Green Service: Construct Development and Measurement Validation

Abstract

Facing the growing concern of environmental impact, green service (GS) has emerged as an important research topic in production and operations management. However, empirical research on GS is hindered by the lack of theoretically developed and empirically validated measurement scales covering various practices in service operations of a supply chain. GS indicates the strategic orientation of firms in developing a combination of practices and routines to reduce environmental impact in service operations that span from product development to servicing customers. Grounded in the natural resource‐based view (NRBV), this study conceptualizes GS from the supply chain perspective and in the consumer‐product context to develop a GS measurement model. Collecting secondary and primary data in both qualitative and quantitative forms, this study reports the development of GS multi‐item measurement scales using a multi‐method research design that combines interviews, content analysis, and mass survey. GS is operationalized as a multi‐dimensional construct reflecting three complementary dimensions, namely pollution prevention‐, product‐, and long‐term development‐oriented GS practices, where each of them comprises three sub‐dimensions, resulting in a total of 34 measurement items. The empirically validated scales can be used to advance theory and practices of GS, while providing a useful reference for firms to evaluate their GS efforts, and identify areas for improvement.