From Green Rewards to Green Customers: A Systematic Review of the Market-Facing Outcomes of Green Human Resource Management

Green human resource management (GHRM) is expected to support credible sustainability positioning, but its customer and market effects remain unclear. This systematic review examines GHRM and green rewards in relation to these outcomes. Searches of Scopus and Web of Science identified 23 empirical studies. Selection followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses 2020; synthesis used a context–intervention–mechanism–outcome framework, the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool, direction-based vote counting and certainty grading. All reported effects were positive. Reputation outcomes showed the largest coefficients and strong certainty under the review’s rules, but 12 of 13 studies did not use customer ratings. Customer outcomes and customer-directed employee behaviour received moderate certainty. Only three studies isolated reward-related effects, whose relative magnitudes were inconsistent; none tested the full employee-to-customer chain. Identified mechanisms included employee commitment, green knowledge sharing, shared green experiences and green branding. Environmental regulation strengthened associations. The review develops a multilevel framework, six design propositions and a research agenda. The findings suggest that market value depends on the visibility and credibility of green practices, while green rewards remain largely untested as a distinct lever.