Purpose Green creative behaviour is increasingly important for advancing sustainability in the hospitality sector; however, prior research has largely focused on compliance-oriented green behaviours, offering limited insight into how organisational climates foster creativity-driven environmental outcomes. Drawing on social cognitive theory, this study examines how a green supporting climate influences hotel employees' green creative behaviour, tests the mediating role of environmental awareness, and explores the moderating role of green training and development. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from 607 full-time employees working in eight hotels located in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, China. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) using AMOS was employed to assess the measurement model, while mediation and moderation hypotheses were tested using Hayes' PROCESS macro in SPSS. Findings The results indicate that a green supporting climate positively influences both environmental awareness and green creative behaviour. Environmental awareness partially mediates the relationship between green supporting climate and green creative behaviour, highlighting its key cognitive role. Moreover, green training and development significantly strengthens the positive relationship between environmental awareness and green creative behaviour. Practical implications Hotel managers should cultivate a supportive green climate and invest in structured green training initiatives to enhance employees' environmental awareness and creative engagement, thereby strengthening sustainability performance and environmental innovation. Originality/value This study advances the hospitality and green HRM literature by clarifying the cognitive and capability-building mechanisms through which organisational climate promotes green creative behaviour, offering a social cognitive theory–based explanation of environmental creativity in service contexts.
Rafiq et al. (Thu,) studied this question.