Employee awareness of environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles as a driver of corporate social responsibility: a scale development study

Yu Gan and Khahan Na-Nan

Social Responsibility Journal, 2025, vol. 22, issue 3, 704-722

Abstract: PurposeThis study aims to develop and validate a multidimensional scale to measure environmental, social and governance (ESG) awareness among frontline production employees, addressing a critical gap in understanding how ESG principles are perceived and enacted at the employee level.Design/methodology/approachA theory-driven approach was used to design a 12-item scale grounded in social cognitive theory, moral action model and ethical climate theory. Data were collected via anonymous questionnaires from 486 production workers in China’s Baijiu manufacturing sector. The scale was tested using exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis to establish its factorial structure, reliability and validity.FindingsResults confirmed a robust three-factor structure corresponding to ESG awareness. The model demonstrated excellent fit indices (e.g. comparative fit index = 0.998, root mean square error of approximation = 0.012) and strong internal consistency. The scale captures cognitive, emotional and normative dimensions of ESG engagement.Practical implicationsThe scale provides organizations with a tool to assess and enhance employee-level ESG alignment, supporting ESG reporting, workforce development and sustainable operations.Originality/valueThis research contributes a novel, psychometrically validated instrument that integrates ESG theory with employee behavioral measurement, offering new insights for embedding sustainability from the ground up.

Keywords: ESG awareness; CSR; Sustainability behavior; Scale development; Psychometric validation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.emerald.com/srj/article/22/3/704/13317 ... ronmental-social-and (text/html)
https://www.emerald.com/srj/article-pdf/22/3/704/11142860/srj-06-2025-0639en.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eme:srjpps:srj-06-2025-0639

DOI: 10.1108/SRJ-06-2025-0639

Access Statistics for this article

Social Responsibility Journal is currently edited by Prof David Crowther

More articles in Social Responsibility Journal from Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Emerald Support ().