Mechanism of attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control influence the green development behavior of construction enterprises

The green development behavior of construction enterprises is an environmental behavior that contributes evidence from construction enterprises to the field of resource recycling and environmental protection. Revealing the mechanism of green development behavior of construction enterprises has become the key to guide construction enterprises to adopt green development behavior and improve the level of green development. However, existing studies on the mechanistic discussion of green development behavior of construction enterprises do not reach a consensus. In order to reveal the mechanism of the green development behavior of construction enterprises, this study examines how the green development behavior of construction enterprises is influenced by factors based on the Theory of Planned Behavior. Using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM), this study analyzed 306 questionnaire data points from construction enterprises in 28 provinces (cities) across China. The main conclusions are as follows. (1) Attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control have significant positive effects on the green development behavioral intentions of construction enterprises, with attitudes being the strongest predictor. (2) Intention intermediates the relationships between attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and the green development behavior of construction enterprises to varying degrees. (3) Regional green development level and enterprise size positively moderate the four groups of the relationship between attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, intention and green development behavior of construction enterprises. This study provides theoretical guidance for promoting green transformation and upgrading construction enterprises and helps the construction industry achieve a balanced mode of development that supports both economic growth and environmental protection.