Copycatting and Sustainability Strategy Map : Evidence from Management Sustainability Decisions

The current study explores whether firms copycat other firms that either participating or not participating in sustainability projects. Furthermore, it investigates whether such an effect can be influenced by firm’s sustainability management practice. Specifically, the current study proposes Sustainability Strategy Map (hereafter SSM) and examines its impact on management sustainability decisions. By conducting an experiment with 154 experienced business professionals, we find the existence of copycatting behavior in management sustainability decisions, while holding other factors constant. In addition, managers who receive SSM are more likely to support a proposed sustainability project which is aligned with the firm’s strategy. More importantly, we find an interaction effect whereby copycatting is less likely to be observed when management is provided with SSM. Supplemental analysis is conducted to examine the underlying mechanism of SSM-management sustainability decision, effort-taking of managers and their personal traits. Our study has both practical and theoretical implications