Reinforcing green competitive advantage through green production, creativity and green brand image: Implications for cleaner production in China

The study explores the key reinforcing factors of green competitive advantage among equipment manufacturing enterprises in China. Primary data using a survey method has been collected from managers and customers of equipment manufacturing organizations. Covariance-based structural equation modeling (CBSEM) using SPSS 23.0 and AMOS 23.0 have been employed to estimate empirical findings. The results show that green brand image leads the process of reinforcing green competitive advantage. It has been seen that customer pressure, regulatory pressure and green creativity positively influence green production. However, the influence of customer pressure is higher, which provide an insight to the decision makers. Additionally, the work has indicated that although green production and green creativity directly have a positive role in reinforcing green competitive advantage. But, the role becomes stronger when it contributes toward green competitive advantage via green brand image. The study concludes that the role of customers is highly significant, they can play a vital role in reinforcing green competitive advantage for the enterprises and also they can influence firms to adopt green production. Similarly, the green awareness programs would be pivotal to create awareness among the general customers for persuading a business environment for cleaner production in the country. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.