scorecards) and instead cultivate supportive team-level normative environments. This includes aligning performance metrics and rewards with sustainability outcomes, empowering “green champions,” and equipping middle managers to defend value-based decisions against cost-centric pressures. Social implications The study highlights how performative sustainability erodes employee trust, fuels cynicism, and contributes to burnout among ethically motivated professionals. Conversely, authentic norm alignment fosters psychological well-being, pride, and long-term engagement − suggesting that green culture is not just an operational issue but a matter of organizational integrity and social responsibility. Originality/value This research advances sustainability literature by empirically validating a multi-layered, behaviorally grounded model of cultural transmission that integrates the Theory of Planned Behavior with social norms theory and organizational micro-foundations. It reframes green procurement as a socially embedded practice shaped not by policy alone, but by the everyday validation, modeling, and reinforcement of sustainable choices within work teams.
Ograh et al. (Wed,) studied this question.