The green mandate: Gen Z’s role in shaping corporate sustainability

Purpose This study aims to examine how urban Indian Generation Z (Gen Z) construct expectations of corporate environmental responsibility (CER) in the context of lived environmental degradation. It explores how everyday experiences of pollution shape corporate expectations, what motivates or constrains Gen Z’s engagement with sustainable behaviours and how social, digital and educational contexts influence their interpretation and evaluation of CER. Design/methodology/approach The study adopts a qualitative, exploratory design based on semi-structured interviews with 48 urban Gen Z participants (aged 21–26), including postgraduate students and early-career professionals. Data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis, supported by NVivo 14. Stakeholder theory, the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) and the value-belief-norm (VBN) framework were used as sensitising frameworks to inform interpretation, while themes were inductively derived from the data. Findings The findings reveal strong expectations for authenticity, transparency and verifiable corporate environmental action, with participants expressing scepticism towards symbolic or compliance-driven ESG disclosures. Moral responsibility and peer influence emerged as key motivators of sustainable engagement, while affordability, accessibility and convenience constrained behavioural enactment. Social and digital environments heightened scrutiny of corporate claims, positioning Gen Z as active evaluators of CER within digitally mediated stakeholder networks. Research limitations/implications The study focuses on urban, educated and digitally connected Gen Z participants, which may limit transferability to less-connected populations. Future research could adopt longitudinal and comparative designs across regions and economies to examine how expectations evolve over time. Practical implications For organisations, the findings underscore the need to move beyond symbolic ESG communication towards transparent, measurable and locally responsive environmental actions. Digital credibility and consistency are critical for engaging younger stakeholder groups. Social implications Gen Z’s expectations reflect a shift towards collective accountability and heightened scrutiny of corporate environmental conduct. Their evaluative role within digital ecosystems has implications for broader societal debates on environmental governance and CER. Originality/value By shifting focus from consumption intentions to expectations of CER, this study extends stakeholder and behavioural research through a context-rich qualitative account from an emerging economy. It demonstrates how lived environmental exposure and digital information environments reshape stakeholder legitimacy judgements in ways underexplored in existing models.