Environmental beliefs and the adoption of circular economy among bank managers: Do gender, age and knowledge act as the moderators?

Circular economy has emerged as an exceptional substitute for linear business models due to increasing environmental threats and the lack of planetary resources. However, the literature on the factors contributing to the transition of a circular economy is still in its infancy. This study investigates the impact of bank managers' environmental beliefs such as perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, perceived benefits, and perceived barriers on the adoption of circular economy (ACE). The moderators of gender, age, and knowledge are operationalized to investigate the effect on the relationship between environmental beliefs and ACE. The data was conveniently drawn from 840 respondents employed at different managerial positions in the banks across Malaysia. The collected data were analyzed using the structural equation modeling technique through SmartPLS. The results indicate that perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, perceived benefits have a significant positive impact on ACE while perceived barriers have a significant negative impact. The results of the integrated model reveal that perceived benefits are the most important factor to promote ACE. The research findings represent that gender, age, and knowledge about environmental threats as the moderators have a significant positive effect on the relationship between environmental beliefs and ACE. Specifically, the results confirm that females, generation X, and preliminary knowledge plays a significant role in ACE by contributing to managers' environmental beliefs. This study contributes to developing ethical business models and offers a toolkit in the form of behavioral indices relevant to the banking industry for implementing a strategic organizational change.