The effect of green shipping practices on multinational companies’ loyalty in Malaysia

Abstract

Purpose The globalization of market and production activities with unequal distribution of market demand and resources has accelerated the demand for shipping services. Public concerns about environmental issues and the impacts of shipping service providers’ green shipping practices (GSPs) on the reputation and performance of multinational companies (MNCs) motivated the authors to test the impact of shipping companies’ GSPs on MNCs’ loyalty by considering timeliness and perceived value as moderators. The paper aims to discuss this issue. Design/methodology/approach The data were collected from 141 MNCs and analyzed using the partial least squares technique. Findings The results show that company policy and procedure, shipping documentation, shipping equipment and shipping materials have significant effects on MNCs’ loyalty. Furthermore, timeliness positively moderates the impacts of shipping materials and shipping design on compliance, while perceived value positively moderates the effects of shipping equipment and shipping design for compliance on MNCs’ loyalty. Practical implications The results provide insight for shipping service providers on GSPs that may lead to MNCs’ loyalty by considering the roles of lead time and freight rate. Originality/value The results extend the literature by testing empirically the impacts of GSP of shipping companies on MNCs’ loyalty and also by investigating the moderating impacts of perceived value and timeliness.