Green business practices of event management firms in Kerala

Abstract

he event management industry is one of the fastest-growing service sectorsworldwide, and in India, it has expanded rapidly, creating numerous jobs andentrepreneurs. Despite this growth, the industry remains resource-intensive,consuming substantial materials, energy, water, and transportation, raising significantenvironmental concerns amid increasing climate pressures driven by human activities.As a result, adopting sustainable and environmentally friendly practices has becomeessential for industries with large environmental footprints. The current study, titled"Green Business Practices of Event Management Firms in Kerala," examines theextent of Green Business Practice (GBP) adoption, the key drivers and barriersinfluencing this adoption, the level of sustainable performance of these firms, and therelationships between drivers, barriers, GBPs, and Sustainable Performance. Thestudy uses descriptive statistics, independent samples t-tests, ANOVA, and PartialLeast Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) based on primary datacollected from 226 event management firms in Kerala via a structured questionnaire.Results show that firms exhibit a moderate level of GBP adoption, with notablestrengths in waste management, green managerial commitment, and green marketing.However, practices related to energy efficiency, water conservation, and greentransportation are comparatively weak. The study also finds that certain drivers, suchas Environmental Awareness, Organizational Values, Stakeholder Pressure,Technological Expertise and Infrastructure, and Regulatory Mechanisms, have astrong positive influence on GBP adoption, indicating that values, expectations, andsupportive systems encourage firms to go green. Conversely, barriers liketechnological and infrastructural challenges, lack of knowledge, financial constraints,stakeholder support issues, and weak regulatory systems negatively impact GBPadoption, highlighting persistent structural, financial, and informational hurdles tosustainable change. Regarding performance, social sustainability is relativelystronger, economic performance is moderate, and environmental performance remainsweak. The analysis confirms that practices such as Green Waste Management, GreenManagement and Strategy, and Green Marketing have the most significant impact onoverall sustainability. Overall, this study provides valuable insights for policymakers,sector organizations, and industry players interested in promoting green eventmanagement practices in Kerala.